reader Sean Violette and his dad, Keith — and
in Volume 32 a catapult to launch it (/catapult-
glider-launcher).The Violettes soon reimagined
combining the glider with the air rockets!
Keith shared a prototype with Rick, and we
collaborated remotely on the Air Rocket Glider
in Make: Volume 39 (/air-rocket-glider).With
wings folded back, this one-of-a-kind invention is
launched by compressed air, then its wings fold
out at apogee and it glides gently to the ground.In
2014 we met for the first time at World Maker
Faire in New York, where we and our families
built and launched 1,600 rockets with faire-goers.
Led by Keith, the launcher went through
several design changes which cut the build time
by hours and the parts count from 40 to 12. After
a successful Kickstarter campaign, we formed
our company, Air Rocket Works. We’ve now sold
our launcher and accessories in all 50 states and
dozens of countries. Keith even built a custom
launch system for NASA and ULA, and traveled
with his family to Kennedy Space Center in 2018
for NASA Family Day to see it in action.
HOW ABOUT CHUTES AND
ELECTRONICS?
A few years ago, we designed a foam nose cone,
a thin and durable ABS plastic body tube, and
vinyl sticker fins for our Compressed Air Rocket
Bounce (CARB).Using our standard launcher,
a CARB will travel nearly 250 feet in the air and
create an exciting bounce upon landing.
Now we see these parts as a platform for
innovation and we’re asking Make: readers: What
might come next? We’re seeking innovators to
help build on ideas we’ve been playing with, like:
• Parachute recovery — timer-based or
airspeed-released? This deceptively simple
design challenge of making a reliable recovery
system has eluded us for years.With parachute
recovery, the CARB could perform like an Estes
Alpha with a solid-fuel A engine — but not burn
a $4 hole in your pocket each time you launch!
• Electronics — possibly with the ubiquitous
micro:bit — namely accelerometers to
measure launch and landing g-forces, time
of flight, tone generators (for experiencing
Doppler effect), cameras, etc. But be warned,
the g-forces on launch can exceed 100 g’s!
Submit your ideas via the form at Make: Projects
(makezine.com/go/air-rocket-recovery) and we’ll
send a 4-packof modular rocket parts (nose
cones, fins, and body tubes) to the first 25 entries
we choose.The parts are for you to experiment
with.Your invention must be lightweight, fit the
rocket, and most of all, be reliable. With your
help, we look forward to writing the next chapter
of air rocket history.
Get your Air Rocket Launcher at
makershed.com/products/compressed-
air-rocket-launcher-v2-2.
Justin Cross, Gabriela Hasbun, Keith Violette
Rick’s first article in Make: Volume 15, and Rick at World
Maker Faire New York with some of the awards we won.
The system Keith built for NASA KSC Launch Services
Program educational outreach. The entire design was
vetted by NASA engineers.These cases originally held
ignitors for the Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters.
101
makezine.com
RICK SCHERTLE, a public school
K-8 Maker Lab teacher in San Jose,
California, is author of two books for
Make:. His family has brought rocket
joy to Maker Faires across the USA.
KEITH VIOLETTE is a proud father
of a maker family, a tool-a-holic, and
a mechanical design engineer for
robotic prosthetics at DEKA R&D in
Manchester, New Hampshire.
Xxxxx
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