Project
501 Flight

Post-flight Analysis

• This has to be the worst looking rocket ever made. I don't know what I was thinking when I designed it. However, all engines, igniters and the delay charge worked perfectly which brings the J300 engine success rate up to 22 out of 22.
• The rocket body was constructed from 1/8" hardboard and the inside was lined with 20 gauge steel sheets. This was in an effort to reduce the erosion effect the engine exhaust was having on the rocket body since the engines fired through the lower rocket section.
• Before the rocket left the pad, the engines had melted the 20 gauge steel and splattered molten steel all over the launch pad. Once the steel was gone the rest of the rocket body degraded very quickly. Look at the close-up pictures of the launch pad below.
• Total take off weight was 65 lbs.

Construction

• This rocket had 9, J300 engines for a total impulse of 10,800 Ns and a peak thrust of 1080 lbs. The air to vent the engines was ducted through a 1" gap all around the sides of the rocket.
• 1/2" birch plywood was used as the bulkheads holding the engines in place in the rocket body. 1/4-20 aluminum threaded rods attached the bulkheads and 3/4" square pine stringers were attached at the corners of the bulkheads for the rocket body to attach to.
• The rocket had a 6' round parachute that deployed when the rocket hit the ground.

Pros

• Once again the engines worked great.
• All igniters lit the engines at the same time.
• Delay charge worked as designed at 15 seconds.

Cons

• Rocket design looks ridiculous.
• Too heavy.
• The rocket body need some serious structural redesigning.

Pictures

Video

• Flight 01

Drawings

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