Rocketry Planet

ARGONIA, Kansas USA — On Sunday, shortly before noon, a rocket named MINI-MAX, "Mini's to the Max" made history. A record 269 of 288 Estes A10-0 mini-engines lifted a 18.25 lb rocket off of pad Yellow 8 at Air Fest 3 near Argonia, Kansas. The designer and builder, Larry Drake, TRA 4394 & NAR 70056, of Omaha, NE was flying high to see his 6 month project finally fly and recover with two 4 ft parachutes.

The rocket was 8 ft tall and was made from 4" PML tubing and couplers. The upper half was the upper payload section of an Amraam 4 from PML. Only 19 of 288 motors did not light using flash pan ignition made from metal foil, using 4FFFG bp, and dual solar ignitors in each of the 7 pans. This breaks Scott Pierce's record of 170 motors set at LDRS 1.

The motors were super glued together in seven 40 and 42 motor clusters. These were then epoxied to a 1/4 " plywood, which was screwed to the bottom of the rocket. The motor assembly was 5 lbs alone. Recovery was with Pete Kerchoff's 4 event timer set to 5 seconds and an Adept altimeter which never armed, because the rocket never broke 300 ft. The second parachute was deployed by drag separation.

The rocket was 12" at base with most of the rocket only 4" in diameter. Total Newton seconds was 672NS or a J2690 or 598 lbs of thrust for 1/4 second. Who said toy motors can't lift their weight? Remember, " You can do anything if you set your mind and wallet to it". So who will be the next person to break this record?

Those interested in additional may contact Larry at: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .