My rocketry projects

An archive of rocketry projects, past, present, and future.

Lunch Money
4.0″ diameter Public Missiles Limited Endeavor kit, complete with Quantum Tube, 54mm motor mount, fiberglassed fin joints, and dual deployment electronics bay. Has flown on an I218R, I161W, Loki I405, J350W, and J340M. I hope to fly it on a K185 at some point in the future. Status: needs repairs

Build Post #1 | Build Post #2 | Perfect weather, perfect flight | Lunch Money – J340 Metalstorm

AMRAAM 2
The Public Missiles 54mm (2.1″) diameter sport-scale AMRAAM missile. It’s flown on a G33, G64, and H128. It was underpowered on the last flight and ended up sinking its nose into the muddy ground before the ejection charge went off, so I’m currently replacing the top section of tubing. Status: under repair

Winter Building Season

3″ Project
I’ve got the bottom 2.5 feet (motor tube + fin can) of my second USLI rocket, which means I just need to build the upper (parachute and electronics) sections and I’ll have a solid 3″ diameter rocket for flights on 54mm motors. The final product should be able to fly on a Loki K350 (7 sec burn) to nearly 13,000 feet. Status: under construction

The Crash, part 1 | Winter Building Season | The Crash, part 2

Cheaper Than a Girlfriend
A fat, ugly, and cheap (yet oddly endearing) stalwart of my rocket fleet. First built and flown when I was 15 and discovered Aerotech G80 motors, crashed at LDRS in 1999, and then upgraded, extended, and modified for my Level 2 flight on a J350. Status: flyable

Sandhawk
Having already flown several H motors while underage (with supervision, of course) I wanted to build something nice and reliable for my Level 1. The 2.6″ Sandhawk got me the cert on an Aerotech H Redline reload, but the carbon fiber and fiberglass reinforcement mean that it will eventually meet a J570 the new Aerotech J510. Status: flyable

Arkansas Skeeter – 3×18mm
A 1.6″ diameter upscale of the Estes Mosquito that can take 3 18mm motors. Status: flyable

Arkansas Skeeter – 29mm
A 2.6″ diameter upscale of the Estes Mosquito for 38mm motors. Status: under construction

Winter Building Season

4×29mm Cluster
A 3″ diameter rocket designed for a 4×29mm cluster. Status: under construction

Winter Building Season

LOC Aura
The 1.6″ diameter kit with a 29mm motor mount – needs a little more work before it will be ready to fly. Status: under construction

Winter Building Season

NASA University Student Launch Initiative 2008
What do you get when you mix a beautiful rocket, a fancy electronics bay, an onboard spectrometer, a K hybrid, and too little flight testing? Well, let’s just say part of the rocket are still embedded in the Alabama red clay near Marshall Space Flight Center. Status: deceased… but being rebuilt as 3.0″ project (above)

The Crash, part 1 | The Crash, part 2

NASA University Student Launch Initiative 2007
The first year of competition for NASA’s systems engineering competition for colleges, and we thought we’d take our hybrid rocket spectroscopy research airborne. The rocket flew and was recovered successfully, but some procedural snafus with the Army led to a bunch of our nitrous venting before we could get her to launch, so it only reached 1100 feet. Status: retired

High-power flights to date: 13+.
Total impulse to date: 7,036 Ns (M motor)
Average impulse per flight to date: 541.2 Ns

Level 1 Flights

Level 2 Flights