Video Build Series - The Quest Superbird

I've started shooting a series of model rocket build videos for my YouTube channel, beginning with a rocket from Quest Aerospace - the Superbird.

This one should be interesting. What started as a rather straightforward build has developed a few hiccups early on, making things a little more complicated than they should be for a really simple model rocket, but I think that's a good thing. Rather than being a series which might be a little boring for anyone but an absolute beginner, it will involve a little creative problem solving.

The first video - unbagging and parts - is here:

Please subscribe if you'd like to see more.

Follow me on Twitter.

Like my Facebook page for blog updates and extra stuff.

Have a question you'd like to see addressed on this blog? Email me at iamtherocketn00b@gmail.com.

Rocketober 9 - "Rocket Wish List" and More Sky Wolf Building

All this month I'm posting photos on Twitter for #Rocketober. They'll appear here with slightly expanded text.

I've been battling a cold the past few days, so I haven't done much building or Rocketober tweeting. I had some time today, though, so here's what I've done so far.

The Apogee Components theme of the day is "Rocket Wish List." I have a lot of things on my wish list, but the biggest one is for Quest motors and Q2G2 igniters to come back.

Back to Sky Wolf...

Once the electrical tape was removed, the shock chord was securely epoxied to the motor tube. A bit of sanding was required, as some epoxy oozed down the sides of the motor tube under the tape edges, and you need a clear space to attach the fins to the motor tube.

The knot in the shock chord stuck up a little bit above the forward centering ring and hardened. While I could still get the motor mount into the airframe, the pressure would cause the airframe to distort. I sanded the knot down level with the centering rings. Since the knot isn't tied to anything, and is only used as a shock chord stop, this will be fine.

 The fins came wrapped in masking tape, which left sticky residue on the fins. This would need to be removed.

I decided to try my standby for removing sticky adhesive goo, Ronsonol lighter fluid. Goo Gone would work, but it would soak into the fins and leave a greasy residue, possibly ruining them. The lighter fluid would evaporate, making it a better choice. 

Just a small bit of lighter fluid on a swab takes care of the tape residue.

The fins are now all clean, and can be sanded.

First, I need to check the accuracy of the shape of the fins from my simulation. I printed out the fin templates on paper and laid the actual fins on them. The aft fin is just about perfect. The forward fin is pretty close - close enough for a simulation. The difference in center of pressure between my simulation and a "correct" one will probably be less than a millimeter.

This tool is called a sewing gauge. It's used for marking hems and button hole locations on clothing. I use it to mark guide line positions on fins when I sand airfoils or beveled edges. It costs around a dollar and can be found at fabric stores or craft stores, or anywhere that sells any kind of sewing supplies.

The leading edges of the forward fins will have a short bevel and rounded edge. I set the sewing gauge for 1/4 inch and make two or three marks about 1/4 inch back from each leading edge. I do all leading edges first, then adjust the gauge, and do all trailing edges.

The trailing edges of the fins will have a longer bevel - about 3/4 inch - down to a much sharper edge.

Once all the marks have been made, connect them with a ruler.

Now I have clear guide lines for sanding my beveled edges. I'll sand to the pencil lines, then stop.

I use my ruler to mark a center line down the edges of the fins. I make a mark, then flip the fin over and make another mark. Now I have a double line which gives me an indication of how close to the true center of the fin edge I'm sanding.

I've rounded the leading edge of one fin. By sandwiching the fins together, I can check the sides and make sure I'm sanding evenly. Then I'll do some touch-ups if necessary. See my pencil lines?

Once all three fins have been rounded over, I sandwich them together again and compare them. You should continually check your work as you sand so you can make things more even if necessary.

Look at the fins edge-on as well, to make sure things are staying straight.

When beveling trailing edges, again, stack the fins together to compare them. Make sure you're sanding evenly.

This one will need a little touch-up, as it's slightly uneven. And when I'm done with all three trailing edges, I'll gently go over all fins to take off the sharp transition between the flat part and beveled part.

When I install the motor mount, the shock chord must not be in line with any of the fin slots, because the fins will be attached to the motor tube. The shock chord must go between fin slots, and to keep things neat, I'll like it up with the launch lug line, as shown.

To make sure I don't get confused when gluing in the motor mount, I've made a pencil mark in line with where the shock chord is mounted. I'll line that up with the launch lug line, and everything should fit together just fine.

Follow me on Twitter.

Like my Facebook page for blog updates and extra stuff.

Have a question you'd like to see addressed on this blog? Email me at iamtherocketn00b@gmail.com.

Rocket Camp - Kit Selection

Click here for the previous post.

Click here for the first post of this series. 

One of the first and most important decisions you'll make when teaching a rocketry camp or unit, be it at a middle school, high school, scout troop or public library will be: What rockets will we build? There are a lot of choices available, and the answer you come up with will depend on the parameters of the class. You'll want to consider the age group of the kids you're teaching, the likely experience level they'll have, and the length of time you'll have with them.

The obvious choice for leading a group of kids in a rocketry class is an Educator's Bulk Pack. Most major model rocket manufacturers carry these. Estes and Quest Aerospace, the two biggest, have a pretty good selection of bulk packs, but there are others to consider. Apogee Components has bulk packs of different skill levels, as does FlisKits, and even Balsa Machining Services, which mainly specializes in rocket parts, has a  "School Rocket."

The School Rocket from Balsa Machining Services.

You'll need to decide on the skill level of kits, the type, and whether you want a variety pack with several different designs, or a bulk pack of the same kit. You should also consider the size of the field you will launch from, as well as the surface - whether it be grass, gravel, asphalt, etc.

What "Skill Level" means varies from company to company, and even rocket to rocket. There are some Skill Level 2 rockets which are very simple, and some Skill Level 1 rockets which have more parts or require cutting plastic. There's not much rhyme or reason to it, other than that once you get to Skill Level 3 and beyond, it's going to be too difficult and frustrating for first-time builders.

The Estes Goblin - a Skill Level 2 rocket which is simple to build.It does fly very high on
D motors, though, and does not come in a bulk pack. I just mention it as an example.

If you're working with younger kids or have a limited amount of time - say, a single afternoon - or if you are looking for something simple, for example, to demonstrate some principles of basic physics, then Ready-To-Fly (what Estes calls "RTF," and requires no assembly), or Easy-To-Assemble ("E2X," which requires some very simple assembly) kits will probably be best.

But if you have more time, older kids, kids with more experience, or if you are trying to teach the kids the craft of rocketry, so that they will feel comfortable continuing on their own when they leave your camp or class, you'll probably want to choose something that takes a little longer and a bit more attention to build.

When I mention students' experience, I'm not necessarily talking about experience with model rockets. You may be working with a scout troop who have built pinewood derby cars. Maybe you're doing something with 4-H, with a group who have experience with various crafts. Perhaps you'll be going into a shop class or even incorporating rocket building into an art class, with students who are used to using paints and glues. These are all valuable, transferable skills to rocket building. Especially working with glue - your first-time builders are going to need some guidance with glue, believe me!

As for type, you'll consider whether to use simple 3-fins-and-a-nose-cone rockets, or something with a payload section, or an "odd-roc" - a rocket which doesn't look like a typical rocket. A saucer is a common kind of odd-roc.

Estes Blenders - a type of saucer "odd-roc." These are interesting and don't fly too high.
The Blender is a more advanced build. Image from eRockets.biz.

 Before you choose, try to find the instructions. For most Estes kits, you can download the instructions and read them ahead of time. Same is true for other companies as well. That way, you can see if you'll need any special tools. You might find a so-called "Skill Level 2" rocket which you like, and which in fact is pretty simple to build. You might also find Skill Level 1 rockets you'd rather avoid.

Whether you get a variety pack or a bulk pack of all the same rocket will also depend on the factors I've mentioned above. Younger kids and inexperienced builders will need some guidance. If you simply hand them the instructions and let them have at it, they will very likely build too quickly. Some kids don't have the patience to let glue dry on certain parts, and you might end up with a class full of rockets with iffy construction. When in doubt, I'd recommend everyone have the same kit, so that you can build with them, step by step, and you can guide when it's time to set the parts down to let the glue dry while you do something else with them.

Finally, consider the size and type of field you will launch from. If you're flying on a small field, you'll either want a rocket that doesn't go too high (which is largely due to the motors you use, but will also depend on the rocket - a lightweight, thin rocket will fly much higher than a fatter or heavier rocket), or you may want to select a rocket that uses streamer recovery instead of a parachute. If you're likely to land on a hard surface, such as rocky ground or asphalt, you'll probably want to go with parachute recovery*.

Whatever kits you decide on, I highly recommend building one yourself a few days before class begins. A lot of experienced builders will modify their rockets slightly, changing out the shock cord for another material, for example. But I would suggest you build according to the instructions, as the kids will build. This will alert you if there's anything you need to be on the lookout for. Are there parts which don't fit together just right? Does it come with a two-piece nose cone which requires plastic cement? Do you have to make your own parachute, and if so, how tricky might it be for little fingers? These are the things you'll want to figure out before you get into the classroom. It's also nice to have a well-built demonstration model to show the kids on the first day. It can be hard to visualize what a pack of parts can really look like when it's assembled, and most bulk packs do not come with a face card with a nice photo of the rocket.

I went with Skill Level 1 kits, preferring balsa fins over plastic or card stock.

*In my case, I had both a small launch area and asphalt, as we launched from a parking lot. The lot would be coned off, but there were still cars parked in the vicinity, and there was the community college roof to be concerned about, not to mention a busy road not too far away. My biggest concern was that road, and though we could launch pretty far back from it, I decided I'd need to keep our altitudes to about 300-350 feet with parachute recovery.

Launch site in the upper left corner lot. We could be nearly 1000 feet from the busy road at bottom, but the width of the site was only about 450 feet. Sometimes there were cars parked next to the building, so we had to pay attention to the wind.

 * * *

I had suspected last year that I'd need all the kids to have the same kit. My suspicions were confirmed after the Estes Alphas I had requested did not arrive, and the first week kids each ended up with different rockets. It was great that they got to build whatever they wanted, but it meant I couldn't guide them through it. There was the issue of kids using too much glue, or trying to stuff a motor mount into the back of a rocket before the glue was dry, or the one kid who glued on his launch lug directly in line with one of his fins, so that the rocket wouldn't be able to go onto the launch rod. (We pulled that one off before the glue had totally dried and got it in the right place, but I might have missed it).

For the second week, we got a pack of the Estes Viking, because it was available at a local hobby shop.

This is a nice little rocket with card stock fins, with a wide variety of fin configurations. Kids could build with three, four, or five fins, and they could be attached in a variety of directions, so that each kid could make a slightly different rocket. (Balsa fins must be attached with the wood grain parallel to the fin leading edge, so there is only one right way to attach a balsa fin).

The Viking is what's called "minimum diameter." It's very narrow - only as wide in diameter as it needs to be to accommodate the rocket motor. Narrow rockets have less aerodynamic drag than larger-diameter rockets. That means they can fly very high - which kids love, but which cost me some money (I'll explain when we get to altitude tracking)! Fortunately, they weren't likely to drift too far. The Viking uses streamer recovery, which isn't ideal for asphalt, but with such a lightweight rocket, hopefully we'd get them all back with minimal damage to the fins and body tubes.

One drawback to the Viking is that the rocket has no motor hook on the back. The motor hook is really convenient for kids, because it snaps into place and keeps the motor from falling out the back of the rocket. The Viking requires a "friction fit," which means you must wrap masking tape around the motor until it's nice and tight - just tight enough that it won't fall out when the ejection charge fires, but not so tight you can't get the motor out and put a new one in when you're done. It's a very fine line, and one I still have a bit of trouble judging. Kids will sometimes have a motor fall out at apogee, or never be able to get the used motor out without damaging the rocket.

Also, because the rocket is minimum diameter, it has no motor mount - the body tube is the motor mount. I really wanted to show the kids as typical a model rocket as possible, with all the parts they're likely to encounter on most builds.

My solution was to put together a quick scratch build, a rocket I called Sounder II.

It had all the basic parts, but I didn't glue the motor mount into place until after the first day. When I was showing the parts of a rocket on day one, before launching, I pulled the motor mount out of Sounder II, showing the centering rings, thrust ring/engine block, motor hook, etc. I then glued it in, showing how this was done.

Sounder II also turned out to be very useful later in the week when talking about stability and rocket design. And it flew very well. It's always good to show kids a few scratch builds - scratch building was pretty standard in the early days of model rocketry, and it's a good confidence builder. A kid who understands stability and how a rocket goes together should eventually be able to learn to design and build his or her own.

Sounder II, with markings for the center of gravity (CG) with an A8-3 motor and a C6-5 motor.
Also marked is the center of pressure (CP). Though the difference is small, the
rocket is stable with the A, and marginal with the C. This will come back later.

On week 3, I went in a different direction - the Quest Astra.

It's a great rocket, but different than a standard Estes Skill Level 1 kit. It has through-the-wall balsa fins, so the kids won't get the fins in the wrong spot. Instead of a rubber shock cord with a paper trifold "tea bag" mount, as is used in Estes rockets, it uses Kevlar thread, tied around the motor mount and passing under the forward centering ring. Some of the kids had a little difficulty with this method. On my own Astra, I was so busy helping the kids with their rockets, I never put the launch lug on mine. I painted it without one. (This wasn't a mistake - I decided it was more important for me to show the kids how to paint than to have one more rocket I could launch with them. You can launch a rocket without a launch lug, but you need a tower or piston launcher. These are advanced launch pads more used for competition rocketry.)

* * *

This year, I went in a different direction. Hoping to avoid any purchasing mistakes, and wanting to make sure I selected a rocket which any of the more experienced kids were unlikely to have built before, I turned to Apogee Components. We built the Apogee Avion.

Apogee has a number of great bulk packs. They're not the cheapest you'll find, but they have a variety of great kits, both of their own and from Quest Aerospace. They carry simple rockets, like the Avion, which has balsa fins, and the Apprentice, with a single-piece plastic "fin can." They also have payload-carrying rockets and even a two-stage bulk pack for the truly ambitious.

Another nice thing about buying bulk packs from Apogee is that you can download a free RockSim file for each rocket they sell. This will allow you to show the design file on rocket simulation/design software, such as RockSim, which is sold by Apogee Components, or OpenRocket, which is free. With simulation software, you can get a rough estimate of how high the rocket will go with different motors, and you can also use it to demonstrate principles of model rocket stability, aerodynamics, and design.

I had thought the Avion looked like a cool little rocket for some time, so I ordered those. As I built the demo model, I discovered a few things. The nose cone came in two parts, so we'd need plastic cement. The shock cord is Kevlar, and is supposed to be anchored to the motor mount. The Kevlar shock cord is also pretty short.

The full length of the Avion shock cord,
when built according to the kit insructions

 A short Kevlar shock cord can be a problem. Because it's not elastic, Kevlar can actually damage the rocket. If the parachute ejects when the rocket is moving too fast - either due to a motor delay which is too long or too short - the force of the parachute opening can pull the shock cord back against the opening at the top of the body tube. Because it is so stiff, this can cause the shock cord to rip through the body tube, causing a long, jagged tear known as a zipper.

A zipper - a jagged tear down the body tube of a rocket, caused by the shock cord.
Image from an Apogee Components YouTube video.

Because I had already known about the Kevlar cord, and I knew some of my students really had trouble with the Quest Astra shock cord last year, I decided we would use some sewing elastic and make an Estes-style paper trifold "tea bag" mount.

An Estes paper trifold shock cord mount, sometimes called a "tea bag mount"

Some experience rocket builders don't like the trifold mount, because they sometimes "fail." In fact, it isn't usually the mount itself that fails - it's that the shock cord breaks. A properly-glued paper mount should be quite secure, because wood glue and white glue are said to form a bond that is stronger than the paper tube itself. In reality, I'm sure a well-glued shock cord mount may occasionally come out, but more often than not it's a failure of the shock cord itself.

But first rockets are usually lost or damaged long before that happens. They end up stuck in a tree, breaking because of a poorly-packed parachute, or simply flying so high on a C6-5 motor that they simply "vanish," that an elastic trifold mounted shock cord is probably sufficient. Some elastic cords last decades.

Unfortunately, when I stopped in to check everything the Friday before class began, I discovered that the sewing elastic I'd requested had been forgotten. We'd still use a paper shock cord mount, but just with the Kevlar. Mounting the shock cord near the top of the tube would at least give us a little more length on the shock cord, and if there were a zipper, it wouldn't go more than an inch or two down the tube, stopping at the paper mount.

These Apogee Avions are nice! They are really great fliers - straight up every time. I don't know what it is about them, but I really enjoyed seeing these things launch. Since they're larger than a rocket like the Viking, they don't go as high, and you can keep your eye on them the entire flight (unless you fly on a C motor - then they're capable of reaching 1300 feet - if you've got a large enough field, go for it! Even on A motors, these are exciting rockets to watch. After building a demo version and one each week with the kids, I now have four of them!

In an upcoming post, we'll talk about the building process.

Click here for the next Rocket Camp post.

Follow me on Twitter.

Like my Facebook page for blog updates and extra stuff.

Nerves

I'm nervous about this weekend's upcoming CMASS rocket launch in Amesbury, MA.

At first, I was nervous about joining the club. What if I have nobody to talk to at launches? What if they don't like me?

That's just the kind of social anxiety you develop when you move to a new city and it's hard to meet people. But rocketeers have the reputation of being very friendly folk - if you like rockets, they like you. And I've been welcomed by some of the club members, chatted with a few of them online, so even though I haven't met any of them in person, I feel good about meeting some fellow rocketeers. Joining a club is a great way to expand your rocketry experience and meet new people.

No, what has me nervous now is simply that I haven't launched in a long time, and I am hoping to launch a few rockets I've built but never flown.

The Quest Quadrunner was finished last December.

This beautiful Quest Aerospace kit is about 3 feet tall, just under 2 inches in diameter, and flies on a cluster of four standard B or C motors. And I put a lot of work into this rocket - and had some moments where I thought my work would be ruined. But I really like the way it came out.

The Quest Big Dog was also finished last spring.

This rocket is the first I've completed with a 29mm motor mount, big enough for an F or G motor (or a small H, but that would probably be ill-advised with this rocket, and would require high power certification in any case). It's another beauty, and like the Quadrunner, has never flown.

Then there's the Estes Cosmic Explorer with an E motor mount.

I have a standard Cosmic Explorer, and I have in fact built one with an E mount before. It flew beautifully, and then disappeared in fast-moving high altitude winds. But this second attempt at an E Cosmic Explorer is perhaps the best work I've ever done on a rocket, and I have not launched it yet, so I really want to see how it performs.

The Quest Magnum Sport Loader has flown before - one time.

Magnum Sport Loader on the left, next to its Quest brothers

This is yet another beautiful Quest rocket capable of carrying a payload - the chamber is in fact large enough to loft two eggs at once. It's a two-motor cluster which has a dramatic flight.

I love these rockets. But, apart from the Sport Loader, they are much larger rockets than I've flown before. It's part of the reason I hesitated attempting to launch several times in Bloomington.

They're by far not the largest rockets you can build and launch. Amesbury is a high power field, so there will be much larger, more complicated, and higher-flying rockets than these. But they're the largest I've attempted so far, and I'm nervous about them.

What if the parachute does not eject? What if it gets tangled and doesn't open? What if my clusters don't ignite simultaneously? What if they have a hard landing and break on the first flight?

These are the things which make me nervous. It's because I haven't flown in a while, and because I'm new at this whole mid power thing. And it's because these rockets have been waiting on the shelf so long, I'm worried they won't make it back, because I've grown attached to them.

But these rockets are made to fly. I'm confident I built them well. I built them with care. I just need to get out there and do it.

Failure is part of the learning process. Sometimes your rockets will crash. Sometimes you'll lose them. But if you're not willing to risk a loss, you'll miss out on the excitement of a successful flight.

Someone on one of the Facebook model rocketry forums recently posted a picture of his first rocket - the Estes Crossfire ISX - a great, high-flying little rocket.

Image from JonRocket.com

And he confessed that he was nervous about launching it. I could understand - he'd done a beautiful job building it, and now it was time to strap a motor in it an launch it into the sky??

But that is why we do this. We don't take unnecessary risks - sometimes you put a less powerful motor in than at other times. Sometimes you have to scrub a launch. But we launch these rockets, because that's what this is all about.

But, get out there, rocket n00bs. Build those rockets - then go out and fly them.

Like my Facebook page for blog updates.

Igniter Tip - Q2G2's Keep Falling Out?

Edit:

If you look at the comment section below, you'll see a few rocketeers have corrected my big dumb mistake here. Turns out, I was mis-reading the instructions for the Q2G2 igniter, and inserting it all wrong in the first place.

My initial reaction was to delete this post. But I've decided to leave it up for two reasons.

1 - It's a good example of a n00b mistake - not reading the directions.

2 - It's full of pretty pictures.

For the correct method of installing Q2G2 igniters, see this post by Chris Michielssen.

My apologies for not doing my homework!

. . . 

In May, I went to launch some rockets with Chad. I took along several I'd built but never flown before. It was breezy, and I lost a few. Against my better judgment, I put the Quest Quadrunner on the launch pad.

This beauty of a rocket from Quest Aerospace is a four-motor cluster capable of pretty high altitudes for a model rocket. It took me a long time and some heartache to build, but in the end it turned out really beautiful.

I installed four standard EC6-7 motors in the rocket. But clusters are tricky. The trick is getting all the motors to ignite at once. Estes motors (or "engines") all come with igniters, but they're not as reliable as you want for a cluster rocket.

There are a couple problems that prevent Estes igniters from being ideal for clusters. One is their size - they're pretty small and don't have much reach. But the main problem is that they require too much current.

Getting one Estes igniter to fire is one thing, but when you have the current from your launch controller split between two or more igniters, the total current reaching each igniter tip is less and less. What can then happen is that sometimes one motor might fire, and take the rocket with it, ripping out the other igniters before the other motors light.

Quest Aerospace has a much better igniter for this job. It's called the Q2G2 igniter.

These were off the market for a while, but they're back. The supply still can't quite meet the demand, but they are on the market.

Two things make this igniter much better for cluster rockets.

The first, is that the igniter has a black pyrogen on the tip.

This is a flammable substance. When the igniter tip heats up, the pyrogen creates a small flash or flame, aiding in the motor's ignition.

Estes igniters used to have a pyrogen, but they stopped making them like that in the last year. I still have a few, but I save them for special occasions.

But what makes the Q2G2 an even better igniter for cluster ignition is that they are low current igniters. That means it takes much less electric current to make the tips hot enough to ignite the rocket motors. You can send the same amount of current through several Q2G2 igniters as through one Estes igniter, and they will all fire pretty much simultaneously.

I put the Quadrunner on the pad, inserted the safety key into my launch controller, counted nervously down from 5, pressed the ignition button... And there was this loud puffing sound signifying ignition.

And then the rocket just sat there. Fortunately! I'm sure I would have lost it otherwise!

But what had happened?

As you can see in the above photos, the Q2G2 comes packed in a little red straw. This is actually what keeps the igniter installed in the motor before ignition. This is a different method than the plastic plug method seen in the Estes igniter photos.

Quest Q2G2 installed in an Estes C6-7 motor

I really like the straw method. It allows you to insert the igniter until you can really feel that it's in contact with the propellant.

I looked at the rocket. The Q2G2 igniters - all of them - had slipped downward a little inside their straws. The straws were blackened, and the puff of the pyrogen had actually ejected them from the nozzles of the rocket motors without igniting any of the propellant.

OK, so that saved me losing a beautiful rocket on its first flight.

On other occasions, I've used multiple Q2G2 igniters successfully, but only after fiddling around with them, then placing the rocket gingerly on the pad, hoping nothing would disturb the igniters before I pressed the launch button. Then I'd have to rush to launch the rocket before any of them fell out.

Rushing is not a good idea with rockets.

I've got a big launch coming up in a large field, and I'd love to see the Quadrunner finally take flight, and have a reliable ignition system securely in place.

If you've had trouble keeping your Q2G2 igniters staying in place, here's a way to prevent them falling out.

The problem isn't the straw. It fits into the nozzle of the rocket motor just fine. The problem is that the igniter itself can pass too easily through the straw, slipping out before you press the launch button.

Here's what you do:

Cut a very small bit of masking tape.

Wrap the masking tape around the twisted part of the Q2G2 igniter. You don't want to cover the pyrogen head, obviously, and you want to leave the free ends of the igniter free to bend them in whatever direction you need to to hook the leads up to the launch controller.

You want just enough masking tape around the twisted part of the igniter so that it can still pass all the way through the straw and come into contact with the propellant, but that it will have enough of a friction fit that it won't fall out.

Now the igniter is securely installed. Don't worry - it isn't "stuck." When the motor ignites, it will eject the straw and the igniter. But it will ensure you get reliable ignition on as many motors you have in your cluster rocket!

Note: These pictures are for illustration only. You should not install the igniters in your rocket motors until you are on the flying field, preparing for launch!

Edit: As Rich Holmes correctly points out, it's fine to install an igniter at home. It won't fire unless the launch controller is hooked up to it. What I should have said is that you should install the motor in the rocket first, then install the igniter.

Myself, I wait to install igniters until I'm at the pad. I transport my rockets in a big box full of newspaper, and I figure some of the igniters will fall out if I install them at home.

Like my Facebook page for blog updates.