This is home made model rocket, designed around the A10-3T model rocket engine. It was designed as part of my attempt to learn FreeCAD. The final design was launched, flew well, and was successfully recovered.
Assembling the rocket: Print all of the parts below. For the nose, I used 80+% fill in order to balance the center of gravity. You'll need to glue the threads onto the Fins. Make sure the glue is dry before attempting to connect the body. You'll also need to glue the Hook to the under side of the Nose cone. The hook gives you a place to attach a streamer or parachute for the recovery.
Additional items you'll need:
- an A10-3T engine
- launch pad and rail
- shock cord
- recovery wadding
- parachute or streamers
This was a fun build. Some lessons learned and things to be aware of if you print and launch on your own.
- Parachute - The small size of the rocket doesn't allow for a full parachute to fit inside. Use a streamer instead. The streamer creates enough drag to protect the small rocket from damage on impact.
- Tail damage - There is a ring at the base of the rocket that holds the engine into place. I launched two of these rockets. On one, the engine melted the ring, making a second launch impossible. On the other, the ring stayed intact. They were printed with different brands of PLU. The one that melted was a ProtoPasta HTPLA. The one that didn't melt was Mika3D Normal PLA. Lesson learned is to have some additional Fin prints available.
- Stuck engine - After one of my launches, the engine was stuck inside of the tail. It seems it either expanded enough to get stuck or it got hot enough to melt the tail to the engine. Have some needle nose plyers on hand to work out the engine if necessary.
- Have fun, but be safe.