Make: Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets

Chapter 2. Rockets

Rockets are cool. There’s no getting around that.

—Elon Musk, inventor

Ever since he was a kid, Rick has loved rockets. Solid propellant Estes rockets were the only rockets really available at the time, and Rick and his friends used to head out to the Mojave Desert for multistage launches that sent their rockets into the sky to altitudes well over 2,000 feet. The rocket launches were amazing, but with launches costing a few bucks a pop, they soon burned a hole in Rick’s wallet.

Likewise, James also enjoyed launching rockets at a young age—the first rocket he built and launched on his own was a 15” tall rocket that was unfortunately lost on its fifth launch and never found again. Today, he teaches a summer camp where one ...