(12/15/08) The third edition of Timothy S. Van Millian's (Apogee Components owner) "Model Rocket Design and Construction" book has been released. I dare venture to say that this edition should be considered the new primary reference and teaching publication for rocketry. I know that most will point to the "Handbook of Model Rocketry" which was written by one of the founders of model rocketry, G. Harry Stine, but from my viewpoint, Tim's book has surpassed it. It could simply be style.

I had the first edition of "Model Rocket Design and Construction" and it was a very useful book to me, but it pales in comparison. First, just look at the size difference in the publications. The first edition had 120 pages, while the third addition has 328 pages. I don't know about the second addition which has two reviews down below.

The first edition gave me excellent instruction, definitions and ideas. One of the ideas was a two-motor cluster where the motor tubes diameter, when side-by-side, we larger than the body tube. I first used this idea with a rocket I called Red Dog. I repeated the idea on a bigger rocket for Descon9 called Big Blue Dog.

We'll the third edition is so much more than that. Initially, I will say that I was not able to find a topic that I would like covered missing from Tim's book. Here is the table of contents:

• One: Getting Started
• Two: Stability: Getting Rockets to Fly Straight
• Three: Drag Reduction and Aerodynamics
• Four: Construction Tools
• Five: Basic Raw Materials
• Six: Construction Techniques
• Seven: Building Higher-Powered Rockets
• Eight: Painting and Decorating
• Nine: Repair Techniques
• Ten: Streamer and Parachute Recovery Systems
• Eleven: Designing for Glider Recovery
• Twelve: Helicopter Recovery Design
• Thirteen: Scale Models
• Fourteen: Payload Rockets
• Fifteen: Multi-Stage Rockets
• Sixteen: Clustered Engine Rockets
• Seventeen: Rocket Engines
• Eighteen: Flight Testing
• Nineteen: Displaying Your Completed Model
• Twenty: Starting a Rocketry Club
• Twenty One: Computer Aided Rocket Design
• Appendix A: Other Design Resources
• Appendix B: Bibliography
• Glossary
• Index

These expanded sections (compared to first edition) caught my attention:

• Getting Started section has many more techniques highlighted including Aerobrake recovery. It shows how aerobraking is different than drag recovery.

• Multi-Staged Rockets has been expanded to include Gliding Boosters, Parallel Staging, and Mix Series-Staging with Parallel Staging. That is a cool looking rocket design that I will need to try to make.

• Streamer & Parachute Recovery section has really been added to. It provides excellent guidance on how to handle Parachute Clusters.

• Building Higher-Powered Rockets section includes many of the techniques needed to ensure strong and safe rockets. I particularly liked the section describing the various Ejection Charge Baffles. These techniques can be applied to lower-powered rockets as well.

• Computer Aided Rocket Design is closely tied to Apogee's RockSIM Design and Simulation software. It is nice to see it included in the publication.

I could go on, but I just wanted to give a flavor of how beneficial this publication is to the newer rocketeers and the experienced rocketeers (which I would call myself).

I give the rocket an OVERALL rating of 5 points. The quality and quantity of the material, illustrations, and pictures make this a wonderful resource.

Summary:

The 3rd edition of Timothy Van Milligan’s Model Rocket Design and Construction contains 328 pages of rocketry goodness covering everything from planning and design through recovery. This edition is twice the size of the previous and includes an impressive array of facts, techniques and concepts about all facets of the hobby. Much of the material Tim has added in this edition was extracted from his Peak of Flight Newsletter. (If you don’t subscribe, quit reading this review and go sign up!) These are really useful and I’m glad to see this material compiled in one easy-to-reference location. However, he has also included other unpublished materials too. The range of materials makes it useful to both newbies and us graybeards alike.

The book includes plenty of diagrams and photos. I found the use of diagrams and graphs were used effectively and made the book very understandable. The material ranges from the most basic to advanced. I found many familiar techniques, some that I had known of but had forgotten about, and many others that I had never been in my bag of tricks. However, the material is covered in various degrees of detail. Some items are merely cursorily mentioned (e.g. back-sliding gliders are mentioned but no detail is provided) and other are discussed in detail (e.g. 20 pages are dedicated to the discussion of dynamic stability).

Here are a few of the things that I though stood out:

• The inclusion of more esoteric concepts like pivoting forward fins and.cone rocket stability.
• The emphasis on techniques for building light but still strong.
• Techniques for motor retention in minimum diameter rockets and in boat tails.
• Methods of making custom cones.
• Orthographic procedures to build oblique cones (like the boosters on the Vostok) and templates to cut tubes at an angle.
• An introduction to designing and building larger and high-power rockets.
• The chapter of recovery, which includes information on custom parachute design.
• A long list of rocket-related patents.

Tim references his RockSim software numerous times through the book and the short chapter on computer-aided rocket design is targeted at RockSim. I think these references are appropriate and the reader can mentally substitute the name of their favorite rocket software. The last chapter does seem a little like a sales pitch, but since I have RockSim, I didn’t mind. I actually would have liked to have seen more RockSim information tucked away, maybe in specialized sections at the end of each chapter.

One thing that was missing for this text was the presentation of the Barrowman formulas and basic altitude prediction calculations. Tim provided a good qualitative discussion of these subjects but then assumed the reader will make the jump to a software tool. I personally think every rocketeer should work through these formulas at least once as they provide a feel for and appreciation for what’s going on under the hood of said software. Maybe this is just my gray coming out?

As EMRR mentioned in his review, I have always considered Stine’s Handbook of Model Rocketry to be the benchmark that rocketry books should be compared with. Since the latest edition that I have seen is 5th Edition published in 1983, comparing the two may be apples and oranges. However, also like EMRR, I also think this may be a case where the student has become the master. While Model Rocket Design and Construction doesn’t cover everything that is covered in The Handbook, it does have more depth in other areas. Both are 5's as far as I am concerned.

Review:
A soft cover book details how to design and construct model rockets. It is fiiled with numerous illustrative drawings and photos. 20 chapters plus an appendix. Price: $23.95 (as of January, 2003).

160 pages. The book includes a demo version of RockSim on CD-ROM. Book covers such topics as construction techniques, repair techniques, painting, designing gliders, helicopters, scale models, payloads and clusters. It also includes some useful checklists and an extensive glossary.

This is a good introduction to anyone who is interested in designing and flying their own creations. Tim Van Milligan covers a wide range of materials including unique methods of recovery. I had never heard of horizontal-spin recovery. Tim also goes into quite a bit of detail discussing both helicopter and glider recovery. The book discusses fin shape and placement, including the discussion of built-up fins. There are suggestions for creating ones own nose cones and a section on the use of paper boattails and transitions.

The book often advertises Apogee products (such as the mini engines and RockSim), but for the most part, the information is helpful. At times, I ran across terms and calculations that were unfamiliar to me (I am coming from a non-technical, non-engineering background), but I think that the book still reads well even if not every single concept is understood.

If I had to buy just one book for the beginning rocketeer, I would still recommend Harry Stine's Handbook on Model Rocketry. If I was recommending a book on the plethora of buildling, designing and flying techniques, I would recommend Tim Van Milligan's book. The book is published by Apogee Components and features annoying little typographical errors. However, the illustrations and photos are very helpful, and the chapters flow in a logical manner.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

The following excerpt is from "Sport Rocketry". The intention is to allow guests to get a basic feeling about a kit. We strongly suggest that you get a copy of the referenced Sport Rocketry and read the entire article. Inside you will find many helpful hints in construction as well as other useful information. For more information, use the two links above.

". . .this book is easy to read and should appeal to the novice as well as the experienced model rocketeer"
"The first chapter provides an overview of the design and construction process . . ."
". . . next two chapters provide good information about stability, drag reduction, and aerodynamics. . ."
"The next three chapters in the book cover construction . . ."
"Separate chapters are included . . . concerning different recovery methods."
"The final chapters in this book are concerned with flight testing, displaying rockets and starting a rocket club."
"The book has numerous photos and a wide variety of drawings that clearly illustrate many of the concepts discussed throughout."
"Any rocketeer wanting to design his or her own rockets will find Model Rocket Design and Construction to be a valuable resource."
"...it mentions two recovery techniques that I had never heard of before..."

The entire article gives the impression that the book would be an asset to all rocketeers of every experience level.