Hello from Maryland!

[Sailing_Skipper]

Hello fellow rocketeers!

As a kid, I was always interested in rockets, from subscale to full-scale. I also always wanted wanted to get into model rocketry and build my own rockets and possibly motors as well, but my father was Sam Safety and he put a stop to that pretty quickly... Fast-forward a few years and I get a dual bachelors degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at UF so technically I am now "qualified" to build rockets. I currently work for a company that makes drones, so I don't get to build rockets for my day job, but my evenings and weekends are free owing to the fact I am an engineer and I like quiet dark spaces void of people to plan my eventual world takeover. So now is as good of a time as ever to get my rocketry fix. The two things I am most interested in are actively controlled rockets and liquid propellent. (I don't really plan on making a liquid fueled rocket engine any time soon, but I think it is fun doing the math behind them and coming up with a design in my free time).

So yah, that's me! Nice to meet you guys!

 

[smstachwick]

Hello fellow rocketeers!

As a kid, I was always interested in rockets, from subscale to full-scale. I also always wanted wanted to get into model rocketry and build my own rockets and possibly motors as well, but my father was Sam Safety and he put a stop to that pretty quickly... Fast-forward a few years and I get a dual bachelors degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at UF so technically I am now "qualified" to build rockets. I currently work for a company that makes drones, so I don't get to build rockets for my day job, but my evenings and weekends are free owing to the fact I am an engineer and I like quiet dark spaces void of people to plan my eventual world takeover. So now is as good of a time as ever to get my rocketry fix. The two things I am most interested in are actively controlled rockets and liquid propellent. (I don't really plan on making a liquid fueled rocket engine any time soon, but I think it is fun doing the math behind them and coming up with a design in my free time).

So yah, that's me! Nice to meet you guys!

Welcome!

If you haven’t built any rockets yet, your best bet to get involved is a small, simple one from Estes, AeroTech’s Quest line, or one of the smaller kit manufacturers that you might hear about here on the forum. Lots of good options that run on D motors or smaller.

Have you gone looking for a launch site yet? That will probably be your biggest obstacle to getting something in the air.

 

[Hobie1dog]

to The Forum

 

[Raythain]

Welcome fellow rocket scientist who does this for fun (got my BSE in ‘08 in Aero, and my day job also doesn’t involve making rockets).

Couple of recommendations - find a local rocketry club to fly with (takes the hard work out of finding a field), and start with small, “boring” stuff. Grab a couple of kits from Estes or Quest and start building. Start simple and learn how to build well, because there’s a big gap between the paper and what actually gets up in the air.

 

[Sailing_Skipper]

One of my coworkers belongs to a rocket club up here and he's invited me to come out, so hopefully that won't be an issue. I guess I'll take your advice and start with the boring stuff and get my hands dirty while doing a bit higher level stuff in the background. Thanks for the welcome guys!

 

[OverTheTop]

Welcome aboard .

 

[prfesser]

Welcome! There is more info on these forums than you'll be able to use in a lifetime. Most beginners' questions have probably been answered multiple times; Search is your friend. (Please do not ask about the right kind of glue...for anything... )

The Arocket mailing list is a gold mine of info on liquid rocketry, lots of subscribers have done it or are doing it.

Best,
Terry

 

[Antares JS]

As a Marylander, your local club has one of the best flying fields on the east coast. Hope to see you there.

https://mdrocketry.org/

 

[techrat]

.... And MDRA has "Red Glare" coming up in early spring.... I am going (at least Saturday anyhow). Just to attend.

 

[Sailing_Skipper]

Quick question, I tried posting a thread about preliminary design calculations for a Lox Propane engine last night, but it seems to have never gotten posted? Everything on there was publicly available so I don't think it violates the rules here. Do any of you know why it was never posted (it had waiting for approval on it last night or something).

 

[tsmith1315]

I tried posting a thread about preliminary design calculations for a Lox Propane engine last night, but it seems to have never gotten posted?

See #9 here:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/rocketry-forum-rules-and-posting-guidelines.151426/

Requirements for access are L2 certification (that's a requirement to fly the experimental motors at TRA launches), and US citizenship. Since this forum is private, whether or not the info is publicly available isn't of consequence.

@prfesser's link to the Arocket list above is a great resource for researching and discussing liquids.

 

[Sailing_Skipper]

Dang, that stinks... Thanks

 

[prfesser]

Dang, that stinks... Thanks

FWIW...You will undoubtedly find, as so many have, that a regeneratively-cooled liquid propellant engine is a highly-complex problem in plumbing and plumbing-engineering. As a chemistrynut, I preferred to go with solids.

The archives of the Arocket list are a treasure trove of relevant information, although many of the links may be broken. Most of what is discussed there involves liquids.

 

[Sailing_Skipper]

FWIW...You will undoubtedly find, as so many have, that a regeneratively-cooled liquid propellant engine is a highly-complex problem in plumbing and plumbing-engineering. As a chemistrynut, I preferred to go with solids.

The archives of the Arocket list are a treasure trove of relevant information, although many of the links may be broken. Most of what is discussed there involves liquids.

Yah, I saw most of the links are bad... very sad... Also, that is what makes those engines so fun, its like a puzzle that can blow up! hehe, its just academic anyway.

 

[Lawndart]

As a Marylander, your local club has one of the best flying fields on the east coast. Hope to see you there.

https://mdrocketry.org/

And NARHAMS fly in Frederick. https://narhams.org/

 

[teepot]

Welcome to the Forum from the Vegas area.