The largest amateur rocket ever built, at over 46′ tall, weighing in at 617 pounds, will attempt its first flight next weekend at the Thunda Down Under rocketry meet in Australia. This impressive-looking 1:1 scale replica of a V2 was created by the “rocket junkies” at the Rocket Victoria club. The team has been building up to this launch, first flying a 1:10 scale V2, then a 1:4, each time experimenting with lightweight body construction and other innovations. For the 1:1 vehicle, they settled on a radical aluminum frame skinned in shaped foam panels. This is the first time this construction technique has been used on a large scale rocket and the group hopes the lightweight, but sturdy design will launch their baby into the record books. The rocket will be powered by a single Cesaroni O motor with 25,000 Newton-seconds of thrust (similar to a Sidewinder missile).
Good luck to the Rocket Victoria team next weekend. The launch will be recorded, so hopefully we’ll be able to share in the excitement.
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