The Crayon is the rocket I built from scratch for getting my Level 1 High Power Rocketry (HPR) certification from Tripoli. I believe my scratch-built rocket goes even further than the traditional scratch-built kits. The body is constructed from mailing tubes found in UNLV’s machine shop, the coupler and nose cone are 3D-printed, and the fins were laser cut from 1/8 in. plywood. I designed the rocket using RockSim and ran simulations to observe the apogee and ground hit velocity. I chose the Aerotech H550 motor as the simulations indicated a relatively low altitude of about 1800 feet, making for an easier recovery. Unfortunately, at the Crayon’s first launch, one of the fins broke upon landing which I believe was due to a weak bond between the plywood and body tube.

I did not have a chance to relaunch The Crayon until December of 2020, partly due to COVID-19 and partly due to me studying abroad for the Spring 2020 semester. I laser cut a new fin and drilled larger holes into the body which allowed the epoxy to seep in more and form a stronger bond between the fin and body tube. On the Crayon’s second launch, I successfully obtained my Level 1 HPR certification.