How tall is the rocket and how much does it weigh?

The airframe is 18.5 feet in height. The weight without motors is about 125 pounds.

Kimberly Harms. Kimberly designed it, financed it and is part of the construction team.

While not a group project in the traditional sense, these fine folks are part of the team:

Kimberly Harms Design & Construction
Marsha Botzer Team Philosopher

Pat Floyd Construction
Newman Construction

Stu Barrett Propulsion
John Lyngdal Propulsion

Andy Casillas Ground Support
Tim Larson Ground Support
Jessica Larson Ground Support
Chris Scott Ground Support

Traci Scott Launch Support
Greg Deputy Launch Support
Amanda Larson Launch Support
Steve Bloom Launch Support
Randy Sobczak Launch Support

The airframe tubing and nose cone are from Public Missiles. Airframe fiberglassing was done by b2 Rocketry. All the centering rings, bulkheads, etc. were custom made by Giant Leap.

The current plan is to fly twice this year. At the Desert Storm launch in Bend Oregon in May and at the AeroPac launch in Black Rock Nevada in September. Each launch site has an altitude waiver and field size that can accommodate the C7.

There are seven motors. The central motor mount is 136mm (5.3 inches) and the other six are 54 mm (2.13 inches). Liftoff is accomplished by the central motor alone. The timing of the ignition of the 54mm motors depends upon the choice of the central motor.

The May flight uses these motors:
Central motor: AeroTech M2500
First airstarts: 3 AeroTech K700 Ignited 2.5 seconds after liftoff
Second airstarts: 3 AeroTech K185 Ignited 5.0 seconds after liftoff

With these motors, the pad weight is approximately 165 pounds. The expected altitude is 8300 feet. Once the K700s ignite there is over 1400 pounds of thrust accelerating the airframe. The total impulse of these seven motors is 20,867 Ns. This is in the O motor range.

The September flight uses these motors:
Central motor: Custom manufactured O motor of approximately 27,700 Ns
(The O motor range begins at 20480 Ns)
First Airstarts: Either K700 or K1100 (not yet determined)
Second Airstarts: Either K700 or K1100 (not yet determined)

With these motors the expected altitude is approximately 15,000 feet. With the appropriate motor choices it may be possible to achieve a velocity in excess of mach 1.

The fins are the most complex part of the project. The fins are built like an airplane wing. There is a central sheet of .125” G10 fiberglass that has the basic shape of the fin. Attached to that G10 core is a laminated plywood and G10 spar that runs the length of the fin on each side at the high point of each side's airfoil. At the root and tip of the fin are laminated plywood and G10 ribs.

The body of the fin is filled with closed cell rigid polyurethane foam. This foam was carved and sanded to the airfoil shape of the fin. Once shaped, the entire fin was sheeted with 1/64" plywood.

The whole fin was then covered with 2 oz. Kevlar, 3.7 oz. S-glass and a sanding veil of 2 oz. S-glass under 26 inches of vacuum.

Coming up with a total cost is always a problem. Here is a breakdown of cost in three areas:
a) What was spent on this project specifically. This includes most of the airframe components and paint job.
b) The cost of the items that have been or will be used in other projects. This includes all the avionics, motor hardware, and parachutes. Some of these items are on loan from the team members.
c) The cost of propellant for the flight.

The cost breakdown in these three areas are approximately:
a) $3,600
b) $2,350
c) $1,100

So, if starting from nothing you wanted to recreate this exact project you would need to spend the total of the three parts or $7,050.

At apogee the airframe splits above the motor section and a RocketMan R7 parachute is used to stabilize the descent. The motor section remains attached to the rest of the airframe using a recovery harness of tubular nylon.

After a descent to 2000 feet AGL the payload section and nose separate from the airframe and descend on its own RocketMan R12 chute. The remainder of the airframe descends on two RocketMan R18 parachutes.

There are three pieces of electronics to control deployment of the recovery system:
1. Adept ALTS25 Altimeter
2. Cambridge IA-X96 Recording Accelerometer/Altimeter
3. Pratt Hobbies Flight Computer

The Pratt Hobbies flight computer is used for flight performance recording due to it’s extensive recording capabilities.

Each set of airstarted motors is ignited by a timer. The two in use are:
1. Adapt PST941 High Current Timer
2. Adapt ST231MLH Timer

The jumbo rail pad was designed and built by the Ground Support team mentioned above. This rail is available for all the large projects in this area and is owned in common by members of this project team.

The paint was done by J&J Collision in Seattle.

The rainbow flag and the rainbow colors have been used by many organizations. I fly the rainbow flag and use the rainbow colors on the airframe to represent the diversity of all people everywhere. If we could only learn to work together and respect the value and unique perspectives we all have, the human race could be in the stars.