Lessons Learned
(The hard way)

We have all done it — some really stupid thing that comes around to bite us in the butt — and it is so painfully obvious after-the-fact that we wish somebody had just pointed out the impending disaster so we wouldn't have had to live through it....

This page is where we brothers and others have decided to share some of our most embarrassing moments in the hope that our candor will help prevent others from making some of the same lint-headed mistakes we did.

Not all 38mm Aerotech motors are assembled the same way. This is a madcap look at what happens when you assume you know how to assemble a motor you've never seen before.

If you borrow a motor casing, make sure it is compatable with your other hardware. Just what does it look like to have a motor zip through the center of a rocket at about 300 mph?

After several years of launching cluster rockets in various configurations, I believe I can properly classify myself as a minor expert in what can be done wrong. No doubt there are other clustering faux paus that I haven't managed to discover yet, but by drawing from this experience base I've listed a number of tips you may want to consider on your next clustering attempt.

Here's a hint: which of these do not belong together...? Bare feet, a concrete garage floor, and a leaking bottle of Cyanoacrylate? I think you get the idea.

Tall Rocket. Wet Paint. Garage Door Clearance. Oh my.

There is a lot of material on this site dedicated to various methods of shaping Styrofoam. Work with this stuff at all, and you quickly learn that it brings new meaning to the words 'Static Cling'.

'Great Stuff' isn't necessarily the 'Right Stuff'. What can happen if you choose the wrong product for the construction of your rocket project.

There is a reason why you're supposed to be standing FAR AWAY when you light a high-power motor!