rocketsonly
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Hello. Here's a little article written by our very own team member, Robby Hardesty. The guy incharge of the Dallas Area Rocket Society's (DARS) "Shroudlines" (newsletter) asked us at the last meeting to write an article about ourselves. The article should be in the next newsletter if everything goes correctly.
Every year, thousands of students join together with high hopes and aspirations of success in the Team America Rocket Challenge (TARC), an annual rocket competition held in the Great Meadows, Virginia.
In previous years, objectives were set for teams to construct a dual-stage rocket that traveled to a precise altitude carrying a payload of two raw eggs. Teams competing in the 2004-2005 competition are to design a rocket vehicle carrying a payload for a precise duration of time; bonus points will be awarded for two stages or for two eggs, rather than the standard single stage or single egg.
Three teenage boys, Matthew Udomphol, Marvin Edwards, and Robby Hardesty, residents of Dallas, Texas, make up one of these many teams aiming for the hefty scholarships awarded to the top ten finishers, and a chance to learn more about the incredibly interesting world of rocketry.
Interest in the competition began when Matthews 9th grade science teacher, Mike Krueger, mentioned that Greenhill School, were the boys attend, was looking for a science-related competition in the Upper School. Matthew instantly remembered about TARC, having seen a short broadcast about the competition a few years prior on CNN. In fact, he had already pushed to start a team in the middle school, but was soon discouraged after hearing about the incredible amount of money needed to fund a TARC team. After looking around for a teacher sponsor, he finally found Michelle Williams, Upper School chemistry teacher, and all of the components of a team began to fall into place.
Robby Hardesty and Marvin Edwards were quick to team up with Matthew and were ready to represent Greenhill School in the 04-05 TARC competition.
In an attempt to provide funds, the three boys created Rocketguts.com, an online store providing custom centering rings, fins, and vinyl at very low prices. The idea of an online store came one day while the team was at Marvins fathers shop, Four Seasons Decorations (www.fsdonline.com). Marvins father, George Edwards, had a CNC table router that the team was using to cut out centering rings for one of their first rockets. Amazed by the quality of the finished product that could not be achieved by a laser cutter, the boys decided to open up a store that could provide rocket makers everywhere an easy alternative to big businesses that seemingly ignore the individual customer, and offer to the public an easy way to purchase custom rings, fins, and vinyl decals. As a small, privately owned store, Rocketguts.com has the ability to value each customer as a very special individual; quality and customer service come first.
The team has already received a few orders, spanning from four small rings, to 120 fins, to a few vinyl letters. They can complete any task, small or large, and in the process, make their customers happy, evident by the multitude of positive feedback received by the small company.
Tom Priest, owner of Rockethead Rockets (www.rocketheadrockets.com), wrote, "Just received my BT 80 with a 3 18mm cluster. All I can say is WOW!!!! They fit the tube prefect and the cluster is also prefect. We are looking at using these in a kit. We are also looking at using them for some of our fins. They are great on prices and the service is great. I am going to send some samples of the fins that I had cut by another vender (not from here) and see what they can do. The price is a quite a bit lower than I am paying right now. If you need centering rings or fins this is the place to get them."
Another happy customer, Pete Simka, wrote, "Great ring cutter! I only had one other ring cutter in mind and he blew me off over and over again. These guys cut em fast and mail em fast! The rings fit my tubes precisely. I cant wait to build!!! Price was right too. No problems shipping or paying and Ill gladly do business with them again! Great job and great asset to ROL AUCTIONS!!!"
Jason Toft (NAR# 82997), very satisfied with his order, wrote to Rocketguts, saying, "I recently received my custom 1/2" 9 ply centering rings from Rocket Guts. They are TOP NOTCH! I highly recommend that you get your parts from them. They can do anything you need them to, and in a hurry! Kudos to Rocket Guts!" To read even more feedback from satisfied customers, simply click on the Customer Feedback on their website.
If you are interested in helping the teams fundraising efforts by ordering centering rings, fins, or vinyl decals, the store can be reached at [email protected]. Team members are normally able to respond to e-mails within a few hours. During the summer, they are able to ship the custom goods in about 3 days; meanwhile during the school year they will only be able to cut orders with a minimum of $25 value, and can ship goods only on the weekends. Everything cut on the CNC router table has a tolerance of .001; almost any material beside thick metal can be cut, including Lexan, birch plywood, and more. Centering ring orders are required to have all specifications to within .001. Fin orders are preferred to have scale drawings and can be sent to them via regular mail. Vinyl orders only require a true type font, which the team can download, and a given height for the letters. Rocketguts.com stocks over 30 different colors. All orders are priced on material cost, time, and quantity.
Every year, thousands of students join together with high hopes and aspirations of success in the Team America Rocket Challenge (TARC), an annual rocket competition held in the Great Meadows, Virginia.
In previous years, objectives were set for teams to construct a dual-stage rocket that traveled to a precise altitude carrying a payload of two raw eggs. Teams competing in the 2004-2005 competition are to design a rocket vehicle carrying a payload for a precise duration of time; bonus points will be awarded for two stages or for two eggs, rather than the standard single stage or single egg.
Three teenage boys, Matthew Udomphol, Marvin Edwards, and Robby Hardesty, residents of Dallas, Texas, make up one of these many teams aiming for the hefty scholarships awarded to the top ten finishers, and a chance to learn more about the incredibly interesting world of rocketry.
Interest in the competition began when Matthews 9th grade science teacher, Mike Krueger, mentioned that Greenhill School, were the boys attend, was looking for a science-related competition in the Upper School. Matthew instantly remembered about TARC, having seen a short broadcast about the competition a few years prior on CNN. In fact, he had already pushed to start a team in the middle school, but was soon discouraged after hearing about the incredible amount of money needed to fund a TARC team. After looking around for a teacher sponsor, he finally found Michelle Williams, Upper School chemistry teacher, and all of the components of a team began to fall into place.
Robby Hardesty and Marvin Edwards were quick to team up with Matthew and were ready to represent Greenhill School in the 04-05 TARC competition.
In an attempt to provide funds, the three boys created Rocketguts.com, an online store providing custom centering rings, fins, and vinyl at very low prices. The idea of an online store came one day while the team was at Marvins fathers shop, Four Seasons Decorations (www.fsdonline.com). Marvins father, George Edwards, had a CNC table router that the team was using to cut out centering rings for one of their first rockets. Amazed by the quality of the finished product that could not be achieved by a laser cutter, the boys decided to open up a store that could provide rocket makers everywhere an easy alternative to big businesses that seemingly ignore the individual customer, and offer to the public an easy way to purchase custom rings, fins, and vinyl decals. As a small, privately owned store, Rocketguts.com has the ability to value each customer as a very special individual; quality and customer service come first.
The team has already received a few orders, spanning from four small rings, to 120 fins, to a few vinyl letters. They can complete any task, small or large, and in the process, make their customers happy, evident by the multitude of positive feedback received by the small company.
Tom Priest, owner of Rockethead Rockets (www.rocketheadrockets.com), wrote, "Just received my BT 80 with a 3 18mm cluster. All I can say is WOW!!!! They fit the tube prefect and the cluster is also prefect. We are looking at using these in a kit. We are also looking at using them for some of our fins. They are great on prices and the service is great. I am going to send some samples of the fins that I had cut by another vender (not from here) and see what they can do. The price is a quite a bit lower than I am paying right now. If you need centering rings or fins this is the place to get them."
Another happy customer, Pete Simka, wrote, "Great ring cutter! I only had one other ring cutter in mind and he blew me off over and over again. These guys cut em fast and mail em fast! The rings fit my tubes precisely. I cant wait to build!!! Price was right too. No problems shipping or paying and Ill gladly do business with them again! Great job and great asset to ROL AUCTIONS!!!"
Jason Toft (NAR# 82997), very satisfied with his order, wrote to Rocketguts, saying, "I recently received my custom 1/2" 9 ply centering rings from Rocket Guts. They are TOP NOTCH! I highly recommend that you get your parts from them. They can do anything you need them to, and in a hurry! Kudos to Rocket Guts!" To read even more feedback from satisfied customers, simply click on the Customer Feedback on their website.
If you are interested in helping the teams fundraising efforts by ordering centering rings, fins, or vinyl decals, the store can be reached at [email protected]. Team members are normally able to respond to e-mails within a few hours. During the summer, they are able to ship the custom goods in about 3 days; meanwhile during the school year they will only be able to cut orders with a minimum of $25 value, and can ship goods only on the weekends. Everything cut on the CNC router table has a tolerance of .001; almost any material beside thick metal can be cut, including Lexan, birch plywood, and more. Centering ring orders are required to have all specifications to within .001. Fin orders are preferred to have scale drawings and can be sent to them via regular mail. Vinyl orders only require a true type font, which the team can download, and a given height for the letters. Rocketguts.com stocks over 30 different colors. All orders are priced on material cost, time, and quantity.
