Article provided by Apogee Components
Model Rocket Design and Construction
Written by: Timothy S. Van Milligan

From the Author: I've been building and designing model rockets since 1977. At first my rockets were fairly simple; a tube, nose cone and some fins. They weren't too complex, because I had no information on how to make neat looking rockets. So I began to collect and archive anything written on how to design and build better model rockets, from simple assembly tips, design rules, to data on how to make them fly straight and true. Since the time of my first designs, my collection of rocketry data has grown tremendously, and now fills an entire 5-shelf book rack in my house. A lot of the stuff I collected was simple stuff, most was junk, but there was some precious nuggets of gold that make all the difference in the world in inventing great looking and excellent flying rockets.

When I entered college, I continued to collect design data and I supplemented it with hard facts that I got from my education as an aeronautical engineer. By the time I finished my degree, all the good data I had collected made sense, and could now be backed up by the principles and laws of physics.

I strongly believe that my interest in model rocketry was a contributing factor in my getting a job with McDonnell Douglas in Cape Canaveral launching satellites into orbit on the Delta II rocket. This was my first job after college and I loved working in Florida launching those big rockets and helping to put satellites into orbit. My interest in model rocketry grew while I worked there, and I became very good at creating rockets with fantastic performance. Becoming actively involved in rocket competitions, I even won a spot on the U.S. International Spacemodeling Team.

Because of a slowly growing reputation as a good rocket designer, Estes Industries hired me in 1991 to create their rocket kits for them. When I took the job there, my information database served me well -- because they didn't have any design guidelines for building rockets. It was hard to believe that the largest model rocket company in the world didn't have any procedures on how to build model rockets. Until my arrival, they simply used-up the experience of past designers and hoped for the best. There was a lot of trial and error in creating new rocket kits, and most of it was "error." But because I had such an extensive collection of great design information, I was able to create some phenomenal kits in a very short period of time including: CATO, Terrier Sandhawk, Hi-Jax, Omloid, Turbocopter, and the Delta Clipper. I even got one of my rocket designs patented - the Skywinder (Patent #5,413,514).

I have since left Estes, but I realized that there were many other people that want to build their own rockets too. Many of them like to take their rocketry hobby to a higher level and create their own unique rockets, but most simply wanted a way to save money (the cost of a rocket is a lot cheaper when you don't have to pay for a cardboard package, plastic bags, and instructions that you may not need or read). So I decided to write a book on how to design rockets.

I had all the data from my collection and the experiences that I developed by building my own rockets, so I just squeezed out the good stuff. The book that resulted has all the useful design data a person needs to make their own models. As you might guess, the book is called "Model Rocket Design and Construction." If you get just one book on rocketry, this is the one to own, because it has all the necessary stuff to not only make great looking rockets, but ones that are safe and fly well. Here are just some of the things that I put into the book: the hows and whys of rocket stability, how to make rockets fly higher, construction techniques (including all my little secret tips), higher powered rocketry design and their special construction techniques, repairing damaged models, recovery system design, glider design for long duration flight, helicopter design, staging techniques, clustering techniques, and much, much more.

The hardest part about writing the book was presenting the information in a useful manner. The writing had to be concise, and yet easy to read and understand. For this reason, and because rocketry can use some technical sounding words, I created a glossary to help out beginners in the hobby. The glossary that ended up in the book has over 500 different terms - which is about twice the size of any other rocket glossary in print. I also realized from my work at Estes that no one reads text, so I included 240 illustrations and 40 photographs to fully explain the concepts. This has really made the book easy to use. And it is easy to find stuff in the book too; because it has a full index of all the topics you may need to find in a hurry.

But I also didn't want the book to be used only by beginners. I wanted it to be a great reference book even for highly advanced modelers. That is why the book has so many topics in it, and why these are explained in great depth. For example, the section on helicopter design is the only available guide to help a modeler who wants to build these fascinating rockets. There just isn't any other book or magazine article that explains how to make one of these complex models.

The section on selecting the proper size parachute has become one of the most sought after chapters of the book. I didn't realize when I wrote the book that most modelers didn't have any way of calculating how fast the rocket will descend, or what this descent rate should be. So this information has become indispensable for people designing their first rocket.

In my personal opinion, generating the "idea" for a new and novel rocket is the hardest part of the design process. I know a lot of people want to build their own designs, but can't come up with a new idea, so they do the next best thing and enlarge a rocket kit from Centuri or Estes. But when I build a new rocket, I want it to look and function completely different from any other rocket ever flown. But, getting that first idea is very time consuming for me. For this reason, I put my strategy down in the book so that it makes the process go faster, and so that other people could benefit from my past experiences. Creating that first idea is so important that it is one of the first chapters in the book. But since the book also contains so many illustrations and photographs of neat rockets, the rest of the book is also useful for generating ideas for new and ultra unique rockets.

The book has only been around since the summer of 1995, and already people are calling it a "classic." Here are some things that some people have said about it:

Todd Schneider (President of Eclipse Components) -- "I was very impressed with the quality and content of the book! It has information for every person no matter how advanced they are in model rocketry, I especially liked the chapters on glider and helicopter design. I would recommend this book to anyone who is involved in model rocketry!"

Tom Kizner -- "This book really does offer a solid understanding of basic component rocket construction and design, for both the novice and veteran modeler! From chute compartments, to stabilization, to clustering, to gussets, to fin types, to airfoils, to safety, etc., this book is packed with tons of info for even the beginning modeler. The writing style was easy to comprehend, and the illustrations/pictures gave strong support to the narrative. If someone wants a step-by-step understanding of rocket component design and construction, whether a kit or a do-it-yourself job, I fully recommend the book! "

One interesting note about the book: Paul Fossey liked the book so much that it inspired him to write the software program RockSim. So the book compliments the software, because it gives you the building techniques, while the software will help you with checking the model's stability; and predict how high it will fly.

At a cost of only $17.95 - less than the sum of most rocket kits that you could buy today - this book is a "bargain." With the book's help, you could build hundreds of models and still find ideas for new ones. Imagine the amount of money you'll save by not having to buy another expensive rocket kit again. But more importantly, after the cheers and the applause die down when you launch your rocket, people will come up to you and ask where you got that cool looking kit. You may have a hard time convincing them that you designed and built it yourself (I know this feeling -- its often happened to me).

Like all modelers, you'll probably want a copy for yourself. I use my copy all the time now - all the good design information can be found in a single place. I no longer have to spend hours searching through all my binders to find how to correct a stability problem in a rocket. It has really made designing a model rocket a simple and really fun task.

When I send you the book, I'll also include a copy of the publication: "Rocketry on a Budget". This publication tells you where to find inexpensive or free substitute parts to make your designs come to life. You don't have to pay high kit prices for a great looking model - you can do-it-yourself and save really big bucks!