Rocket Camp Keeps You Busy

I feel guilty for not blogging much recently. Between teaching rocket camp, my day job, and preparing to move to Boston a week from Tuesday, I don't have much free time.

But camp has been going well. Several parents have told me that their kids have learned a lot. Which is great - and sort of surprising. These kids have absorbed a lot of technical information. Sometimes I've mentioned something once on one day, and half the kids don't look like they're even listening, and two days later, I'll ask a question, thinking I'll need to re-teach the information - but the kids know it! Concepts like total impulse and center of pressure are not easy to grasp at first, but these are some smart kids.

Anyway, rather than writing up each week in separate posts, I'll take what I've learned about teaching rocketry when I'm all done, after Friday. While this blog is partly for people who are n00bs to rocketry, maybe there are a few more experienced rocketeers who are n00bs to teaching rocketry, and maybe my experience will help you prepare.

In any case, I was able to get a little painting done. Ivy Tech has a really nice spray painting booth, and I was able to get Keith's Rocket painted. I'm pretty proud of it.

I'd originally bought the copper paint for the fins on the 3D Rocketry Nautilus II, but that rocket was lost before it was finished. Still, it looks great! I'm going to have to build one of these for myself.

The rocket has a payload compartment. Four small holes - known as static ports - allow you to fly with a barometric altimeter, such as the Jolly Logic. An altimeter needs to breathe to function, so you put static ports in your rocket to allow the payload compartment to equalize in pressure with the air outside the rocket.

I have four more Donor's Rockets to finish painting. I hope to launch these next week - after rocket school!

Here, the Ivy Tech Rocket Kids launch one of Chad's rockets:

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A Few New Things

Rocket Camp

The model rocketry College for Kids camp I'm teaching starts Monday. For the first week-long session, I have five kids. I'm still finalizing my plan for the week's schedule, and I need to figure out what to do if it rains on Friday and we can't launch - that would be a huge disappointment!

Donor's Rockets

These are coming along great.

I'm building a fifth one for myself, with a D motor mount, but it's still in pieces.

These rockets need a cool name, though. "Donor's Rocket" doesn't have much of a ring to it.

New Book

I just acquired a copy of Mark Canepa's book Modern High Power Rocketry 2.

 I'm not in a rush to get a high power certification, but I like having another book on hobby rocketry (side note: I don't like that term, "hobby rocketry." Something about the word "hobby" - like, a hobby horse is a child's fake wooden horse, not a real horse. Model rockets and high power rockets actually fly! But you know what I mean...). And I'm sure that some of the stuff in this book can be applied to mid power rockets as well. If I learn something from this book that I think my fellow rocket n00bs might find useful, I'll certainly incorporate that knowledge into this blog.

Something Else Cool

Who's that good-looking dude on Skype with CG of The Rocketry Show?

 
OK, it's off to Ivy Tech to submit my paperwork to HR. Rocket Camp, T-minus 4 days and counting!

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Name That Rocket!

A few months ago, I raised some money for the Bloomington Playwrights Project. I offered rockets as an incentive to donate in my name - rockets designed and built by me. I managed to raise nearly $500 in the process!

One donor in particular, Keith, gave me a significant donation, and so I offered to design him a rocket for his grandson, who's about 4 or 5 I think.

Here's what I came up with:

At about 17.5 inches long, this rocket has forward-swept fins and a 5-inch long payload section.

Once you get the fins on and the parts together, a rocket really starts to look like something. I think this might be my coolest-looking design so far. I like it so much, I think I'm going to have to build one for myself!

But it needs a name. Right now, it's just called Keith's Rocket. It needs a better name than that. Any suggestions?

For the other donors, I've designed this rocket, which also needs a name:

At just over 16 inches long, this BT56-based rocket has a diameter of 1.35 inches, a long nose cone, and a wide fin span.

The name "Donor's Rocket" just doesn't grab you.

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Donor's Rockets - Designed!

Back in October, I raised money for the Bloomington Playwrights Project, offering scratch built rockets as an incentive. This spring, I'll hold a launch for the donors, and they will keep the rockets I build for them.

The Donor's Rocket has been designed.

Now I just need to buy the parts and build the rockets.

I selected an odd size for this rocket. It uses a BT56 - an Estes tube size, just slightly larger in diameter than the BT55 (used in many kits, including the Cosmic Explorer). As far as I can tell, you don't see the BT56 much these days. Only a couple of websites I've found actually carry them, and one is out of stock.

But I like the idea of using a different sized tube, and I really like the nose cones that are available.

OK, back to sanding fins...