Rocket Record: The Largest, Heaviest Amateur Rocket Ever Launched

[walnutpie]

Just before 1 p.m. on Saturday April 25, a Saturn V rocket carried one more man into history. Steve Eves broke two world records Saturday, when his 1/10th scale model of the historic rocket—built in his garage near Akron, Ohio—lifted off from a field on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The 36-ft.-tall rocket was the largest amateur rocket ever launched and recovered successfully—and at 1648 pounds, also the heaviest.

Eves' single-stage behemoth was powered by nine motors—eight 13,000 Newton-second N-Class motors and a 77,000 Newton-second P-Class motor. (Five Newton-seconds is equivalent to about a pound of thrust.) All told, the array generated enough force to chuck a Volkswagen more than a half-mile—and sent the Saturn V more than 4440 feet straight up. It was arguably the most audacious display of raw power ever generated by an amateur rocket. "I didn't start out to break records," the soft-spoken 50-year-old says. "I had just been working away, building it—and then one day I realized no one's ever pulled this off before."

The launch took place at Higgs Farm, near Price, Md., home field for the Maryland-Delaware Rocketry Association (MDRA). The MDRA has a history of generating headlines along with serious thrust: Eves broke records set here five years ago by the Liberty Project, a 24-ft.-tall rocket that weighed 1368 pounds. But as a testament to the camaraderie in the hobby, Neil McGilvray, one of Liberty Project's team leaders, packed the parachutes for Eves' Saturn V. "When something like this comes along," McGilvray says, "there's no competition."

Organizers anticipated a crowd of 1,000 for the historic day, but they may have gotten twice that. Enthusiasts arrived from nearby states like Pennsylvania—but also from places like Texas and California. One local church group carpooled out to the field, as did members of the New Hampshire Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. In fact, the launch, which had been scheduled for noon, was delayed because the crowd created a traffic jam that kept Eves from the launch pad.

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[drm604]

1. I used to build and fly Estes model rockets when I was a kid.

Sounds like the hobby has come a long way since then.

[Howardx]

3. same here

pretty dang cool.

[goodboy]

2. that's pretty cool! (nt)