If there was one place on the Internet I would point a brand new hobby rocketry enthusiast to, hoping they would catch the fever, Vern Knowles' web site would consistently be among the top choices that comes to my mind. Vern has put together one of the most comprehensive, educational and entertaining testimonies about hobby rocketry of any you will find on the Internet today.

During the week, Knowles, age 52, is an electrical engineer currently doing servo system designs for Hewlett Packard, working on their Ultrium tape drive product line, a unique component that stores up to 1.6 terabytes of data on one tape. But on the nights and weekends, he is a hobby rocketry enthusiast that can be found building and flying high power model rockets.

Knowles' junior high teacher Mr. Boggs explaining how the Estes Cineroc works, an 8mm film camera rocket.

A member of both the Tripoli Rocketry Society and the National Association of Rocketry, Vern has served as a prefect for Tripoli Idaho for over 10 years now, and is certified L3 in both organizations. And like most people who are enjoying their middle age in the hobby, Knowles recalls being introduced to model rocketry when he was just a kid in school.

"I was introduced to Estes model rockets by my junior high school science teacher Mr. Boggs in 1970," Knowles stated. "I joined NAR back then and flew Estes kits and a lot of scratch built rockets. A D-motor was the biggest motor available."  Like many, he flew model rockets for a few years, but eventually set them aside during the latter days of high school. In college and graduate school, there was no time for hobbies such as model rockets, but they weren't completely forgotten.

"I got back into model rockets in the mid 80's when a friend and I decided his son should start flying rockets," Vern said. "His son was far too young but that was our excuse," Knowles added, grinning. The biggest motors Knowles flew at the time were the F100's from Flight Systems. The FSI's motors were notorious, according to Knowles. "I think about 1 out of 4 would cato," he said.

In 1994, another of Knowles' friends told him about a group of rocketeers known as "Tripoli Idaho," which was also about the same time Vern discovered a High Power Rocketry magazine on the shelves of his local hobby shop. Between the two, Knowles quickly became excited about the ability to fly larger rockets than the ones from his past.

Vern and friend Scott Carter posting with the mid-90's arsenal. Photo: Mary Nielsen.

"At that point I was still having a lot of fun flying E, F and G motors," Vern stated. "I certified L1 on an H123 in March 1996. I certified L2 on a HyperTEK J100 hybrid two months later."  For the next five years, Knowles was knee-deep in H, I, J, K and L motors, and attended three LDRS launches from 1997 through 1999, before certifying L3 in 2001.

Vern is a very prolific flier, racking up more than 250 high powered flights, including 35 hybrid motor flights and 46 M motors burned. "It's still fun," he said. "It's still a thrill. I attend a fair number of launches every year. About 6-7 local launches plus 3-4 out-of-state launches per year."  Knowles is someone who really enjoys the hobby of sport rocketry.

Knowles is no different than many of you, who have found out that when the bug bites, it bites hard. And for Vern, the bug was the high power bug. Now flying high power exclusively, he stated, "I used to fly the full range but my projects seem to have gotten larger over time."

His favorite rocket of all time?  "The Saturn V."  Like many his age, Knowles recalls the magic of the Saturn/Apollo era. "There is a book titled 'Stages to Saturn' by Roger E. Bilstein that describes the development and engineering work that went into creating the Saturn launch vehicles," Vern said. "I highly recommend it if you are interested in the technical details of the Saturn V."

Vern poses with Angelfire at XPRS 2005. Photo: Rick Clapp.

Angelfire's unique GPS payload assembly.

Heading his list of favorite kits, it was hands-down the Air-X "Black Rock" kit. "I used it to create my Angelfire rocket," Knowles said. Unfortunately, the Air-X kits are no longer available. They were all fiberglass including a filament-wound nosecone. According to Knowles, "the tubes, rings, bulkheads, nosecone and fins were all precision machined by the kit manufacturer and the fit was literally 'perfect'."

But Knowles doesn't do many kits these days, he's a die-hard get-his-hands-dirty scratch-build kind-of-guy. "I prefer to scratch build or to kit-bash," Vern stated. "Kits can be very handy as a starting point or as a supply of parts. However, I have enough experience now that I have developed my own preferred ways of doing things so I end up modifying kit designs or designing completely from scratch."

I asked Vern, if he were to pass along one valuable tip to today's hobbyist, what would that be? "Have fun. Fly lots of rockets and learn new things," he said. "Don't be in a hurry. Enjoy the ride and let the kid inside of you come out and play!"  With so many ways to enjoy this hobby, with people able to participate at any level that their skills and budget will allow, these are words of wisdom. "From models to mid-power to high-power," Knowles said, "there are all kinds of specialized interests like clustering, staging, electronics, payloads, photography, video, recovery, etc. The hobby is a rich field of exciting opportunities to explore and you can take it just as far and just as high as you want."  

In search of unique construction techniques to import into his fleet, Knowles always is on the look-out for new ideas. His method is to try and pull together the best ideas he can find from around the hobby for use in his rockets. At the same time, he likes to try new ideas and to innovate where he can. "One example is my anti-zipper steel band," Knowles explained. "I build my rockets in the classic anti-zipper configuration but there are still times when the body tubes can get zippered slightly during a 'less than optimum' deployment."  Knowles has eliminated that problem by embedding a steel hose clamp band below the fiberglass layer at the opening on his airframes.

Knowles most memorable project to date is his Starfire project, "because it is my largest project and has flown on many different motor combinations with various payloads at lots of different launches," he said. Starfire has a central 75mm motor mount and six 38mm outboards for air-starts. Starfire has now flown a total of 19 times, and carries both an on-board video camera and two on-board digital still cameras. Knowles has placed a wide variety of his many flight videos and photos from it on his web site.

Starfire also rewarded Knowles with his most memorable flight to date as well. A XPRS 2006, Vern loaded up Starfire with an M2200 Skidmark in the central motor opening, and surrounded it with six J350's — four set to airstart a 4 seconds into the flight, with the final two set to airstart 7 seconds into the flight. According to Vern, everything about this flight went exceptionally well. The setup, liftoff, air-starts, chute deployment, on-board video, ground based video, aerial camera photos, ground camera photos, recovery, landing, everything!

Starfire showering sparks from the Skidmark at XPRS 2007. Photo: Rick Clapp.

Starfire after a magnificent flight at XPRS 2007.

"It was a huge thrill being out there relatively close to the launch pad when Starfire climbed into the sky on the Skidmark and was raining down a shower of sparks, and then set off the air-starts in quick succession," Knowles gushed. "It was a tremendous endorphin rush!"  Knowles was standing within 200 yards of Starfire's landing site when it touched down, and for him the whole flight was a pleasure to plan, execute, watch and experience.

Vern's flights haven't all been as memorable. His trusty L1 rocket, Sentinel, equipped with a 35mm camera for aerial photography, crashed because of an over-eager application of assembly lube when the motor was assembled. "It had made a lot of very successful flights but on its 39th flight I got a bit careless when assembling the motor and got too much grease into the delay charge well," Knowles lamented. "It used motor ejection and that excess grease managed to plug the small hole at the end of the delay grain."  Consequently, the black powder ejection charge never went off. The rocket came in ballistic and it and the camera system were destroyed. Vern added, "It was a lesson that I will never forget but I sure wish I could do over."

Vern started his hobby rocketry web site six years ago, because he wanted to share the fun and excitement of flying high power rockets with the world. "I had a lot of photos from over the years that were all hidden away in photo albums or boxes," Knowles said. "The web site was a great way to share them with others in the hobby." His desire was to help promote the hobby, in order to help if grow, and to show others that it's really not that difficult to do. According to Vern, "If I can inspire someone else to get excited about a new project and to have them build it and fly it, then that's what this web site is all about."

Knowles has always enjoyed the people in this hobby and the way ideas are openly shared, so that everyone can learn from each other, helping advance the "state of the art" for the hobby. "My web site is just my small part in that process," Vern stated. "I like to share my designs and construction ideas with others in hopes they can use them or build on them to come up with something even better."

No matter what your interest are, your fancy will get tickled on Vern's web site. Whether it's flight video, flight photographs, how-to articles, construction coverage, it's all there. "I have a lot of on-board videos posted but those require a high speed broadband connection to download," Vern said. "I also have a lot of photos of launches and lift-offs." 

One of Knowles favorite things is to try and capture the Mach diamonds in a rocket's exhaust gases during a lift-off. "It takes a high shutter speed and some careful attention to exposure settings to get it right," Knowles said. "I have quite a few photos of different motors that produce Mach diamonds." There are also a lot of design drawings and construction pages that show how his rockets were built, just the kind of thing he would have liked to have had access to when he first got started in high power. Future plans for his web site call for more how-to and design-related content.

Knowles' rockets photograph beautiful vistas that few humans ever see.

Leveraging the power of the Web to advance the hobby, Knowles was asked what he would like to see available to rocketry enthusiasts via the Internet. "I don't know what it would be," Vern said, "but if we could do something on the web that would get the hobby more widely known in the hobby shops and high schools around the country it would help grow the hobby. Also maybe something along the lines of the ARLISS program but rather targeted at science teachers in high schools would help."

Giving Vern the closing comments, he stated, "Hobby rocketry is a cooperative sport, not a competitive one. It's all about sharing, helping, learning and having fun rather than keeping secrets and trying to 'win.'  That's what I like about it. There are also lots of different technical things to get into as well. Some people like to build motors, some people like to build air-frames, and some people like payloads or electronics. The hobby offers a very rich environment for experimentation and enjoyment for anyone with a 'hands-on' 'can do' attitude. I also like the technical challenge of creating a new design and then putting it all on the line when it flies. It's like the ultimate test of your engineering skills. At liftoff the reward comes in the form of smoke, fire and noise that creates a rush of pure adrenaline and endorphins. The raw power of a big motor pushing a big rocket into a blue sky is an awesome thing to watch and experience.  That's why I love this hobby."

As do we all, Vern. As do we all.

Website: http://www.vernk.com/

01-05-2008 11:32 PM  #1
Vern_Knowles New Member   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 2	Re: Website Review: Vern Knowles has got it going on Thank you very much for such a nice complimentary review of my web site. I really appreciate all the kind words. It's very nice to hear the site is enjoyable and useful for others.

01-06-2008 12:18 AM  #2
lkal32 NAR 86607 L1   Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 137	Re: Website Review: Vern Knowles has got it going on I will agree, Vern's site is the single best personal rocketry site on the web, no questions asked...

01-06-2008 09:14 AM  #3
agrippo Certified Level Three   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 71	Re: Website Review: Vern Knowles has got it going on Vern, Your are the Man. When I got back into rocketry in 2004, your site was a HUGE help to me. It explains so many things so well that it prevented me from making a lot of mistakes. Talk about shortening a learning curve, you web site is the place to go. I really appreciate all the time and effort you've put into having such a great place for folks like me. Thanks a Bunch!!! Andrew Grippo If there was one place on the Internet I would point a brand new hobby rocketry enthusiast to, hoping they would catch the fever, Vern Knowles' web site would consistently be among the top choices that comes to my mind. Vern has put together one of the most comprehensive rocketry websites on the Internet today. Great write up Darrell, truer words couldn't be written.

01-06-2008 11:57 AM  #4
ddmobley Administrator   Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 2119	Re: Website Review: Vern Knowles has got it going on Quote: Thank you very much for such a nice complimentary review of my web site. I really appreciate all the kind words. It's very nice to hear the site is enjoyable and useful for others. Vern, the pleasure was all mine. Knowing how much time a website takes, I can say with a pretty good conviction that yours is one of the very best on the Internet. It is what the Internet was designed to do. In-depth comprehensive coverage of myriad rocketry topics all hyperlinked together. This is a website with a purpose and one that meets the call.

01-07-2008 12:47 PM  #5
UncleVanya   Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 1415	Re: Website Review: Vern Knowles has got it going on Quote: Thank you very much for such a nice complimentary review of my web site. I really appreciate all the kind words. It's very nice to hear the site is enjoyable and useful for others. Vern - your website is misclassified as "weapons" by a major vendor of filtering software. I have submitted the url for reclassification. This is common with rocketry sites and drives me a up a tree. Not to thread hijack but I have personally removed LOC and PML from these misclassification's in the last year.

01-07-2008 02:38 PM  #6
fyrechaser Certified Level 3   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 18	Re: Website Review: Vern Knowles has got it going on I 100% agree with all of the good things said about Vern's website. I sent Vern an e-mail a couple of years ago asking him for permission to put a link to his website from our club website. When I want to show someone what my hobby is all about, Vern's is the one I take them to first. Thanks Vern for pointing the way! Thanks to Darrell for a super nice write-up! Jim Ballard TRA L3 Tripoli West Texas

01-18-2008 06:44 PM  #7
ddmobley Administrator   Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 2119	Re: Website Review: Vern Knowles has got it going on Vern, if you get this message, your email address at vernk.com is bouncing as unknown.

01-19-2008 03:20 PM  #8
Vern_Knowles New Member   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 2	Re: Website Review: Vern Knowles has got it going on Quote: Vern, if you get this message, your email address at vernk.com is bouncing as unknown. The email address posted on my web site has just been changed. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. The change was necessary due to the large volume of spam being sent to the old address after being publicly posted on the web for so many years. My new address is available here: www.vernk.com/ContactVern.htm Death to spammers!!