GILBERT, Arizona USA — Nathan Hall took his Cub Scout rocket-building project and ran with it.

Years later, he's still running. He's determined to determine why the material of fiberglass fails at supersonic speed, and he has spent hundreds of hours at his home computer designing a 19-inch, 4-pound sled for testing.

"It's a small sled," said Hall, 17, a senior at Gilbert High who is in Air Force Junior ROTC. "But this is no small deal."

No indeed. In fact, millions of dollars could be at stake. An F-22 fighter plane that costs $20 million to cover in carbon fiber could be built at perhaps one-third of the cost with fiberglass, Hall figures.

His project was judged the best in the state and second in the country last spring by the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.

Despite the acclaim for his research, Hall is stuck. He has sent out 50 comprehensive research proposals, seeking a relatively modest $20,000 grant to proceed with testing, but has received only about 10 responses.

Although he has heard from the likes of Orion Propulsion and Boeing, he has no takers. If he can't raise the funds, he says, he probably won't be able to enter his work in the next round of science competitions in the spring.

"People don't think it's possible," Hall said of his project. "If they do, then they don't think it's feasible. And if they think it's feasible, then they don't think a high school kid can do it."

While acknowledging that aerospace engineering is his passion, Hall defies the stereotype of the pocket-protector nerd. His goal is to attend the Air Force Academy and become a fighter pilot. But he frets that his grades might not be good enough, and he admits that he's not a conventional smart guy.

"In fourth grade, I started to realize how much was involved in the aerospace industry," Hall said, crediting an uncle with sparking his early interest in building model rockets. "I've packed my head full of this. I've ignored the typical science class and pretty much the educational system in general.

"Anything that's not interesting, I ignore. And the rest, I go nuts with. Mark Twain said there is a fine line between genius and insanity."

The sled - known in engineering language as a "small-scale supersonic test platform" - is designed to go from 0 to 800 mph in half a second, covering a mile-long track in five seconds. Hall said he has borrowed some design principles from the auto industry and from those who build roller coasters.

"I tell people this is one big math problem," he said. "You can't take something and push it past the sound barrier without some serious engineering."

He has a standard answer for the naysayers.

"Originally, carbon fiber couldn't be used supersonic, either, and it had to be modified," he said.

To enhance his appeal for funding, Hall has worked on refining his communication skills.

"If I only work on this project and I can't explain it, then it doesn't matter," he said. "I've worked on how people would want to hear this and the best way to get their attention.

"Presentation is everything. If you can't present, you can't win."

To contact Hall about the project, e-mail him at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Copyright © 2007, The Arizona Republic.