End of Year Video, Upcoming Interviews, Final Launch, News, Etc.

At the end of the year, for the past two years, I've published a slow motion launch compilation video on my YouTube channel. It can take a while to compile all the video, trim everything down to just the launches, keep it short enough that people will watch it, find music, etc.

This year's video already contains 149 individual launches, and I have one more in Maine this weekend. The video as I've trimmed it down is still nearly a half hour long - far too long. I may have to do something I was hoping to avoid: take a few clips out.

Most of the video was shot on my camcorder, so the slo mo isn't great. But a couple of times, Joe Barnard, the guy you may have heard of who's working on a project to build an actively stabilized, finless model rocket which lands under thrust (like the SpaceX and Blue Origin vehicles), came along with me.

Echo, one of Joe Barnard's test vehicles, lifting off at sunset. Note the lack of fins.

Joe is a professional videographer, and last time he shot some super slow motion video. Some of this video is so slow, I've actually had to speed it up 2, 4, even 8 times, just to keep it from being too long.

Here's an example:

This isn't even the slowest video!

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I've continued uploading videos in the Quest Superbird building series. What started as a simple model rocket build has become... more interesting. The kit threw me a few curve balls, so I've had to make some adaptations. But it's a good learning experience for anybody who opens a kit and finds some inconsistencies. You can see the playlist here.

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Tonight, we're recording a new episode of The Rocketry Show podcast. We'll be talking with John Boren, designer and head of R&D at Estes Industries.

I'm really excited for this one. On The Rocketry Show, we talk a lot about high power rocketr. But tonight, we'll get to chat with someone from the oldest model rocket company on the planet - and one who designs low and mid power rockets, no less. I'm hoping I'll have more to contribute to the conversation on this episode.

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Saturday, I'm going to my final launch of the year, up in Maine. This will only be my sixth launch this year. I need to plan out next season a bit better.

I still have to decide what to fly this weekend. The initial plan is to fly anything that's been built but not flown, and a few things that only flew once last year.

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Then, Sunday, we'll record another episode of The Rocketry Show, this time discussing my recent series on the weight spray paint can add to a model rocket, and how that can affect the flight.

Once that series is done, I plan to go back to my unfinished series about rocket stability for Rocket N00bs, from which I hope to springboard into a discussion of multistage rockets, simple design, and building from scratch - three topics I've avoided so far simply because I knew the stability series was incomplete.

And I'll be addressing a topic I should have covered much earlier on in the life of this blog - model rocket safety!

Winter seems like a good time to cover some of these concepts. Plenty of time before next flying season. And plenty of time to build more rockets.

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

First Flight of the Ceres B with Camera Payload

At my first club launch in April, I flew a newly-finished, scratch-built rocket: The Ceres B booster with the "ICU2" camera payload bay.

The original design is from Mike Westerfield's book, Make: Rockets: Down-to-Earth Rocket Science. It's a largish, BT-60-based rocket (about 1.637 inches in diameter), with four trapezoidal fins and a fatter, BT-80 (2.6 inches) payload section. The payload houses a hidden camera, with plenty of room left for an altimeter - and even an egg or two if you want to launch that.

The camera view port

The hidden USB spy cam tucked inside. The camera only cost about $5.

You can tape a miniature camera to the side of most rockets and get some fun video. What I like about this rocket is that the camera is part of the design; it's hidden from view and isn't just stuck on the side.

The rocket, as designed, is a basic model rocket with a 24mm diameter motor tube, and can fly on either D or E black powder motors.

I had quickly built a 3-finned version some time ago, and lost it on its first flight with an Estes E9-6 motor. I lost the payload earlier than that, on an ill-advised flight of another rocket I'd designed. The payload was on its own, far too large parachute, and the wind carried it away.

I decided to soup up the design a little, replacing the traditional motor hook with an Estes Quick Release screw-on motor retainer, and leaving out the engine block or thrust ring. With a nice, long motor tube and no hook to get in the way, the rocket is now very versatile, and can fly on anything from a D12 black powder motor up to F and even a few G composite motors, giving it an altitude range of 440-3100 feet.

The fins were built up from three pieces of material, making them nice and strong, and have a fin root tab for through-the-wall construction, firmly attaching them to the rocket.

The fins also have beveled leading and trailing edges, and are radially-tapered, meaning they get thinner toward the tip as they radiate out from the body of the rocket. At the roots, the fins are about 1/8 inch thick, and about 1/16 inch thick at the tips. This not only makes them more aerodynamically efficient, it also looks really cool on the finished rocket.

Apart from a couple problems with the finished paint job, I'm really pleased with the way this rocket turned out, and plan to try flying it on many different motors.

My order of AeroTech composite motors did not arrive in time for my first launch, so I had to use an Estes E9-6 for the first flight. I still got a really good video of it, and the rocket came back with no damage.

Jolly Logic has even put the video on their website, because I used both the Altimeter Two and the new Chute Release in this video.

I'll show some of the things I did to build this rocket the way it is in a future post. If you're interested in building the design, check out Mike Westerfield's book - even built as a basic model rocket, it's a good one.

For now, here's the video:

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2015 Rocket Launch Slo Mo Supercut

Last year, I posted a video compilation of all the rocket launches I'd filmed up to that point, played in slow motion. I decided this will be an annual thing.

I got less video than I wanted to, but that turns out to have been a blessing. They're not all my rockets - some are from the Rocket Camp kids I taught last summer, and some are other CMASS members' rockets.

I missed my self-imposed deadline of December 31 for this year's video. It was a lot harder to trim down this year, because there are about 84 individual launches in this video!

But it's done. Enjoy.

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Rocket Trouble

At my last launch, I had a few problems. Most of my flights went poorly - especially my three cluster rockets.

I'm working on a post on figuring out what when wrong when you've had a bad flight, and taking steps to prevent it happening again.

In the meantime, enjoy this video of my launch troubles.

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William Shatner's Model Rocketry Short

This is too good not to share - William Shatner in a 1977 model rocketry short film for Estes.

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Copperhead First Flight

A year ago, I did a fundraiser for the Bloomington Playwrights Project, called The Playoffs. As an incentive to donors, I offered to design and build rockets for anyone who donated in my name.

Longtime blog readers may remember a rocket I built, originally called "Keith's Rocket," then renamed the Copperhead.

It turned out really nice.

The design

The finished rocket

I liked the results so much, I'm now building one for myself.

I gave the rocket to Keith, but then moved to Boston, so I never got to see it fly... until he sent me the video.

So exciting to see one of your own designs get launched!

I designed this rocket with only about six months' experience as a rocketeer. Even if you're a rocket n00b, you can design and build your own rockets, and sometimes you come up with something really cool.

I can't wait to finish mine. I've even decided to add a booster, making it a two-stage rocket.

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You Never Forget Your First Launch

I just found a video I love.

This guy gets a launch set with two ready-to-fly rockets. He unboxes them, then goes out to launch.

What an awesome birthday present - and one I'm guessing he wasn't expecting. I love this guy's enthusiasm - and the fact that he follows the directions!

I just love it when someone discovers rocketry for the first time.

2014 Slo Mo Launch Supercut

My first annual slo-mo launch supercut is finished! Here are most of the launches I have done since I first got started in July of this last year. The first three are choppy, but after that I realized I had the 60 frames per second function on the camera.

I was worried I wouldn't have enough footage of larger rockets to make a good video. Smaller rockets are less impressive on video than larger ones. But I realized, once I slowed the footage down, that in slow motion, even tiny Estes rockets look almost majestic.

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