Team Leader/Conceptual Engineer

Lucas is the team and design leader. He is the team's rocket specialist and is a member of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR). It is his responsibility to design a strong, stable rocket capable of reaching the 850 foot objective. Kalathas is confident that the SkyRunners team has plenty of potential.

Finance Manager

Amber is the team's treasurer and public relations specialist. She is invaluable to the team as she is organized and keeps us focused on achieving our goals.

Construction Engineer

Scott is the chief construction and recovery engineer. It is his task to design and construct the recovery system that will keep the egg safe and the rocket's airtime as close to 45 seconds as possible. This is not a small feat but Neidrick has plenty of experience and the skills needed to achieve the task.

ROCKET STATUS: Retired

The rocket has undergone many developmental changes through its design and launches. Our first model was 72" long, had three fins in the for and aft sections, and used a G-64-7W rocket motor. It used a piston system to drive the internal recovery devices out at ejection, but it failed in execution. It used a 42" Ultra X-Type chute to bring the sustainer back to Earth while the nosecone was recovered using an autogyro "helicopter" method. Check out test launch #1 for the flight of this design.

The second revision was 12" shorter than its predecessor. It featured four fins in the aft section alone. This seemed to help the stability tremendously. It would use a piston system as well as 42" Ultra X-Type chute and autogyro rotation for means of recovery. A G-64-7W rocket motor powered its flight. Check out launch #2 for this design's test flight.

The third revision is almost the same as revision 2, but the piston was removed and the rocket was lightened by the removal of extra unnecessary mass. It used the same 42" chute and rotor blades as those before it.

Revision four reintroduces the piston system, although improved upon, due to the ejection troubles we have experienced with the others. A smaller 30" X-type chute is being used for the body, as well as stock 600mm rotor blades.

The latest update has been changed so that the rotor system has been removed. The rocket now uses two seperate parachutes. This provides more reliabiliy, simpler design, and easy adjustment. Plastic tubing in the payload bay and sustainer is used to strengthen the body, but a paper tube midsection allows the rocket to remain light and repairable.