My updated project

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
What practical rocketry experience do you have to date?

Have you considered finishing your degrees, then undertaking this project?
 
What practical rocketry experience do you have to date?

Have you considered finishing your degrees, then undertaking this project?

The most experience I have in any type of rocketry is sugar propellant. That's what I do the most and do best.
 
In your page you referenced using active guidance. What experience do you have in this? Have you done a 2 stage rocket anywhere close to this scale?
 
Am I the only one that is getting annoyed by this? Heck, I'd almost donate if he went away. If you think this post is inappropriate I will delete.
Bill
 
In your page you referenced using active guidance. What experience do you have in this? Have you done a 2 stage rocket anywhere close to this scale?

Yes, like I said, I've built many sugar rockets before. I've only built one 2 stage before just to see if I could do it. Fortunately it flew well.
 
Listen, it is great to be young, have goals, and a sense of direction! A lot of youth these days are lacking that. However, you are just in high school and already talking about getting a doctorate degree. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Don't get ahead of yourself or it is very likely you'll never finish. Furthermore, there are a lot of issues with what you are saying you will do in the linked crowdfunding page. For example, you say that you'll be launching a 100kft+ bound rocket at a site where they have a 50kft wavier.

Plug the holes. Climb the stairs one step at a time. I wish you the best in your future aspirations and hope you pull off all of your dreams!
 
Listen, it is great to be young, have goals, and a sense of direction! A lot of youth these days are lacking that. However, you are just in high school and already talking about getting a doctorate degree. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Don't get ahead of yourself or it is very likely you'll never finish. Furthermore, there are a lot of issues with what you are saying you will do in the linked crowdfunding page. For example, you say that you'll be launching a 100kft+ bound rocket at a site where they have a 50kft wavier.

Plug the holes. Climb the stairs one step at a time. I wish you the best in your future aspirations and hope you pull off all of your dreams!

Yes, I know that. I also know that I have to get a certificate of authorization from the FAA. You think I don't know that?
 
Are you trying this with KNO3, as in a sugar motor? Or the more conventional APCP like you mentioned in your first attempt?
Elaborate on:
"It will use a 2 stage Kno3 propellant".
I'm sure you mean 2 stage rocket with Kno3 propellant yes?
 
Listen, it is great to be young, have goals, and a sense of direction! A lot of youth these days are lacking that. However, you are just in high school and already talking about getting a doctorate degree. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Don't get ahead of yourself or it is very likely you'll never finish. Furthermore, there are a lot of issues with what you are saying you will do in the linked crowdfunding page. For example, you say that you'll be launching a 100kft+ bound rocket at a site where they have a 50kft wavier.

Plug the holes. Climb the stairs one step at a time. I wish you the best in your future aspirations and hope you pull off all of your dreams!

.................As said by one who very successfully pulled off a "public bath". Heck the SSTS, Sugar Shot to Space folks haven't been anywhere near 100k but they are laudably and methodically proceeding very carefully with a very smart crew. They've
been at it a long time too. Persistence is what counts. Kurt
 
Are you trying this with KNO3, as in a sugar motor? Or the more conventional APCP like you mentioned in your first attempt?
Elaborate on:
"It will use a 2 stage Kno3 propellant".
I'm sure you mean 2 stage rocket with Kno3 propellant yes?

Yes I mean sugar
 
.................As said by one who very successfully pulled off a "public bath". Heck the SSTS, Sugar Shot to Space folks haven't been anywhere near 100k but they are laudably and methodically proceeding very carefully with a very smart crew. They've
been at it a long time too. Persistence is what counts. Kurt

Quite frankly I think they will go far beyond 100k. That's a big rocket they're building. They're probably looking for 300k.
 
Whatever happened to the fellow that told us years ago that he was going to launch a satellite into orbit from scratch?

Or the kid that was going to build the full scale V2 some time back.
I really want to see the 2 stage sugar motor. Not rocket mind ya, but 2 stage motor.
Next revision it will be a BP or H2O motor. Color me intrigued.
 
Or the kid that was going to build the full scale V2 some time back.
I really want to see the 2 stage sugar motor. Not rocket mind ya, but 2 stage motor.
Next revision it will be a BP or H2O motor. Color me intrigued.

No I'm set on sugar. I already have all the propellant I need lying in my shop.
 
Yes, I know that. I also know that I have to get a certificate of authorization from the FAA. You think I don't know that?

I think there is a lot you do not know. That was made obviously clear by your presentation. However, that's what learning and gaining experience will eliminate.

If you're close or making the trek to FAR, why not just go to Black Rock... where they have 100kft+ altitude waiver's already in existence? BTW, in the past, I reached out to F.A.R to inquire into launching higher than their current wavier and was met with a lack of interest in trying to increase their wavier.

Again, I wish you the best of luck and hope you succeed.
 
Last edited:
.................As said by one who very successfully pulled off a "public bath". Heck the SSTS, Sugar Shot to Space folks haven't been anywhere near 100k but they are laudably and methodically proceeding very carefully with a very smart crew. They've
been at it a long time too. Persistence is what counts. Kurt

I am sorry, I did not understand the bolded part.
 
All Class 3 projects flown during BALLS or at any other time at Black Rock need their own waiver.

I was referring to BR because it is known that it is possible to fly over 100kft there. As in they have had 100kft+ altitude waviers before and are currently still able to fly that high. I was not commenting on him being able to get a waiver for his personal project, but merely the location in which it is possible to fly that high. But I can see where the confusion originates from in my earlier post.
 
I think there is a lot you do not know. That was made obviously clear by your presentation. However, that's what learning and gaining experience will eliminate.

If you're close or making the trek to FAR, why not just go to Black Rock... where is the waiver already in existence? BTW, in the past, I reached out to F.A.R to inquire into launching higher than their current wavier and was met with a lack of interest in trying to increase their wavier.

Again, I wish you the best of luck and hope you succeed.

I just feel F.A.R is a safer place to launch a rocket. There's always someone there in case of an emergency or in need of help. You're all alone out at black rock. And I think it's a bit farther than FAR
 
It's a hobby, quit begging and get a job to pay for it like the rest of us do.
 
I just feel F.A.R is a safer place to launch a rocket. There's always someone there in case of an emergency or in need of help. You're all alone out at black rock. And I think it's a bit farther than FAR

But you understand that you will need to coordinate with the club far in advance, and most likely get your own FAA waiver, correct? And you do understand that the FAA could deny the waiver? The persons responsible for safety at FAR will want to have details of your recovery system, so make sure everything is documented.

BTW, FAR's waiver for class 2 rockets is 50,000 feet, and for class 3 it's 22,000 feet.
 
Last edited:
I think it's great you have a dream of becoming an astronaut. And I also think it's good you have a specific quantifiable goal, because goals are more concrete than dreams, and they provide a method of measuring success. What I don't see is a plan. It's difficult to achieve a goal without a plan, especially a very ambitions goal. I doubt you will get the funding for a goal without a plan.

You need a roadmap to get you from where you are now (having built some sugar motors and flown some rockets) to your very ambitious goal (flying a sugar motor rocket to 100k feet). Break it out into incremental steps and a series of smaller goals leading to the big one. That's how you eat an elephant -- one bite at time. And that's also how engineering is done.

Here are a few goals you can use to work toward the big one.

Cert level 1
Cert level 2
Cert level 3
Dual deploy flight
2-stage flight with air start of 2nd stage
Electronic tracking of rocket for recovery
Incrementally larger sugar motors -- level 1, level 2, level 3

Those a just a few ideas for where you might begin, but obviously there are a TON more details you will need to plan out to achieve your goal. Best of luck mapping it out into a plan that's worthy of funding. Until then, you are going to have a lot of trouble getting anyone to pony up for a dream and a goal with no plan for success.
 
No the chemicals to make a motor

Going from 29/38/54mm sugar motors to 10" sugar motors isn't just a simple scale up. I think you're looking at a multi-year project just to get your 10" sugar motors working at a greater than 50% failure rate. That ignores the vehicle and flight control aspects. Look at the work Jim Jarvis has done on his "a little guidance" project so see what its like to work on a major project for someone that knows what hes doing and how long its taking to get to his end goals. He launches M to M 2 stage rockets like I launch G to G rockets. Mix in whatever schooling you'll be doing and you'll see why people think that what you're proposing is unreachable within the timeline you've listed without a large team of knowledgeable mentors.
 
I was referring to BR because it is known that it is possible to fly over 100kft there. As in they have had 100kft+ altitude waviers before and are currently still able to fly that high. I was not commenting on him being able to get a waiver for his personal project, but merely the location in which it is possible to fly that high. But I can see where the confusion originates from in my earlier post.

I was reading exactly what you posted: "why not just go to Black Rock... where the waiver is already in existence?"
Now I see you've edited you original post slightly (to not make sense).

For a project of this magnitude, the FAA has to review the rocket and all operations before it will grant a waiver. The BALLS waiver doesn't cover Class 3 projects. Next, the team has to convince TRA that the project is within the limitations of the Research Safety code and it will be reviewed by the Class 3 committee before it can be flown at BALLS. If they don't approve, the team can attempt to secure permission from the BLM to fly it at another date and pay the fees. They will be self-insured.

I've secured a 145Kft waiver at our launch site in NM in the past with a 7NM radius. The current Class 2 standing waiver is 75Kft. This potential rocket project would never get permission to launch there. I believe that will be the same result at FAR.
 
But you understand that you will need to coordinate with the club far in advance, and most likely get your own FAA waiver, correct? And you do understand that the FAA could deny the waiver? The persons responsible for safety at FAR will want to have details of your recovery system, so make sure everything is documented.

BTW, FAR's waiver for class 2 rockets is 50,000 feet, and for class 3 it's 22,000 feet.

Yes I'm aware of that.
 
Back
Top