Amateur rockets are nearly always over the optimal mass for their motor and diameter. When trying to optimize mass, a designer will quickly realize that the aluminum motor cases available to amateurs are often nearly enough to push the design to the optimal mass, before the rest of the rocket is even added on. @samaustin7952 and I spent much of 2023 designing, testing, and building a rocket that uses the carbon fiber body of the rocket as the motor case, and finally got to launch it at the end of the year. Not everything went perfectly as you will see in the video, but this was still the highest performance launch I have done in terms of both altitude and velocity, and also the most custom parts I've ever included in a rocket. Almost every piece of hardware and tooling shown in the video was custom, from the nosecone layup and filament winder that made the tubes to the simulation software for the propellant and data acquisition system for the motor test. This truly was a "scratch build", so I'm still proud of the results (even if I wish I could see the onboard footage...)
More details about the motor made for this rocket: [ Ссылка ]
Tutorial for using the filament winder I made the tubes on: [ Ссылка ]
