1: Have the Model Rocketry Honor.
I have had this honor since 1998. I earned it on July 13, 1998,
when I flew my Alpha rocket with the Boulder Pathfinder club. (see
attachment
1)
2: From a kit, build, successfully launch,
and
recover
a boost glider.
I accomplished this on July 20, 1999, with the Estes kit of the F-22
Air Superiority Fighter (see
attachment 2). Furthermore, I have also
constructed from scratch my own boost glider, Sunbird II, which
I flew twice. (see
attachment 3)
3: Design, build (not from a kit), finish,
and
paint a
single-stage rocket. Check for stability, and successfully launch
and recover this rocket.
This became a reality on August 22, 1999, when I fired aloft Space
Racer. This rocket flew three times. (see attachments 4
and 5).
4.a: From a kit, build, finish, and paint a
two-stage
rocket. Successfully launch and recover this rocket.
I achieved this on July 6, 1998, when I launched the Estes kit Mongoose
in two-stage configuration.
I have also flown two two-staged rockets of my own design, SAM-66
(attachment
6) and Alpha-FS (attachment
7).
5. Design an electrical launch system...Use
it to
launch
rockets at least five times.
I first made use of the WAEC 12-Volt system on March 21, 2001.
I have used it to launch countless rockets since. (see
attachment 8)
6. Describe and demonstrate single station
altitude tracking...Track
the same rocket using three different sizes of engines...
This was the goal of my science fair project in January 1999.
I launched the Estes rocket Mk-109 Stingray on three different flights,
and tracked it to apogee on each of these. (see
attachment 9) The
first two flights showed a steady, and predictable, progression to
higher
altitudes: first 11 meters, then 15 meters. But, on the C6-3, the
rocket went haywire, and I was unable to get a good reading. This
illustrated a different principle of rocketry: the heavier the engine,
the heavier the nose must be for stable flight.
7. Compare the velocity and altitude of two
different
weights of rockets using the same engine.
The launch described in attachment 9 on January 19, 1999, was one data
point used. The other was the launch of Space Racer II on
February 4, 2001 (see attachments 10
and 11).
Both were on an Estes A8-3 engine.
Mk-109 Stingray was a 48-gram rocket, and it flew only 11 meters
high.
Conversely, Space Racer II weighed 23 grams, and it soared to 87 meters
high. This illustrates a direct corellation between a rocket's
mass
and its altitude gained: the lower the mass, the higher the altitude.