Strib's Rocket Page
I'll admit it. I am a rocket nut. I was glued to the TV set when Alan Shepard blasted into space on May 5, 1961 (I was just shy of 4 years old!) and have been hooked ever since
I discovered model rocketry in 1968 along with my best friend Greg Smith in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, when the hobby shop opened. We flew Centuri and Estes rockets. About a year later, we moved to Tucson (I was still unpacking my room during the Apollo 11 moon mission)
Starting junior high, I quickly became involved with a rocket-building class led by our counselor, Mr. Craig. The class became a club, the Sunnyside Organization for the Advancement of Rocketry (SOAR), named after our school, Sunnyside Junior High.
Mr. Craig led us into performing rocketry lectures and demonstrations for classes at our school, and others in Tucson. We hosted a couple of local rocket meets and competed with a couple of local clubs. The photo of the Mercury Redstone was taken at one of those launches
Model Rocketry sparked my interest in engineering and math. Designing, building, and flying a rocket is a very satisfying activity. I haven't moved into "high power" rocketry, but would like to some day.
OGIVE NOSE CONES
I enjoy running computer simulations of rocket flights, and delving into the math behind them. I recently worked on a derivation of the formulas to generate ogive nose cones the link will show you how to draw tangent ogives and secant ogives. Kem Payza created an Excel spreadsheet that will draw nose cone profiles for ogive, elliptical, parabola, and other shapes. Click to download the file (UPDATED: approx 472 KB zipped).
Virginia Tech has a web site on aerodynamics called Configuration Aerodynamics Course that has a lot of information, including a pdf file called Geometry for Aerodynamicists. This document contains formulas for other nose shapes, such as the Von Karmen ogive (79 KB).
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a method to calculate fluid flow in, or around objects. It is like running a virtual wind tunnel. I have been working on analyzing an Alpha to calculate the effects of launch lug drag and compare it to the analysis in Estes TR-11. It is a work in progress and I am currently waiting on an updated version of the software to allow better meshing around the launch lug. While waiting, I modeled a research rocket NACA used in the 1950s to study supersonic flight.For more information on CFD analysis, go to CFD Online
BARROWMAN CENTER OF PRESSURE CALCULATIONS
Here are scans of the old technical reports TIR30 and TIR33. (Note if the web site says it is unavailable, wait an hour or so for the download limit to timeout.)
Several computer programs are available to calculate the CP of a rocket to determine if it is stable VCP is a free program. Rocksim from Apogee Rockets has more features but of course you have to pay for it!
There is also OpenRocket an Open Source model rocket simulator that has a lot of features.
Here are our picture pages. We'll update this as we launch. Check out the Saturn 1B project!
Other Links:
There are thousands of web sites related to rocketry. I have listed only a few to whet your appetite.
Rec.Models.Rockets FAQ (HTML Version)
Fly Rockets! a great introduction to this hobby!
How to Build Model Rockets Hans Michielssen's tips and tricks
Team America Rocket Challenge -student teams compete with a rocket project for cash!
Rocketry InfoCentral: The Ultimate Rocketry Information Site!
The Rocketry Forum: A forum devoted to rocketry enthusiasts!
Ye Olde Rocketry Forum: A forum devoted to "old school" rockets!
Rocketry Planet: Rocketry news, tutorials, and discussion forums!
ThrustCurve.org: A compendium of rocket engine information
National Association of Rocketry
Tripoli (High Powered Rocketry Association)
Red River Rocketeers (RRR) the new club in Duncan Oklahoma!!!
Dallas Area Rocket Society (DARS)
NASA/Houston Rocket Club (NHRC)
Superstition Spacemodeling Society (SSS-Phoenix)
Gates Brothers Rocketry Fantastic on-board videos from a rocket (Go to the Movie Gallery). Crank up the sound!!!
Rocketry Today by Marc Slabbinck
Rocketry for Educators by Apogee Model Rockets
Estes Educator site a web site for educators w/ technical reports you can download
Space Exploration Merit Badge an excellent reference to space and model rockets
JimZ Rocket Plan Site (plans for all the old favorites)
Ninfinger Productions Model Rockets (old Centuri and Estes catalogs here!)
OpenRocket an Open Source model rocket simulator
The Card Modeling FAQ information on building models from paper, and LOTS of information on paper and cardboard
Paper Weight - Thickness ever wonder how the thickness of paper is related to it's weight? (same info on another site)
VCT Rocketry Construction Toolkit nice tool to make templates, fin alignment guides, etc.
Aircraft Design, Synthesis and Analysis On-line aero information from Stanford U!
Teaching Materials for the World Wide Web on-line aero information from Virginia Tech!
NASA (don't these guys fly rockets? I read that somewhere....)
NASA Aeronautics education site
Model Rocketry Resources page at Eljet (thanks Angela!!)
A Field Guide to American Spacecraft
USNO Master Clock (get accurate time from the U.S. Naval Observatory!)
Since I am also a mechanical engineer, I will stick some links here of interest to rocketeer/engineering types:
NASA Tech Briefs Online - Engineering Solutions for Design and Manufacturing
NACA Technical Report Server (contains old NACA reports that are available for downloading)
MatWeb the Free Online Materials Property Database (this site contains material properties for over 15,000 different materials!)
eFunda, an online reference for the mechanical engineering community
Engineer's Edge, another online reference for mechanical engineers
Machine Design On-Line Home Page
Computer-Aided Engineering Magazine
MechaniCalc calculators and reference material for mechanical engineers
The Dilbert Zone (my hero)
Slide Rule Museum --ahh, brings back memories!