Location: Higgs Farm, Price, MD ( Red Glare VI ) Weather: mid 70's, light breeze Total flights: Today - 6; YTD - 16 Total motors: Today - 11; YTD - 21 The day started well with light traffic and one ... [Read More]
At least in the TRF Rocketry Mach Madness contest , which just closed yesterday. The Saturn V edged out the Estes Interceptor for top honors. It was interesting to see how the contest played out. If ... [Read More]
Chris Michielssen has started a series of posts on the Estes Saturn V. Based on his prior review series', if you plan to build one, this will be a must-read. [Read More]
I started by dry fitting all the parts. The fit of all the ABS-on-ABS joints is a bit rough due to the surface finish but are not too snug. I may sand the nose cone shoulder to make it smoother. The ... [Read More]
This is the "well, crap, that ain't supposed to happen" edition. I proceeded to dry stack the parts, put in a motor, and fill the nose section with 0.8 ounces of lead. I checked the CG ... [Read More]
Well, it is all together but still naked: The final weight went up as I didn't account for the epoxy in the nose, the shock tether, or the screw that holds the motor retainer/launch lug. I'm not used ... [Read More]
I decided to at least partially finish the Saturn V. Scale buffs and skilled painters need not comment. I started by outlining the black areas with a Sharpie (hat tip to David 'Daddyisabar' Bauer). I ... [Read More]
I call it the Black Rock Edition because most of the enclosed material originated there: one article on the Rocket Mavericks July launch and three on Balls 17. Where else other than Black Rock will ... [Read More]
I found this to be one of the better issues of Rockets . It features two solid tech articles - one on chain-stitching 'chute lines and one on molding fiberglass parts. I doubt if I'll use either, ... [Read More]
I just saw the article on Rocketry Planet regarding Steve Eves' 1:10 scale Saturn V and suddenly it struck me that I've been remiss in announcing the launch date has been set. The big Saturn V will ... [Read More]
I think I have the motivation for my next build. I downloaded the .pdfs from my previous post and they include a lot of info on the Saturn V Orion booster. More than I need...I only looked at the ... [Read More]
I've posted about this huge project fairly often so the regulars have no excuse for not knowing all about it. For the rest of you, you can see the official pages on ROCKETS Magazine's website or the ... [Read More]
Scheduled for launch next Saturday, April 25th at MDRA's Price, MD launch site, Steve's ginormous Saturn V has been covered my many local (to Steve's home) TV channels and many more web sites. ... [Read More]
Run for the hills, your bomb shelter, or wherever, the Rocketry Planet is at risk of exploding after their article on Steve's Saturn V hit Digg .
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This issue features several articles about, or at least motivated by, the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. Besides the fact that we sport rocketeers are also space program fans, the tie-in to sport ... [Read More]
The word is spreading . If Tommy is grilling, maybe he better stock up.
On Saturday, April 25, the Saturn V, the rocket that sent men to the moon 40 years ago, will once again lift off from U.S. ... [Read More]
After testing the winds with a 'tiny' Nike Smoke on a J350, Steve Eves' Saturn was launched into the beautiful Maryland skies at around 1PM local. The central 'P' and eight 'N' motors (that's 'R' ... [Read More]
I decided to go ahead and make a new post and relay some details I've seen about the flight. This thread on TQC#39 has some really good up close and personal shots and so does this TRF thread . TRF ... [Read More]
ROCKETS Magazine has updated their Saturn V news coverage with the Fox news story , which includes some on-board footage. They also have posted some flight data from several ARTS flight computers. ... [Read More]
The lead story in this issue is Steve Eves' 1:10 Scale Saturn V. Having attended the record-setting launch, I'll be setting this one in my 'short stack' of favorite rocket magazines. The two ... [Read More]
I posted links to the source article earlier today, but thought I'd capture the diagram of the proposed Nuclear DC-X/LANTR SSTO Heavy Cargo Lifter. Another diagram shows this vehicle in scale next ... [Read More]
OObject presents their Top 10 Moon Rocket Models . The link goes directly to the undisputed (by my criteria at least) #1 entry - Steve Eves' 1:10 scale Saturn V . You can navigate forward and ... [Read More]
Via Jerry Irvine on Rocketry Planet: 'One small step for man,' one massive rocket project for engineers, LA Times, July 18, 2009 .
The young scientists who created the Saturn V rocket that ... [Read More]
Steve Jurvetson reports from Moonfest with a photo of one of his flights. He says 1,500 spectators attended. There was, of course, a lot more than rocketry going on. But, nothing better. Flickr user ... [Read More]
I went ahead and picked up a copy just to see Steve Eves' Saturn V in a mainstream magazine :) I was a little disappointed to find Steve was only given a one page blurb. Still, it was great to see ... [Read More]
Liberty Launch Systems (aka Rockets Magazine) just announced the release of their 3-disk DVD set chronicling the project from conception through launch and on to its final home at the U.S. Space and ... [Read More]
The CantonRep.com reports on Steve Eves' latest project, a 2-stage Saturn 1B. No details on the scale or motors, but it does say that he hopes to fly the new beast to 2 miles in the Spring of ... [Read More]
Gizmodo is featuring the work of Copenhagen Suborbitals (C-S) and their HEAT-1X project. (Yesterday, I posted an embedded video of one of their hybrid motor tests. Cool stuff!) The blogger points ... [Read More]
Scott Lowther presents a cool diagram (to the right) showing the relative scale of the ICARUS, Ithacus, ROMBUS, ROMBUS F, ROMBUS III, Pegasus, Icarus Jr. to subjects such as the Space Sh ... [Read More]
What's inside: Review of an Estes Saturn V complete with scale gantry; Pt. 5 of Black Magic Missile Work's electronics series; Rocket girl Haley Allen; Launch report from the Phoenix Missile Works ... [Read More]
This issues is mostly dedicated to NARCON 2010, which was held at Clark University. Clark was where Dr. Goddard earned his PhD in 1911 so, naturally, Goddard played a big role in this year's ... [Read More]
EMRR is back after a month hiatus with a respectable number of new reviews. The winners of the Kitbash Virtual Contest have been announced. Which mostly reminds me that I need to tale a ... [Read More]
I couldn't even read all the posts about the Hobbico/Estes legal notice that Semroc received. However, it appears Rick Piester, Vice President of Proprietary Products, Hobbico, Inc. and ... [Read More]
The jury here is a jury of two, Carl and Rick. It looks like the legal unpleasantness of late will indeed work out . So, all the disgruntled rocket geeks can re-establish their orders ... [Read More]
I see that Steve Eves' and Vern Hoag's Saturn 1B's are slated to be on display at Red Glare IX this coming weekend. Attached is a shot of Steve's from Red Glare VIII last spring. I hope to get ... [Read More]
Since I didn't immediately see any actual rocket news this AM and I'm not actively building anything at the moment, I thought I'd do my part to raise the noise level on the Internet. So, here's ... [Read More]
Yesterday, I mentioned that MAKE had posted about Steve Eves' 1:10 scale Saturn V . Today (barely today, EST) and at my suggestion, they have a follow-on post about Steve and Vern Hoag's ... [Read More]
(Building rockets is) "super-frickin'-damn-hard."- Elon Musk (quoted part)
I got this from Alan Boyle's latest article on SpaceX. Mr. Musk estimates the probability of full COTS-1 mission ... [Read More]
This post describes the Point 39 Productions LDRS XIX (on VHS tape) and the ROCKETS Magazine/Liberty Launch Systems Red Glare IV (on DVD) videos. Point 39 Productions - LDRS XIX
Ever since ... [Read More]
This week's episode of House began with two kids launching what could have been an Estes or Apogee or equivalent Saturn V. It flies up, stages (?), and bursts into flame. Plenty of ... [Read More]
Scott Lowther is on "Nukes-R-Awesome" roll. He presents the RIFT vehicle, a concept for a nuclear rocket that would have been launched atop a Saturn V and ignited sub-orbitally. It would ... [Read More]
The NOVA was a series of conceptual vehicles which would have competed with the Saturn V using all solid propulsion. YORF user luke skywalker has provided a flood of info on the NOVA , starting ... [Read More]
luke skywalker 's latest NASA report summary is of the "Modified Launch Vehicle (MLV) Saturn V Improvement Study Composite Summary Report" from July 1965. Here are figures showing con ... [Read More]
With all the summaries of old heavy lift launcher concepts floating around, I thought I'd re-post a couple of diagrams of the Saturn V with Orion nuclear pulse propulsion modules. Detailed ... [Read More]
OK, so I now have my still un-named rocket primed. Progress! Well, not so fast! As I was pondering my recent posts about 'what-if' Saturn variants, I noticed the similarity my SRBs have to the ... [Read More]
The latest document summary from YORF's luke skywalker discusses "Selected Methods for Uprating Saturn Vehicles" (circa 1966). He points out that the coolest thing in this report is the ... [Read More]
No time to read... check out this post . Makes you wish NASA had practiced their Saturn-calculus even more...(silly pun of the word 'derivative')
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luke skywalker provides a summary of "Apollo Systems Description Vol. 2 Saturn Launch Vehicles" . To gauge what 'excruciating' means, check out the following diagram of the Saturn V S-IC.
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OK, that's the new name for my Dyna-Soar based build. I rejected all my ideas for names that that resembled real rockets (Titan and Saturn variants, etc.). My thanks to Justin, John and Graeme! [Read More]
The Saturn V Flight Manual SA-503 , that is. Not the actual manual, just another nice summary by luke skywalker. The following provides a nice overview, including all the motors/engines.
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Here's the intro to the list of articles presented in Project Icarus: Reaching for Interstellar Space : Project Icarus is an ambitious five-year study into launching an unmanned spacecraft to an ... [Read More]
...and sets a record for the longest series of blog build posts... 71 . Check out #71 for his lessons learned. What I learned is that this is too complicated a build for my ... [Read More]
I have made several posts about flying 3-D printed rockets (see post tag). There is now an interesting thread on TRF about printed parts . One poster has a link to another thread where he ... [Read More]
April Fool's Day Launch, 4/1/2012 - Rockets and Catfish - Modell Rakate Buildink - While I mowed my grass, finished my taxes and blogged off-topic, Chris flew rockets and played with a live ... [Read More]
The latest item that I dug out of my small stash of old technical magazines is the July 1994 Issue of IEEE Spectrum, which was dedicated to The Moon Landing: A 25th Anniversary Perspective . This ... [Read More]
T
The IEEE Spectrum Moon Landing issue highlighted several people who made significant contributions, many of which I had never heard of (or at least whose names I'd forgotten). So, here ... [Read More]
Jim Scarpine is planning an inpromptu tribute to Neil at the Freedom Launch, which is being held over the Labor Day weekend at Orangeburg, SC.: If anyone and any version of a Saturn V for a tribute ... [Read More]
The weather and my personal schedule have continued to delay the launch of my air-powered Saturn V. So, this is what I've been up to instead.
I wanted to build one of the Honest Johns ... [Read More]
Mike has gone big with his 1:32 scale Saturn V. This rocket required 1 4 sheets of 2ft x 3ft cardstock, 2/3 bottle of Aleene's Tacky glue, 3.5 hours of printing and 1 8-hours of ... [Read More]
I can't believe I missed the chance for an April Fools Day post. Oh well, it would likely have been another 'I'm quitting blogging' post or some lame claim that someone is building a new Saturn V. ... [Read More]
The physical one, that is. First off, the main components of the This Is Not the Rocket You Are Looking For are all together. I still need a streamer, launch lug and a tube to route air to the ... [Read More]
The Aerospace Projects Review Blog continues to feed us cool retro rockets/spaceships with the TRW Mars Ship . With an ICBM-like capsule, it would be assembled in-orbit, requiring 6 Saturn V ... [Read More]
After seeing ~1/10 of Dave Bucher's huge fleet on Facebook, I thought I'd snapshot mine, which consists of a paltry 233 birds. First sort criteria is a column that's not showing, breaking the list ... [Read More]
I am excited to post about a new sci-fi book written by fellow rocket blogger Stephen R. DeArman (Randy from Verna and Randy's Rockets ): Rocket Babe-Dust Storm . Their January 2014 blog update is ... [Read More]
A couple of flying seasons ago, I built a bunch of air powered rockets, including a many from AlaskaPaperModelWorks . I also converted one of their large paper Honest Johns to fly on 24mm motors. ... [Read More]
Rocket Babe - Dust Storm , by Stephen 'Randy' DeArman, is an 1950's style space opera. It portrays an alternate history of post-Apollo space exploration, which the children of the 60's would have ... [Read More]
...and I can't find suitable clear fin stock for the paper Saturn V conversion. What I found is either too thick, too thin, too small, too brittle or is in use. I could have sworn that I had stashed ... [Read More]
I found some acceptable plastic for the fins. The material isn't crystal clear but is good enough for this rocket. I first roughed out the pattern in cardstock and found, because the base of the ... [Read More]
Location: NARHAMS, Mt. Airy Weather: max temp. in high 50's, a few high clouds, gusty winds to 15mph Total flights: Today - 13; YTD - 28 Total motors: Today - 14; YTD - 33 Motors by class YTD: ... [Read More]
Spotted via The Rocketry Blog , here's a video montage of all the Saturn V missions. Wayne calculates that this event would generate 99,424,000 pounds-force or 442,260,000 newtons! [Read More]
After losing a rocket to the trees last weekend, I decided to build one of US Water Rocket's tree rescue system. They described their tool in a video: Tree Rescue System . Mine is basically the same ... [Read More]
To demonstrate how much rocket fuel it takes to get to orbit, YouTube user Maxim Sachs creat ed an animation that replaces standard fuel components such as RP-1, LH2 ... [Read More]
For quite a while I've been wanting a 3-D printed rocket. I have generally thought they are too expensive and a couple of attempts to get economical parts fell through. Last week, however, I learned ... [Read More]
After one use, I highly recommend getting some Bondic liquid plastic glue. It's a bit pricey, but I can see it will be very useful. I attached this fin in about 15 seconds. But that took an ... [Read More]
Time again to post my favorite rocket stuff from the past year. For the first time since I've been compiling this list, I didn't come up with 10 items. I was on track to do so, but the weather and ... [Read More]
Location: Higgs Farm, Price, MD ( Red Glare VI ) Weather: mid 70's, light breeze Total flights: Today - 6; YTD - 16 Total motors: Today - 11; YTD - 21 The day started well with light traffic and one ... [Read More]
