Rocket Man and kids and woman

One of the extracurricular activities I began at Albany was another science spin off. I had always been interested in flying models. The problem is that flying airplanes are expensive, even if you build one. Balsa wood planes are cheaper to build, but require more patience and only use rubber bands for propulsion.

Then I discovered model rockets. These were relatively inexpensive and easy to build. There were various levels of skill needed, but all models could fly. I bought my first rocket kit and proceeded to get into the sky. We started simply and I used my car battery to ignite the rockets.

There are many lessons to learn from launching rockets. Many are safety related, like locking out the launch button until everyone is clear. Often a launch would fail, and we had to be cautious about approaching a failed launch as occasionally it was just a delayed ignition. We learned to carefully install igniters to reduce failures.

We also learned that careful construction was important. Loose fins can turn a vertical launch into a horizontal one. We had several close calls with broken rockets. Field repairs also didn’t work well, as re-gluing fins doesn’t make for safe rockets on launch day.

Many students enjoyed participating and chasing down parachute returns. This  was almost more fun than blast off. This may be because the rockets are so fast you can barely see them take off. Kids of all ages could help chase it down. The drift down is slow, unless the ‘chute doesn’t open.

We had several ‘chute failures. We learned that being careful installing the ‘chute was important and that the nose cone needed be carefully fit. Too loose, and the ‘chute wouldn’t be pushed out enough to deploy, too tight and the ‘chute would melt and not deploy. Rockets without working parachutes became fast descending projectiles and resulted in a dangerous and destroyed rocket stuck in the ground.

We also learned that higher is not better, as many rockets drifted a long ways on descent. Although the school grounds were a good place to launch, descending rockets could drift off site into trees. We lost a few to rocket eating trees.

My interest was shared with my science students and eventually we had a rocket club. I purchased launching equipment and the adventure blasted off. Students used their model rocket projects for science fair projects as well.

My personal interest continued and both my son, Scott, and daughter, Sarah became interested in flying the models. I continued to build more elaborate rockets which cost more. The bigger kits came with options like two stage rockets.

As we got more elaborate we tried bigger engines. We lost quite a few this way. We moved to more open fields, but we still had fun. We moved into two stage rockets which we so fast and high, they rarely lasted more than one launch.

I continued to build model rockets after I left teaching. Scott and Sarah always enjoyed the launches. Scott got the bug and built many models. We found a place to launch in an open lot near our home.

My last build was model of the space shuttle. It was elaborately detailed and quite heavy. Scott and I launched it several times. We landed it on the roof of the Motel 6 and I thought it was gone forever. Scott went to the hotel and got it back. I finally decided to retire from building and flying.

While I was principal at Irving, one of the teachers, Carole, became interested in building model rockets with her students. She used the rockets as a teaching tool and did annual launches.

I gave Carole my space shuttle. She told me recently she still has it, but has retired it from launches. Although she is retired, she continues to “do rockets” with kids. I am glad something that is so much fun continues to be shared.

Last winter, Scott, invited us to join him and his daughters at a park near a grocery store. He set up a rocket launch with his girls. They enjoyed chasing down descending rockets and he let Rachel launch one. Unfortunately Scott, like his father, has bigger engine-itis. The bigger engine put the drifting rocket on the roof of the grocery store. It is probably still up there.