The Precursors
Foundations for Current High-Performance Projects
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"Third Time's the Charm" - L1000 Subminimum Diameter Rocket
"Third Time's the Charm" - L1000 Subminimum Diameter Rocket
Rocket Diameter / Length: 54mm / 43"
Max Speed: Mach 3.0
Altitude: 22,000ft.
Acceleration: 50G
SRM Class: L1000
Recovery Status: Nominally Recovered
Launch Date: Jan. 27, 2024
Special Thanks: Matt Dahle Photography
As my first successful venture into minimum and sub-minimum diameter rockets, this L1000 build holds a special place in my heart. The rocket consists of carbon fiber fins bonded directly to the COTS motor, a hand-laid fiberglass nose cone, 3D-printed avionics bay, and a compact single separation dual deployment (SSDD) recovery scheme. The rocket was launched nominally in the afternoon of Jan. 27, 2024, flying to 22,000ft. and Mach 3. Recovery was a simple affair, landing just 0.6 miles from the launch site. This rocket has since become a starting point for high-performance projects, including those carried out by myself and by others alike.
"Bye-bye Darling" - L1000 Subminimum Diameter Rocket
"Bye-bye Darling" - L1000 Subminimum Diameter Rocket
Rocket Diameter: 54mm
Max Speed: Mach 2.5
Altitude: 14,000ft.
Acceleration: 50G
SRM Class: L1000
Recovery Status: Shredded
Launch Date: Oct. 7, 2023
Before TTTC came "Bye-Bye Darling" (named for the Børns song). This was my first attempt at an optimized high-performance rocket, and simulated to ~Mach 2.8 and 25,000ft. The rocket featured an aluminum transition section to adapt the fore end of the motor to commercial fiberglass components. Inside the rocket was a flight computer, GPS tracker, and SSDD recovery system. The fins were constructed of 3mm carbon fiber plate, laminated with a tip-to-tip layup for extra fin stiffness. Upon launch, the rocket accelerated to Mach 2.5, where the COTS nose cone failed at the base of the nose cone, leading to a loss of the recovery system, and apogee far lower than simulated. All parts of the rocket except for the recovery and nose cone were recovered, albeit in damaged condition.
"Mr. Worldwide" - H500 MD Meme Rocket
"Mr. Worldwide" - H500 MD Meme Rocket
Rocket Diameter: 38mm
Max Speed: ~Mach 1.5
Altitude: Who Knows
Acceleration: >100G
SRM Class: H500
Recovery Status: Recovered 5 months later in the desert
Launch Date: Dec. 16, 2023
Special Thanks: Amrit Arora of Purdue University / Scaled Composites
Amrit Arora, a former student at Purdue and high-power rocket builder, and myself, got bored with the status quo of "doing meaningful projects." We built these absolutely atrocious 38mm minimum diameter rockets as a meme, and never looked back. Inside each rocket is 2 grains of Warp 9 fast-burning APCP, an altimeter, a parachute, an ejection charge, and a dream. My dream came back in two pieces, found months apart, and his is still lost to the FAR gods. May it rest in peace, it was a good soldier.
"Snoop Doug" - 38mm Supersonic Team Project Attempt
"Snoop Doug" - 38mm Supersonic Team Project Attempt
Rocket Diameter: 38mm
Max Speed: ~Mach 1.3
Altitude: 9400ft.
Acceleration: 50G
SRM Class: I600
Recovery Status: Recovered 8 months later in the desert
Launch Date: Mar. 25, 2023
Special Thanks: Colton Acosta of ASU / SpaceX
In early 2023, shortly after my L1 HPR certification flight in my 1st year at ASU, I pitched the idea to Sun Devil Rocketry, to let me start a little team to break the sound barrier for our club, for the first time. At the time, no one was invested in high-performance rocketry, so I figured this was a good way to get that ball rolling. For reasons beyond my understanding, they agreed, and "Snoop Doug" was born.
Snoop is a 38mm minimum diameter rocket with an I600R motor we found lying around in the shop, extremely simple COTS fiberglass structures, about 20 dollars of recovery gear, and an avionics package with a GPS tracker, a custom flight computer built by Colton Acosta for data logging in preparation for further test flights, and a COTS flight computer unit. The rocket was launched on Mar. 23, only 2 months after the project's conception. It survived the "up" part, but separated in two halves upon recovery deployment, falling to the ground fairly quickly in different locations. In this event, GPS tracking was also lost, and the rocket was deemed to be temporarily on loan to the cows at the flying field at Tripoli Phoenix. 8 months later, while recovering the 2-stage rocket "Kraken," the final piece of Snoop was found by an SDR member, and rejoined to the booster section which had been found by a Tripoli Phoenix local. The rocket, only missing a fin from landing impact, is currently on display.
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