Model Rockets

Model rockets consist of a few simple parts: the body, the nose cone, the parachute, wadding, tail fins, an engine mount, and the engine itself. Many model rockets are made out of light weight materials such as cardboard, paper, and plastic. The light weight allows rockets to fly hundreds of feet in the air.
The type of a rocket engine can be determined by a letter and a number followed by another number. An example of this is a C6-7 engine. The letter (in this case 'C') shows what class the engine falls under. The rocket's engine provides a degree of impulse (measured in Newton-seconds) based on its class. A class 'B' engine is more powerful than a class 'A' engine, but it is less powerful than a class 'C' engine. The first number (6) represents the average thrust the engine produces. A higher first number in the same class also means that the engine has a shorter burn time. This means that a C6 engine will have a short and powerful burn and a C2 engine will have a longer and weaker burn. The second number (7) is the number of seconds between the end of the engine providing thrust and the deployment of the rocket's parachute. So, knowing all of these things, it can be said that a C6-7 engine is an engine that provides an impulse of 5-10 Ns (C class), has a short and powerful burn, and takes a time of 7 seconds to deploy the parachute.
To prepare the model rocket for launch, the engine is placed into the engine mount with the hole at the bottom. Then, the igniter is put in the hole. An igniter plug seals the hole in order to keep the igniter in place. The rocket is then place on the launch pad and the igniter is attached to the controller. When the controller's safety key is pressed down, the rocket is ready for launch. The launch button is then pressed and the rocket, assuming everything was assembled correctly, soars into the sky. A few seconds later, the parachute will deploy and the rocket will gently drift back to the ground.