High Power Rocketry - XDTalk Forums - Your HS2000/SA-XD Information Source!

**Straight-Shooter** · 03-02-2008, 08:19 AM

Anyone here ever venture into the hobby of High Power Rocketry ? Here is a example of my 8 foot rocket named "Thor". It is totally fiberglassed for strength and carries a onboard color video camera for recording flight. It also has a onboard altimeter for controlling deployment of the parachutes. One chute deploys at apogee (highest altitude) and the other will deploy at 700 ft from the ground during descent. This rocket in this video is powered by a ammonium perchlorate solid rocket engine called a Loki J528. I also fly this rocket on Nitrous Oxide.

still image photo

rogerxd45 · 03-02-2008, 08:22 AM

thats awesome what kind of hight are you getting?

**Straight-Shooter** · 03-02-2008, 08:25 AM

This particular flight went to 4,680 ft. If I could afford the larger motors It could easily exceed. 8,000 ft. Some of the top dollar members in the club regularly fly upwards of 12,000 ft. Definitely out of my budget.

nhill0408 · 03-02-2008, 08:27 AM

That's freaking cool.
I made and flew a bajillion Estes rockets when I was a kid but nothing as high quality as what you've got going on. I had one that had a 110 film camera in it, but I could never get it to work.

**DanTheEldest** · 03-02-2008, 08:28 AM

Very cool. I played with the little Estes kits when I was younger and always liked it, but I can only afford one expensive hobby right now.

kayl · 03-02-2008, 08:37 AM

Sweet!
I still like shooting the Estes rockets off

**Straight-Shooter** · 03-02-2008, 08:43 AM

What kind of ironic is I have to make FFFFg black powder loads for the parachute deployments and wire them to the altimeter. Kind of a cross reference to this hobby i guess.

Taildraggerdave · 03-02-2008, 08:44 AM

That was a great video. I used to have the Estes rockets as well. I remember building a two stage Phoenix Missle kit with D's and launching it at the local park. Went up a few hundred feet, I suppose, on the first stage, it layed over sideways and the second stage went off!!!
Awesome, except I had to get on my bike and haul a$$ through the neighborhood to go get it before somebody swiped it....
Those were the days.

**Dave Starr** · 03-02-2008, 09:12 AM

Back in the BE (before Estes) days, the late 50's, a buddy & I got into rocketry for a while. You could order rolled paper tubes of various diameters and wall thicknesses, and build rockets from scratch. Fuel was Zinc dust & Sulfur. Mix it with a little alcohol to make a damp paste and pack it into the tube. Making a paste lessened the probability of air pockets. After the alcohol evaporated, the nose plug & nozzle were made from Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty. After it partially hardened, you could drill a hole in end and shape the nozzle with an X-Acto knife.
No parachute recovery. If a launch was successful, the rocket would just vanish overhead. Malfunctions ranged from nothing happening to sometimes spectacular window-rattling explosions. Most spectacular was a 3ft tall, 3" diameter rocket that lifted about 4 feet & exploded. We were launching behind an unfinished subdivision & didn't stick around to count the broken windows.

I went on to other things, and my buddy ended up with 3 Phd's and a lifelong career at NASA's facility in Cleveland.

rogerxd45 · 03-02-2008, 09:34 AM

your under no obligation to answer this but how much does the motor for the rocket you flew cost? and if you dont want to tell thats ok im just curious

03-02-2008, 08:19 AM	#1
Straight-Shooter XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: South Bend, Indiana Posts: 740	High Power Rocketry Anyone here ever venture into the hobby of High Power Rocketry ? Here is a example of my 8 foot rocket named "Thor". It is totally fiberglassed for strength and carries a onboard color video camera for recording flight. It also has a onboard altimeter for controlling deployment of the parachutes. One chute deploys at apogee (highest altitude) and the other will deploy at 700 ft from the ground during descent. This rocket in this video is powered by a ammonium perchlorate solid rocket engine called a Loki J528. I also fly this rocket on Nitrous Oxide. still image photo

03-02-2008, 08:28 AM	#5
DanTheEldest XDTalk 5K Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 6,374	Very cool. I played with the little Estes kits when I was younger and always liked it, but I can only afford one expensive hobby right now. __________________ To make mass murder palatable to the public, one must first strip the victims of their inherent humanity. First were the native Americans ("savages"), then the black slaves (only "partly human"), then the Jews and gypsies in Hitler's Europe ("parasites on society"), and now America's unborn (also "not fully human"). Save the Americans--end abortion now. Insights and documentation on our nation's Christian heritage: www.WallBuilders.com

03-02-2008, 08:37 AM	#6
kayl XDTalk 1K Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: WI Posts: 1,252	Sweet! I still like shooting the Estes rockets off __________________ Have you talked to your XD today?

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03-02-2008, 08:22 AM	#2
rogerxd45 XDTalk 3K Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: boise ID (its boy-see, not boy-z) Posts: 3,592	thats awesome what kind of hight are you getting?

03-02-2008, 08:25 AM	#3
Straight-Shooter XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: South Bend, Indiana Posts: 740	This particular flight went to 4,680 ft. If I could afford the larger motors It could easily exceed. 8,000 ft. Some of the top dollar members in the club regularly fly upwards of 12,000 ft. Definitely out of my budget.

03-02-2008, 08:27 AM	#4
nhill0408 XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Southern Texas Posts: 336	That's freaking cool. I made and flew a bajillion Estes rockets when I was a kid but nothing as high quality as what you've got going on. I had one that had a 110 film camera in it, but I could never get it to work.

03-02-2008, 08:43 AM	#7
Straight-Shooter XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: South Bend, Indiana Posts: 740	What kind of ironic is I have to make FFFFg black powder loads for the parachute deployments and wire them to the altimeter. Kind of a cross reference to this hobby i guess.

03-02-2008, 08:44 AM	#8
Taildraggerdave XDTalk Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Los Angeles, Ca Posts: 58	That was a great video. I used to have the Estes rockets as well. I remember building a two stage Phoenix Missle kit with D's and launching it at the local park. Went up a few hundred feet, I suppose, on the first stage, it layed over sideways and the second stage went off!!! Awesome, except I had to get on my bike and haul a$$ through the neighborhood to go get it before somebody swiped it.... Those were the days.

03-02-2008, 09:12 AM	#9
Dave Starr XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Flint, Michigan Posts: 529	Back in the BE (before Estes) days, the late 50's, a buddy & I got into rocketry for a while. You could order rolled paper tubes of various diameters and wall thicknesses, and build rockets from scratch. Fuel was Zinc dust & Sulfur. Mix it with a little alcohol to make a damp paste and pack it into the tube. Making a paste lessened the probability of air pockets. After the alcohol evaporated, the nose plug & nozzle were made from Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty. After it partially hardened, you could drill a hole in end and shape the nozzle with an X-Acto knife. No parachute recovery. If a launch was successful, the rocket would just vanish overhead. Malfunctions ranged from nothing happening to sometimes spectacular window-rattling explosions. Most spectacular was a 3ft tall, 3" diameter rocket that lifted about 4 feet & exploded. We were launching behind an unfinished subdivision & didn't stick around to count the broken windows. I went on to other things, and my buddy ended up with 3 Phd's and a lifelong career at NASA's facility in Cleveland.

03-02-2008, 09:34 AM	#10
rogerxd45 XDTalk 3K Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: boise ID (its boy-see, not boy-z) Posts: 3,592	your under no obligation to answer this but how much does the motor for the rocket you flew cost? and if you dont want to tell thats ok im just curious