Looking for a way to spice up your rocket designs and make them look more like a NASA rocket? Try adding a wiring tunnel to the outside. When you add them to your rocket, it gives it a really cool and realistic look.

This video concludes our discussion of the proper steps you'll need to follow when selecting rocket motors for your own designs and kits.

This video will give you the step-by-step process for picking the right motors for your rockets. You'll get safe and successful flights by matching the motor to the rocket and the weather conditions.

I like longer shock cords because they have less of a tendency to zipper a body tube at parachute ejection. But the obvious problem with long cords is that stuffing them into a tube can be tedious and they can get tangled more easily than a short cord. In this video, I'll show you one technique that I use to prevent these long cords from getting tangled so easily.

This video concludes the series on dual-deployment altimeters. We'll finish the discussion about setting up the device with the altimeter's software, and also how to view the data that gets stored on the altimeter during the flight.

In this fourth video in the series, we'll show you how to set the altimeter to deploy the parachutes at the correct time during the flight. You'll also see how to use the altimeter to perform electronic staging.

In this third video, we'll talk more about mounting ejection charges, and about some of the safety considerations you'll need to be aware of. You'll also see a bench test of two altimeters in a vacuum chamber.

In this second video on Dual-Deployment rockets, we'll show how to mount your altimeter into a avionics bay, and how you might attach the ejection charge to the bulkhead.

In this first video, we'll explain what dual-deployment (ejecting two separate parachutes) is, and explain how the Entacore Dual-Deployment Altimeter works that controls the rocket.

Conformal parts are things that adapt to the curvature of the tube. It includes parts like canopies and thick fins. The advantage is that they are stronger, and are easier to paint because there are less gaps that need to be filled. This instructional video shows you how to make them.

This video shows you how to cut out your own centering rings to use in your own rocket designs. You'll save money, and have the great satisfaction of knowing that you built the rockets yourself.

You've designed your canted engine mount, but the engine mount tubes interfere with each other. This video shows you how to build the rocket and take care of that interference issue. Part 2 of 2.

Not only do canted engines make a cool smoke plume, but they can prevent a rocket that cartwheels across the sky should one motor in the cluster fail to ignite. This video shows you how to set-up the design so that the rocket will always fly straight. Part 1 of 2.

RockSim does not allow you to directly print out a 1-to-1 (full scale) drawing of your design. But if you export the 2D drawing and open it in a drawing program, you can print out a full size drawing of your design. This video will walk you through the steps.

29mm motor mount adapters for 38mm kits are deceptively simple looking. "How do you use them?" is a common question people ask. This video will show you a few simple techniques.

"Is it hard to assemble a reloadable rocket motor from Aerotech?" This is a common question that we're asked. I don't know if you'll believe me if I say it is; so I'll show you how to put one together in this video. You can judge for yourself if I speak the truth.

Piston launchers recycle the gases from the rocket engine and give the model a higher initial kick at launch. This results in higher speeds and higher flights from the rocket. In this video, you'll see how piston launchers work, and how to use them to maximum effectiveness.

You have to keep your rocket motor from moving either forward or backward. This is called restraining the motor. There are a number of ways to do this, and in this video, you'll see answers to the common questions that we're asked.

Adding a paper lamination to the surfaces of balsa wood fins greatly increases the strength of the fin as well as creating a smooth surface that doesn't require a lot of sealing to get it ready for paint. It can be done to any kit fit to make a great looking model, and I highly recommend doing this for rockets that are intended to break the sonic barrier (the speed of sound).

Do you have a big rocket that needs to be converted to take smaller diameter engines? That is the purpose of an Engine Mount Adapter. The one shown in this video is special. It is designed to be used with rockets that already have an engine hook built into them. They are hookless in nature, meaning you don't need a separate engine hook to hold the motor into the adapter. It is a simple device that will allow you to swap out motors quickly between flights.

This video will show you how to properly prepare your model rocket for flight. You'll see: inserting the wadding, folding the parachute, inserting the motor and its igniter, placing the rocket on the launch pad, and some safety tips for the actual launch. The result? A perfect flight where the rocket is recovered so it can be flown again and again.

This is the final video in the transition construction series. Here, you'll see the final assembly of the removable transition section, and how to prepare it to accept the paint.

Assembling the transition once it has been cut out from the pattern sheet is the first thing you'll see in this video. Once that is assembled, we'll start building the structure that goes under the paper shroud. The shroud is simply to smooth the airflow over the rocket, and does not carry any structural load.

In part one, you saw how to create the paper pattern sheet for the transition using the RockSim software, or by drawing it yourself using the equations in the book Model Rocket Design and Construction. Now we'll start cutting the pattern out and apply the special glue to assemble the conical shroud.

A transition section is used to make a smooth and gradual joint between tubes of different diameters. That helps lower the drag so the rocket can fly higher in the sky. In this video, you'll see some of the preliminary stuff on how to make your own transition sections from heavy paper.

Payload bays are easy to make if you have that special shoulder piece that connects the tubes together. But solid balsa wood cylinders (called balsa nose blocks) are expensive. A cheaper alternative is to use a tube coupler with a cardstock disk in it. In this video, you'll see how to make the bulkhead and attach a loop where you can connect the parachute.

If you want to create a long model rocket from two shorter tubes, you'll need a tube coupler. In this video you'll see how to make your own and save a boat-load of money.

You can add a lot of strength to a centering ring without swithing to an expensive and heavy plywood ring. In this video you'll see our top three choices to make rings stronger.

Cutting body tubes to a custom length is a skill that you'll need if you want to make your own designs. Imagine taking a long tube and cutting it shorter, but at the same time its edge is straight and crisp. Here you'll see one of my favorite techniques that allows you to achieve that result.

This technique also works well for cutting off the damaged end from the front section of a rocket.

This is an alternative method for cutting tubes to length. It isn't quite as good as it takes a real steady hand to get a straight cut. But if you practice a few times, you'll get some great results. This method also works much better with bigger tubes than with smaller ones.

This video shows how to mount an altimeter into a small model rocket. There are many good rockets that can be used for science fair projects, such as the Payloader One or Zenith rockets, but often the payload bay is too short for the altimeter. In this video, you'll see how to modify the rocket to make the altimeter fit. The tools used in this video are: razor saw, hobby knife, and a small drill bit.

If you really want to build durable rockets, you gotta use through-the-wall fin joints. That is, a small tab on the base of the fin extends down into the side of the tube and is glued directly to the engine mount tube inside. The advantage is the bending force needed to snap a fin off are so great that you'll probably break the wood before you'll break the joint where it attaches.

Cutting slots is a technique I put in the Skill Level 3 category. It takes a steady hand, and a little patience. And as you'll see in this video, even I can screw it up... But I'll also show you how to correct the mistakes if you do make them.

I didn't have time in the previous video to show how to properly angle the wood's edges to make a stronger and more visually appealing joint. So this video will show you that technique.

There really aren't any special tools that you'll need to bevel the edges. I'll show you in this video how to accomplish it with simple hand tools like a hobby knife and a sanding block.

This video will show you how to take a simple model and add spin tabs to the bottom of the fins so that it will spin when launched. This has a same effect as a rifle bullet that spins to fly straighter. How hard is this to do? Great question. I consider this a "Skill-Level 3" procedure.

"By far the best thing about Apogee Components is your focus on training. All the videos (CDs, YouTube, etc.) you have made are terrific. It's especially useful for those of us that are still new to the hobby. And I have to believe the old timers can benefit as well. Thank you very much." -- Gary Glech