Information On "How To Make Amateur Rockets" Bookset

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Amateur Rocketry Society Of America

The Rocket Camp

CP Technologies started in 1994 with a three booklet/video series on how to make your own ammonium nitrate composite propellant rocket motors. These booklets were written by John Wickman, a professional rocket propulsion engineer with over 30 years of experience in solid, liquid and exotic Space propulsion. The success of the booklets and videos was recognized by the U.S. Government by their award of the 1996 Tibbett's award. The original booklets, videos and software were replaced in 1997 with a new book/video/software set called "How to Make Amateur Rockets", which has been revised and updated to make the all new 2nd Edition!

The Best & Most Complete Source Of Information
On Making Rockets And Rocket Motors

The 2nd Edition classic book/software/video set sells for just $59.95, which includes shipping within the United States. This book is completely illustrated with photographs and drawings. With this book, you will get software programs written for Windows 95/98/ME/XP. In addition, you will get a video, over an hour long, covering the material in the book. We show you how to design and build your own motors, rockets, find a launch site and get an FAA waiver so you can just enjoy flying rockets. Click Here For More Information On This Bookset.

You can be saving over $50 on J class reloads by making your own motor and save $100's on larger impulse reloads and motors. Don't fall for the myth that you don't save money making your own motors and reloads. Click here for an actual cost analysis on a 54mm Aerotech J90W reload.

With this bookset, you will not have to pay a hundreds of dollars for rocket kits. After all, what are you really buying with that rocket kit? You are paying for the time someone took to design that rocket. Plastic nosecones and cardboard tubes don't cost a hundred dollars or more. With our "How To Make Amateur Rockets" bookset, you will be able to design and build from scratch your own stable rockets. Tired of showing up to launches with the same rocket as everyone else with only a different paint job? Now you can break free from the pack by learning how to design the rockets you want to fly and save money, too! For more information on this incredible bookset offer, click here.

Next Class - Spring of 2009
Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday

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Rocket Motor Design Classes Now Available!! - CP Technologies is now offering a rocket motor design class bundled with our popular "How To Make Amateur Rockets" booksets. The class teaches students how to design and build their your own solid rocket motors. The instructor will be John Wickman, a professional aerospace engineer and internationally known in the field of rocket propulsion.

A highlight of the course will be when students press the firing button on the control panel to test their rocket motor. It will not be an ordinary firing button or control panel. It is the original firing button and control panel used by Aerojet, once called the "General Motors of Rocketry" by Time magazine. From this historic control panel was test fired solid rocket motors powering Polaris, Minuteman and MX missiles including tactical missiles such as Sidewinder, Maverick, Harpoon and many others. Students and their rocket motors will merge with solid rocket history as they press the firing button.

* - A $30 credit will be given to people who have already purchased the "How To Make Amateur Rockets - 2nd Edition" bookset. Cost is then $165.

Windows Media Player Videos

• A Kosdon case ammonium nitrate J-175 motor flying. (file size 423K).
• Ammonium nitrate 4 inch PVC pipe motor static firing. (file size 588K).
• 2 inch PVC ammonium nitrate rocket motor static firing. (file size 591K).
• Rocket Camp 6 inch by 9 feet rocket & 4" PVC pipe PSAN motor. (file size 518K).
• Launch of a 4.25" diameter x 9 ft long PVC rocket with a 2.5" PVC pipe rocket motor.
  The rocket and motor were designed and built by a Casper College student taking the "Introduction To Rocketry" course. The "How To Make Amateur Rockets" bookset is the text book for the Casper College course. (file size 276K).
• Pathfinder Rocket Launch Q Class Motor (100 lbs PSAN Propellant). Launched from NASA Wallops July 2004.

Yes, they were at one time. Even Robert Goddard conducted his initial rocket experiments with only his limited personal financial resources and never did make a living out of it until World War II. You see amateur rocketry is the foundation for all rocketry today whether it be professional, model rocketry or high power rocketry. The great ancestors of the modern rocket were amateur rockets built by the early pioneers of rocketry. These men had dreams of rockets taking people to the Moon, Mars and beyond. For the most part, they were considered crackpots who did not understand basic physics - "rockets cannot work in the vacuum of Space as there is nothing for the rocket exhaust to push against". Of course, today we know that this is utter nonsense.

In the 1930’s, these crackpots formed amateur rocketry societies to pool their financial resources and combine their skills to make successful rockets. These groups had names like "Verein fur Raumschiffahrt - VfR" (translation: Society for Space Travel) or the "American Interplanetary Society". The American Interplanetary Society later renamed itself the American Rocket Society (ARS) in an attempt to lessen chuckles and hoots from the establishment press and scientific/engineering community. The VfR had members like Wernher von Braun, Klaus Riedel and Willy Ley. The ARS had members like H. Franklin Pierce, Max Kraus, Edward Pendray and James Wyld. The ARS later became the professional society for aerospace engineers, The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics or AIAA.

Amateur rocketry was given an undeserved bad reputation with the propaganda theme of "you’ll kill yourself if you make your rocket motors". Model rocketry organizations and commercial manufacturers led a major propaganda campaign to paint all amateur rocketeers as "basement bombers". The drum beat steadily until this "politically correct" message was firmly imbedded in the minds of all rocketeers, fire marshals and government officials. The few voices speaking out against this propaganda were not given much credibility. The old time amateur rocketeers of the 30’s were now "professional" aerospace engineers and had no time or interest in the survival of amateur rocketry in America. Forgetting their roots, these engineers felt amateurs had nothing to contribute to rocketry except bad publicity and accidents.

Today, things are different. Amateur rocketry is emerging from the dark ages of the past few decades. Technologies in the form of composite solid rocket propellants and the personal computer are responsible for the renaissance of amateur rocketry. While many commercial manufacturers and some model rocket organizations are still trying to suppress amateurs, they are losing the battle. NASA and aerospace industries are realizing that amateur rocketry lays the best foundation for aerospace engineering skills that will be needed tomorrow.

Amateur Rocketeers .... Von Braun, Goddard and Me!!