Model Rocket Design and Construction (Book by Tim Van Milligan) Book/Magazine

Apogee Components - Model Rocket Design and Construction {Book}

Contributed by Clive Davis

Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Author: Tim Van Milligan
Manufacturer: Apogee Components

VanMilligan Model Rocket BookReview:
A soft cover book details how to design and construct model rockets. It is fiiled with numerous illustrative drawings and photos. 20 chapters plus an appendix. Price: $23.95 (as of January, 2003).

160 pages. The book includes a demo version of RockSim on CD-ROM. Book covers such topics as construction techniques, repair techniques, painting, designing gliders, helicopters, scale models, payloads and clusters. It also includes some useful checklists and an extensive glossary.

This is a good introduction to anyone who is interested in designing and flying their own creations. Tim Van Milligan covers a wide range of materials including unique methods of recovery. I had never heard of horizontal-spin recovery. Tim also goes into quite a bit of detail discussing both helicopter and glider recovery. The book discusses fin shape and placement, including the discussion of built-up fins. There are suggestions for creating ones own nose cones and a section on the use of paper boattails and transitions.

The book often advertises Apogee products (such as the mini engines and RockSim), but for the most part, the information is helpful. At times, I ran across terms and calculations that were unfamiliar to me (I am coming from a non-technical, non-engineering background), but I think that the book still reads well even if not every single concept is understood.

If I had to buy just one book for the beginning rocketeer, I would still recommend Harry Stine's Handbook on Model Rocketry. If I was recommending a book on the plethora of buildling, designing and flying techniques, I would recommend Tim Van Milligan's book. The book is published by Apogee Components and features annoying little typographical errors. However, the illustrations and photos are very helpful, and the chapters flow in a logical manner.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

 

 

Other Reviews
  • Model Rocket Design and Construction (Book by Tim Van Milligan) By Dick Stafford (January 7, 2009)

    Summary: The 3rd edition of Timothy Van Milligan’s Model Rocket Design and Construction contains 328 pages of rocketry goodness covering everything from planning and design through recovery. This edition is twice the size of the previous and includes an impressive array of facts, techniques and concepts about all facets of the hobby. Much of the material Tim has added in this edition ...

  • Model Rocket Design and Construction (Book by Tim Van Milligan) By Nick Esselman (December 13, 2008)

    The third edition of Timothy S. Van Millian's (Apogee Components owner) "Model Rocket Design and Construction" book has been released. I dare venture to say that this edition should be considered the new primary reference and teaching publication for rocketry. I know that most will point to the "Handbook of Model Rocketry" which was written by one of the founders of model rocketry, G. Harry ...

Comments:

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D.K. (October 1, 2000)
An indispensable reference. An excellent introduction to model rocketry in its various forms, clear enough for the beginner to understand and apply, but complete enough for experienced rocketeers to learn and get ideas from. I agree with the review in Sport Rocketry.
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S.T.M. (June 10, 2003)
Besides the fact that Tim Van Milligan sent me a personal email telling me the order was on its way within hours of my order placed on the Apogee website... Besides the fact that the book was in my hands on Monday after a Friday afternoon order... This is, without a doubt, the New Testament to the Bible of Rocketry. _Model Rocket Design and Construction_ should be rubber-banded to all copies of G. Harry Stine's _The Handbook of Model Rocketry_. The best analogy I can make is this: Stine's book introduces the reader to a vast underground cavern, ripe for exploration and discovery. Milligan's book shines a light on all the gems to be found in the cavern, and opens up great big new passages for the intrepid explorer. I take Milligan's book with me everywhere and have dedicated a page in the back to my own handwritten notes - "CHAD staging - investigate" "investigate homemade tubes" "look for built-up fin plans and application;" "PAYLOADS;" "order more stuff from Tim!;" "homemade cluster rocket;" "tracking powder;" Features: The chapter on stability alone finally gave me an instinctual understanding of model rocket stability and what affects it. Without resorting to RockSim, I feel like I can design stable models from pencil and paper. 3 chapters on recovery, a whole chapter dedicated to clustering, a list of cool patents and other resources for design... Enough on features... Execution: The photos and diagrams invaluably illustrate the concepts explained in the book. Tumble recovery is one example - after looking at two diagrams and reading a short paragraph, I now know more about tumble recovery for booster stages than I ever did before. The prose style is smooth, informative and always light, almost exactly in the manner of Stine. The chapters build on one another, but the first chapter, introducing concepts and definitions of the sport, serves as an appetizer for the rest of the book - lots of "ooh, I want to read about that," and "wow - I never knew you could do that!" Overall Value: Like I said above - this should be rubber-banded to every copy of Stine's book. In fact, if you have a youngster who's interested in the sport but feels intimidated by the _Handbook_, give him or her Model Rocket Design and Construction to read first. You're going to get pestered and harangued for launches, help and more body tubes for more and more ideas... Not only that, but I've discovered that I could also be satisfied by model rockets and investigating their possibilities for the rest of my life, never moving into HPR at all, and feel perfectly happy, simply because Tim's book reveals so much to design and explore.

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