Hi gang. Might as well get the intro post out of the way. I'm new to everything in this world. Still trying to figure out the acronyms and jargon.

what actually is solid fuel? Do you make the engines or buy them?
It's a composite fuel that is cast into hollow-cored grains (the core burns inside out) that are stacked inside a steel case, with a threaded graphite nozzle closure at the business end. The fuel is referred to as "AP/CP" for "Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant", though there are various formulas with differing charachteristics. You buy a "Load Kit" or "Reload" which comes with the proper nozzle, the fuel, o-rings and maybe a few other things. Then you load it into the appropriate sized re-usable case - sold separately. Those are expensive pieces of pipe, though. Really sucks losing them when your rocket crashes or blows up or simply vanishes.
 
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I was into model rockets as a kid. Got good at making them. Then I started trying to add engines to them and I had this one with a couple taped to the sides. It went up and one of the engines jettisoned the main craft on a downward arc on to my best friends front lawn... which was dry zoysia grass. Caught the entire yard on fire and his dad hated me already before this, I was so scared to go tell him I just burned his lawn!
I went to the door and his dad opens it, looks at me, looks at the lawn, just shook his head and turned around, sat back down and watched TV.

Ahh to be young again!


His mom got the hose and contained the blaze... man their yard looked awesome that year!
 
I was into model rockets as a kid. Got good at making them. Then I started trying to add engines to them and I had this one with a couple taped to the sides. It went up and one of the engines jettisoned the main craft on a downward arc on to my best friends front lawn... which was dry zoysia grass. Caught the entire yard on fire and his dad hated me already before this, I was so scared to go tell him I just burned his lawn!
I went to the door and his dad opens it, looks at me, looks at the lawn, just shook his head and turned around, sat back down and watched TV.

Ahh to be young again!


His mom got the hose and contained the blaze... man their yard looked awesome that year!
I think you and I may have had very similar childhoods. I can already relate to the high-energy, low-information experiments with the resulting fires and property damage.
 
Check out this bobcat right outside my pitbull's pen earlier! No respect!!
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(For the record, this is a majestic, native feline and I would never hurt it unless I absolutely had to.)