All Rocketry Blogs

Rich's Rockets: Building the (scratch) Au-198 (2016-03-15)

Yes, I know, I still haven’t built the booster for the flexwing glider, but this is higher priority and doesn’t involve sanding airfoils. The Au-198 is my NARTREK Gold rocket. This ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Building the (scratch) Au-198 (part 2) (2016-03-17)

Next I marked and cut the fin slots in a piece of BT-55. No, I lie. Next I went to Home Depot and bought a piece of aluminum angle, then brought it home and cut off a 1-foot piece, so I could use it ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Building the (scratch) Au-198 (part 3) (2016-03-19)

Hey, look at what I found! Sheesh. OK, time to contemplate the shock cord. This being internally indistinguishable from a minimum diameter model, a replaceable Kevlar leader would be: Highly ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Building the (scratch) Au-198 (part 4) (2016-03-20)

There wasn’t enough space between the tubes for me to see a good way to get internal fillets in. So I just glued the third centering ring down behind the fin tabs and did external fillets. And ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: Building the (scratch) Au-198 (part 5) (2016-06-20)

I decided not to do anything fancy with the finish. Single color (gold, of course), no decals or trim. This is a workhorse research rocket, after all. The Rocketarium retainer looks good. Much better ... [Read More]