Author Archives: Adam

“…but when I first started, they walked up to it with a torch. They didn’t do all this shit.”

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Adam

The general consensus in the Burner community right now is that the “lottery” ticketing scheme was a hope-crushing train wreck of epic proportions, and there has been no shortage of words spewed about it over the last few days. The … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Leave a comment

Resuming operations

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Adam

The disposable L1 rocket project was shelved about 4 months ago, mostly due to summer wandering, and being too broke to prepare for Burning Man and pursue EX concurrently. But now that the Burn is over, and a steadier source … Continue reading →

Posted in Rocketry | Leave a comment

What goes in

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Adam

I have decided to start an experimental diet. The defining general rule is that I shall not eat any meat that I shall have not myself hunted or caught or raised, and killed. This will involve ceasing all consumption of … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 1 Comment

Factor of Safety (“It’s over 9000…!”)

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Adam

If the military built their rockets to your specs they could reuse them after detonating their warheads.-Matt Dolan And so this new project goes off track. Matt and I have always had a penchant for over-building things — ever since … Continue reading →

Posted in Rocketry | Leave a comment

Fun with Bondo

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Adam

The next step toward finishing the Infinity Cycle was hiding the pits and valleys of my crap fiberglassing job with body filler. For those who have never used Bondo before, a word to the wise: It sets up really really … Continue reading →

Posted in Rocketry | Leave a comment

Burning Man shakedown run, number one (with rockets)

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Adam

Took a short trip to Lucerne Dry Lake for RocStock / NSL 2011, partly to watch rockets, and partly to get ourselves prepared for Burning Man later this summer. I didn’t go with my full compliment of rocketry gear, just … Continue reading →

Posted in Rocketry | Leave a comment

1947

Posted on April 24, 2011 by Adam

“Fear and self-consciousness are the most serious psychological hindrances in life. Awed by reports of great achievements of historic personalities, most people become perfectionists. They ‘know’ beforehand that their work cannot be worthwhile because they can ‘never’ match historical standards. … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | Leave a comment

Infinity Cycle air worthiness test

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Adam

Or, “Finally launching that damned fiberglass rocket”. Matt suggested naming it the Infinity Cycle, and I loved that — so it was. If it had been any heavier, it would have impacted the ground before the ejection charge popped, although … Continue reading →

Posted in Rocketry | Leave a comment

The jungle is dark

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Adam

Quick animated sketch. My feelings about suddenly finding myself without a PHP programmer sitting behind me… (GIF version here for those dear misguided iPad using friends of mine.) See, my professional web design life used to involve a lot of … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

K450 Static Test

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Adam

After about a week’s worth of frustration trying to build/acquire the tools and materials, the static test went without a hitch. Reviewing the video, the igniter took less than 4 seconds to light, but with my thumb on the button, … Continue reading →

Posted in Rocketry | Leave a comment