Brain Dump:
Both High powered rocketry and hobby rocketry can be fun and safe if people just would follow some guidelines set down by the NRA.
I know of people who have lost hands of fingers due to accidental pipe bombs. On the other hand my dad and and his brothers use to do all kinds of crazy rocket crap when he was in high school and he had loads of fun.
This is just another example of what I like to call the gunpowder phenomenon: Within 20 paces of where I am sitting right now are all the ingredients for about ten lbs of gunpowder. the recipe for gunpowder is relatively simple, with no trouble at all I could make some. What a lot of people don't realize is that the manufacturing process is extremely complicated, you have to take into account: temperature, pressure, humidity, lighting, and a whole slew of other things.
There is a similar phenomenon happening with the people in these videos, they don't know about forces and vectors, or nozzle throat diameter and combustion chamber pressure, nor do they know about dynamic pressure acting on the fins or material strength chamber pressure. All they know is that they saw something cool on the Internet and they want to do it to, usually with minimal work or brain activity.
I am a smart person, I know calculus, physics, and linear algebra, and I have a tremendous understanding of the workings of, both the aerodynamics of rockets and the workings of their engines. I have flown many rockets built from scratch and from kits; I never once have had the urge or the need to build my own engines however. Mostly this is due to the fact that it would be dangerous, impractical and would preform much worse then what professionals can do. At come point in my life though, I do plan to build my own rocket engines, not just as a hobby, but also for a living.
In this fall 2009, I will be going of to college to study Aerospace Engineering with the hope of one day getting my PhD.
So there is my position on rocketry.
Okay that was to long a post, I really need to spend more time away from the forums and interacting with other people, although whenever I talk to people about my interests I am afraid that I am going to get a toilet swirly.
Thats all for now.
Over and out Cap Com.
N72.75 (The Illustrious Matthew Webb Hume)