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I don't fully follow your argument here. What do you mean by "pulled...by the inertia of the sections"? How does the charge create whatever effect you're discussing here?

If the Sun were the size of a Basketball, the Earth would be half the diameter of a BB (2.2 mm), and would be 26m/86ft away (the distance from the center of one basket to the other on a Basketball court). Jupiter would be 25 mm in diameter (2/3 the size of a ping-pong ball), and would be 135m...

You guys are way overthinking this. A fully charged Lead-Acid battery is around 12.8V (different sources give slightly different voltages). Yes, when charging the voltage goes up to 14.4V - but as soon as you disconnect the charger, it'll start dropping and will stabilize around 12.8V. This is...

Hmmm, I wonder what a small asteroid would look like if it traveled so close to the sun that the heat fractured it into three pieces. Nahh, couldn't look anything like this.

If you have no hope of getting your hand down to the eyebolt, then a quick link is simply deadweight with no advantages - you'll never be able to unscrew it to replace the bridle anyway. In this case, consider making the bridle a loop long enough to go down to the eyebolt and up above the top...

From the initial post:

There are lots of opinions on what "round up" should be in this context, so I chose not to say. I think most would agree that using the minimum amount that worked in ground testing is probably too little for reliable ejection; how much to round up, however, is a subject that can create intense...

I'd certainly round that charge up, before calling it a day. You really don't want a charge that barely pulls out the parachute, because at the field things are "different" - the humidity or temperature may change, making your nose cone tighter. You may not pack the chute as small, so there's...

OK, perhaps a mechanical solution to your problem is appropriate. I second the recommendations above to use a DVM and measure resistance rather than an LED. I think you'll find it much more reliable. You can get a really cheap device (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FN91625), perhaps with a set...

Wouldn't KiCad (which you said you had learned) be appropriate, if not massive overkill? I mean, for the most part you're gonna be drawing lines and boxes (wires and (altimeters, batteries, switches, etc)), so even something with primitive drawing primitives like PowerPoint should be...

I remember my biggest disappointment going to KSC. I walked up to one of the rockets in the rocket garden and looked up the engine bell, expecting to see wondrous high-tech things. What I saw most closely resembled a large coffee can with holes punched in the end. I know now that was the...

Filed mine on paper, haven't seen anything from either the feds or state. Fun fact: E-filing doesn't go straight to the IRS. It goes straight to Intuit (or H&R Block, or whoever you bought from), who records all of your financial information for their marketing purposes and who then...

For cardboard and plywood, plain old yellow wood glue (Titebond II is my preference) works very well. Try a test some time: glue a fin onto a body tube, let the glue dry for a day, then rip the fin off. You'll likely find that the glue line is in fine shape, and the cardboard failed. If the...

I would guess that the leakage comes from tiny pinholes between layers. Perhaps the easiest solution is to find something that will plug those pinholes - some thinned wood glue swirled around to coat the inside then poured out might work, or perhaps melted wax (be careful that it's not so hot...

Why not do both? Level 2 - build 2 rockets. Gives you twice the chance of succeeding on your chosen day. Of course, when you get to Level 3, that could start getting expensive....

>>> Question: Can a functional, durable homebrew tracker be made for substantially less money than it can be purchased? Let's start with "Functional". For some set of requirements, the answer is "yes". Here's a $11 GPS with a serial output that might hook right up to one of these $20...

9V batteries are good, but an expensive way to solve the problem. They don't last very many launches considering their price because of that high internal resistance, and the fact that they're made up of a half-dozen tiny little batteries. Perhaps a better solution might be...

Well, I don't have a recommendation for you; but when I went through this a few years ago I learned a few things. 1. Most vacs use bronze bushings for the motor bearings, rather than sealed ball bearings. I don't know enough to knowledgeably argue which is theoretically better, but... 2. Most...

I have one of those big red buttons in my "to-do" box; I agree that it looks like a lot of fun. Wiring the LED to the "Arm" switch would be a great way to raise the tension level just before launch - especially if you made it blink.