This project is ongoing. See the Notion project page for working notes.

Most hobby rockets have fins made out of flat material–balsa, basswood, birch plywood, G10, carbon plate, etc.–with the edges either rounded or beveled. I think we can do better. For this rocket, I will shape the fins of this rockets using a real NACA airfoil profile (or something as close as I can approximate). These “tiny wings” will be able to generate more lift than their flat-finned counterparts when the rocket needs to make aerodynamic adjustments in flight–encountering winds aloft, leaving the launch rail, etc.–which should result in a more stable, more efficient flight profile.

Design Criteria

My preliminary design for the aerostructure is: