The Newsletter of the Northern Illinois Rocketry Association May/June 2009 Icarus, Eat Your Heart Out. Shuttle Atlantis Shuttle Atlantis and I.S.S. The newsletter of the Northern Illinois Rocketry Association Page Two THE LEADING EDGE -T Minus One- Anthony Lentini Launch Windows Newsletter Editor/Publisher NIRA Club Launches [email protected] July 19 East Branch Forest Preserve 630-372-4999 Aug 16 East Branch Forest Preserve Sept 20 East Branch Forest Preserve NIRA OFFICERS Rick Gaff Fox Valley Club Launches President July 11 Kishwaukee Park Aug 8 Kishwaukee Park Angel Cooper Sept 12 Kishwaukee Park Vice President Meeting Calendar NIRA Nick Lauerman July 3 Monthly meeting Helen Plum Library, Lombard Secretary/Treasurer Aug 7 Monthly meeting Helen Plum Library, Lombard Sept 4 Monthly meeting Helen Plum Library, Lombard Bob Kaplow Range Safety Officer Fox Valley Rocketeers July 6 Monthly meeting McHenry Public Library Marty Schrader Aug 3 Woodstock Public Library NIRA Webmaster Sept 8 Monthly meeting McHenry Public Library Visit our web site & message board; http://www.nira-rocketry.org/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ni- rarocketry/ The Leading Edge is published bi- monthly for members of the Northern Illinois Rocketry Association (NIRA) NAR Section#117 Dedicated to the idea that rocketry is fun! ERN ILL TH IN R O I O S N NAR SECTION R 117 O N C IO K T ET IA RY ASSOC Contributors this issue; Articles Tony Lentini Joseph Diethelm Jonathan Chambonneau Photographs Rick Gaff, Reprinted from “The Onion” Tony Lentini The newsletter of the Northern Illinois Rocketry Association Page Three Model Of The Month May Winner Joseph Diethelm took the Adult prize again, this time with his scratch designed and built Dragon. There was no Junior or Youth entry. June Winners Ian Timberlake returned from college with his Ragnarok HPR school project to win Adult. Junior went to Joey Charaska again. Joey showed his fairly well-used Cici to good effect. There was no Youth entry. The newsletter of the Northern Illinois Rocketry Association Page Four Member Profile what I was looking for. In a box covered with dust was Joseph Diethelm some of my old supplies and 3 old rockets; the Red Max and two Bomarc rockets, one being the mini size. They Like most adult were of course old Estes kits that I built over 30 years rocket builders I ago, but what a feeling going down memory lane. The started when I was sensation was so wonderful, that I forgot I was in the a kid. I built a lot attic sweating to death from a temperature of about 120 of rocket kits from degrees. After I came to my senses, I got down from Estes. Some of my there with my new found box of memories. I took a favorites that you closer look at my rockets and discovered that the heat may remember were and cold of being in the attic had not been kind to them. the Red Max, Gob- The fins on the red max had warped and bent, and the lin, and Omega just plastic on the Bomarc had become brittle and cracked. to name a few. As I But it was still nice to remember back to when I had built more and more rocket kits I became skilled and fast built and flown them. A simpler life and safer time to at it, but also bored with it. I basically felt like I was be a kid. So I took the box home and went through the just doing the same thing over and over again, which is miscellaneous rocket parts when my first original idea probably why I had quit the rocketry phase of my life. came to me. How I exactly got there I don’t know. Was As a parent of a young child, I wanted to get my son it from my SCUBA diving or just a picture in my head? to take an interest in something besides video games, and But I saw in the box of parts the potential for a shark model rocketry seemed like a good idea. For one, I was rocket. Now as you read and see some of the pictures of familiar with the hobby, and it is a good reason to get my rockets you will notice that when I say shark rocket my son out of the house and away from the TV. So we I don’t mean a gray rocket with the word shark written started out by building some of the newer almost ready on it. I made this first rocket to really look like a shark, to fly Estes kits. They were easy to build, giving me a with detailed scaling and painting from pictures that I chance to teach my son the basics of model rocketry. But found in my diving magazines. This became my first like before it did not take long for me to get addicted to odd-roc. rocketry again. My craving to start building again grew Well I now had an idea, next came the hard part. fast. So what do I build? I had been out of the game Designing and building something from scratch. The for so long, and only knew of Estes from my childhood. first and hardest thing for me was trying to maintain the I started searching the Internet for rocket kits, and was characteristics of a shark and yet have it fly. This would surprised to see all the new companies that were out soon be a recipe for all my future designs. For some of there, and all the new kits there were as well. Rocketry my ideas, the basic form or subject being made is not too had really changed from when I was doing it years ago. far from a basic rocket design, thus making the project Most of all the size and power. Both have grown, with easy. Some are very much outside the basic rocket de- some rockets that are larger than me, and motors that sign criteria, making them a major project to fly right. have more then 4 or 5 times the power then the mighty As for the shark rocket, its basic fin designs are not that D engine. (The largest I had back then.) Well, after bad along with the body shape making it not to difficult looking at all the kits that were out there, (and there to build. I had to omit the forward dorsal fins for flying, were many,) I think my favorite is still the Red Max. so I attach them with velcro and just use them for display. But after building that one, I did not really find anything At first this was a problem for me because I wanted the that made me feel excited to build, or would be great to rocket to be complete at all times, but after I tried getting have in my collection. it to fly with them on, I realized there were just too many I knew I still had some old rocketry supplies from design problems to do that. So I quickly changed my at- when I was younger, I just needed to find them. So I did titude toward this dilemma and used the velcro after all. a massive search at my dad’s house, and finally found I came to the realization that the rockets spend more time The newsletter of the Northern Illinois Rocketry Association Page Five on my shelf then they do in the air, and after liftoff you many of these materials in my rockets, but sometimes can’t tell what it is anyway traveling hundreds of feet in my designs usually require something else to fulfill the the air. I also started working with clear plexi to make visual part of the rocket. These are the parts I wish to up for fins that are necessary for flight, but are not part talk about, and maybe you will find uses for them in your of the actual characteristics of the subject being made own creations. into a rocket. This shark rocket also has a clear payload For my fish tank rocket, one of my first really different section to simulate a shark’s stomach. Since they are designs, I used part of a two liter soda bottle to simulate known as an eating machine, I thought putting a bug in the outside glass of a fish tank. It was clear round and there during flight might be kind of cool for the kids. I large in diameter and worked well for the rocket design. am going to rate the difficulty of building this at a 3 out Other materials I have used are clear plastic water bottles, of 5 because of the painting and fin work on it. This is (clear payload for the Stork Express), containers from also rated moderate to expert rocket builder. After all dairy creamers, (broom section of Witch Craft) foam this is not a buy off the shelf kit with laser cut fins, all footballs, (body of Red Dragon) and 16 ounce Miller the work has to be done by hand. After all was said and Lite bottle, (the body of Miller Lite bottle rocket). One done I realized that this was what I needed to do in the of my most used parts is the plastic bowling pin. I used rocketry hobby, I had a great excitement in building and this one first for my bowling pin rocket, and then later designing my own unique rocket, and as they say the in other designs like, world war II paratrooper, football sky’s the limit.