ROCKET TERMINOLOGY
|
Term |
Definition |
| Apogee | The peak altitude of the Rocket |
| Bulkhead Adaptor / BA | Sturdy payload section, generally for use in larger rockets. |
| CATO | Catastrophic Launch Failure (thankfully rare!) |
| Centering Ring | Card/ply disc used to mount engine tube into body tube |
| Coast | Occurs after Boost stage (see animation) |
| Egglofting | Great fun! Put an egg inside a rocket & try to recover it intact! |
| Engine Hook / Clip | Holds engine in place for flight and ejection |
| Engine Mount | Refers to the assembly which holds the engine into rocket |
| Engine Tube | Normally made from card. Engine slots inside |
| Fin canister | Normally refers to pre-molded fin/engine section |
| Heatshield | "Permanent" Nomex material to protect 'chute/streamer |
| Kevlar safety line | Very strong material, normally used with shockcord |
| Launch Lug | Guides rocket along launch rod |
| Nomex | Fireproof material, used as replacement to wadding. |
| Nose Cone | Streamlines air over rocket. Normally plastic / balsa wood |
| Payload Section | Accommodates altimeters, even insects (no animals please!) |
| Plugged Engine (eg. D11-P) | Used for Rocket-gliders. No ejection charge. Capped |
| Recovery Wadding | Material to protect the 'chute/streamer from ejection heat |
| Reloadable/RMS Engine | A re-fill for the permanent RMS/Dr Rocket casings |
| Retainer | Metal clips which hold powerful engines in place. |
| RTF |
Ready to fly, requires no assembly. Needs engines / batteries |
| Shock Cord | Refers to cord which holds parachute/streamer to rocket |
| Single Use Engine | Can only be used once. Needs no casing |
| Streamer | Alternative to parachute, normally used on small rockets |
| Tube Adaptor / Transition | Allows tubes of different diameters to be joined. |
| Tube Coupler | Normally made from card, links two body tubes together |
ENGINE DEFINITIONS
Above animation refers to Estes and Quest motors, but basic principles apply to most model rocket motors
| What do all the numbers mean, eg "A8-3"? | The "A" part is basically how powerful the engine
is
The first number is the Average thrust in Newton secs. The last number is the delay before ejection, in seconds. If there is a "0" then the engine has no ejection charge and is designed for staging. |
| What do 13mm, 18mm, 24mm etc. mean? | These are engine diameters:
13mm = All engine types with letter "T" after them 18mm = A, B, C size engines (Estes and Quest) 24mm = D size engines (Estes) |
| What does the "T" stand for, for example in A3-4T? | We presume it means "Tiny" - ie, 13mm diameter engines |
| What does the "P" stand for, for example in D11-P? | This means "plugged" - ie the engine has no ejection charge. These are normally used for rocket gliding. |
| What is a tracking delay/powder? | This is a powder located between the boost / ejection sections of an engine, and allows the launcher to visibly track the rocket. |
| What does "coast" mean? | Coast is the term used to describe the motion of a rocket after it has finished thrusting but before the ejection charge has fired. |
| How are they ignited? | All Model Rocket engines are ignited electronically, usually using launch controllers with AA, 9Volt or Nicad batteries, making them very safe to launch. |
| What is an Engine / Ignitor plug? | This holds the ignitors in the engine, hopefully leading to successful ignition! |