Good Rocket Designs

[TheRocketman]

Hello.

This will be my first post on this forum. I am new to rocketry but yet I am very fascinated. Since this is also my first time working on a rocket I will need to construct a design. To aid this process can anyone guide me to some good designs of rockets that would help.

Thank you in advance. Adrian

 

[DAllen]

Hello.

This will be my first post on this forum. I am new to rocketry but yet I am very fascinated. Since this is also my first time working on a rocket I will need to construct a design. To aid this process can anyone guide me to some good designs of rockets that would help.

Thank you in advance. Adrian

Sounds like you want to jump right into what we call "scratch building." My suggestion is to head on over to Rocket Reviews and check out lots of different designs there and find reviews that indicate what people think of as a "good" flier and go from there. Next, get yourself either RockSim or OpenRocket and start designing. Be sure to hang out here and ask questions. Find a local club and check out their stuff. Good luck!



-Dave

 

[TheRocketman]

Thank you Dave I appreciate the help, I intend on becoming a member of the rocketry community.

 

[powderburner]

Have you looked at the links to info that are posted in the beginners thread?

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=539

There is a TON of information to be absorbed there, especially the old Estes stuff

https://www2.estesrockets.com/pdf/2819_Estes_Model_Rocketry_Technical_Manual.pdf

Apogee rocketry has a lot of info packed into their old newsletters which are all available free online at the Apogee website.
Also, there are old rocketry catalogs, kit plans, and magazines at several sites


https://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/index.htm
https://ninfinger.org/rockets/rockets.html
https://www.rocketshoppe.com/
https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/rockets.html

A 'good' rocket design is whatever looks good to YOU. There have already been a huge number of configurations built and flown, it's going to be hard for you to come up with something truly new and different, but go for it!!

 

[TheRocketman]

Thank you for your information aswell, looks like I have a lot of reading to do !

 

[GregGleason]

This book is a great resource and it is the Handbook of Model Rocketry, 7th Edition.

Greg

 

[SteveF]

This book is a great resource and it is the Handbook of Model Rocketry, 7th Edition.

Greg

as is this one
https://www.apogeerockets.com/design_book.asp

 

[bjphoenix]

The biggest things that you have to worry about are a rocket's size vs. the engines that you intend to use in it, and its aerodynamic stability. There have been a ton of rocket kits designed/sold/built in the past 50 years, in all shapes and sizes, so you can go from the experience of others. Find some designs similar to what you want, adapt them to what you want, buy the parts and have at it. It is reasonable to buy a similar kit and then change what you want to change, or you can just buy all of the individual parts yourself. Sometimes buying a complete kit will be cheaper though. There are several ways to test your design for stability, both before and after building, but definitely do this before you launch it. There are now some good computer simulation tools that you can work with. I built lots of scratch built designs when I first started in model rocketry over 40 years ago, so it is reasonable for you to do it too.

 

[BABAR]

Welcome to rocketry and the Forum.

For your own safety as well as those around your launch area, if you are really completely "new" to model rocketry, I'd encourage you to buy and build at least one or two skill level 1 kits before you start scratch building. It's not that scratch building is that difficult, but you should have an appreciation of what a "regular" rocket builds, finishes, and flies like before you go off on your own.

Just as important is to see if there are any local launch clubs where you can meet people with some experience. For the most part rocketeers are pretty friendly, most have even had all their shots.

You can do pretty well at most local hobby stores (particularly stores with 40% off coupons!) getting a starter kit that will have a launch pad, an electric igniter system, one or two rockets to build (or possibly RTF-- Ready to Fly.) I've found that buying the set is often cheaper than buying these components individually anyway. Some options include Estes Tandem X launch set (has one RTF rocket and one you have to build), Solar Scouts Launch, and Taser Launch Set. I'm sure Quest has some good stuff to, just not as familiar with them. (And no, I'm not a paid consultant, LOL.)


I'll echo previous posts, Stine's book and Van Milligan's book are very good resources to read (and RE-read) BEFORE you start doing your own designs.

Tom

 

[TheRocketman]

Babar I went to the local library today and signed out several books about rocketry and model rocketry , I haven't built a rocket yet but I am starting to learn about nozzles and how rockets work and all that stuff. I will hopefully start building rockets soon.

 

[JStarStar]

Both books recommended are very good ones.

I will second the suggestion to pick up a starter set -- the Tandem-X style set with one ready-to-fly plastic rocket and one build-it-yourself kit along with the ignition and launch equipment would probably be a good idea. Most all the major manufacturers put out good basic kits which would be ideal for this purpose.

Building one or two basic kits gives you an idea of the essential construction of rockets, how and why they work, all that kind of thing. Then, when you go through the design books, you will understand, "oh yeah, shock cord mount, I know where that is on the Alpha kit I just built." Model rockets are not tremendously complex but they do include some little details which are crucial to successful flight.

That way, when you jump into designing your own rockets, you will have a good grasp of the basics and develop your own sense of what will and will not work.

 

[jpummil]

A third here!

A small expenditure in a starter kit will give you a 100x return on investment in knowledge and experience. Once you see how a basic kit works, things become very clear with respect to scratch builds, upscaling, staging, clustering, etc.

Welcome to the fold :dark:

 

[TheRocketman]

A third here!

A small expenditure in a starter kit will give you a 100x return on investment in knowledge and experience. Once you see how a basic kit works, things become very clear with respect to scratch builds, upscaling, staging, clustering, etc.

Welcome to the fold :dark:

Thank you. I just actually bought the ESTES Taser just to see how these rockets work. So far i just took it out of the box , so wish me luck on this adventure that is rocketry.

 

[StefanJ]

Another fascinating activity:

Look through the winners of the "Design of the Month" contest that Estes ran from the early 1960s to 1999 or so:

https://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/eirp.htm

There are a lot of cool designs in there.

 

[jflis]

Another fascinating activity:

Look through the winners of the "Design of the Month" contest that Estes ran from the early 1960s to 1999 or so:

https://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/eirp.htm

There are a lot of cool designs in there.

Ditto the FlisKits past Design of the Month contest entries