thanks for the welcome 
as for mostly harmless ...
(Attachment Link)
Foto: Tripoli L2 flight of my first home built gizmo making it to 848m. The next flight went a little bit higher.
This was my hobby before starting to fix stuff. I still have the pyro license to go with that which allows me to build unlimited chute ejection systems and rocket stage separation charges ...
I have not pursued that in some time, though ...
Nice.
As a teen I participated in such stuff. And my, were we crazy! (independent of age, as some members of the gun club, around which those activities were centered, were otherwise quite respectable citizens)
Our propulsion progressed from black powder, to the same with various additives, to the final solution of 40mm CAST KCLO4/Coal Tar rockets. The core was either bored or made by extraction of a smooth mandrel. Should have been able to bring 500g to 500m or more.
After a hydraulic car jack in a frame was insufficient, one guy built a hydraulic horizontal press with about 300mm stroke.
The payload was usually made up from ready-made pyro stuff like signals and bird scarers. Then we became bolder. After learning how to fabricate reliable delays, we wanted 3 charges to be ejected, float down a bit on toy parachutes and then go BANG. The bang was provided by chlorate/metal, with around 80g each. In aluminium tubes again, of course (why? for proper fragmentation?).
The thing was to be launched on a cold and clear sunday morning. We had gotten used to a certain degree of reliability, so that we thought the time of bursting propellant and detaching fins well behind us. Uhuh. After ignition, the rocket rose to about 20m (sufficient to clear the surrounding earthen wall and shrubs), staggered in mid-aid, rotated 90 degrees onto its side and careened off into what was a local conservation area much liked by dog walkers and families. Burnout. The barely discernible ejection charge. Then everyone started counting or looking at his watch. After about 2min (as intended), a triple sharp crack was heared. (chlorate/metal, I need not explain, I think) The participants looked at each other in silence. As 20 minutes had passed without any red, green or white vehicles with flashing lights coming by, those that would have been held responsible relaxed visibly. So did the rest. Those that weren't there were told the story already much more joyously.
Afterwards, we found the spot where one charge landed. Fortunately it was devoid of any mangled remains of larger creatures. The surrounding trees had their aluminium content raised significantly and there was some stripping of bark and a lack of undergrowth and a tiny crater.
Following this day, the payloads returned to the previously used, less massive content.
Those were the days when a local chemist told me that I would have to bring a letter from my father if I wanted to buy more than 100g of Potassium Chlorate. And that this was already nice of him, so that my father did not have to come. Sadly unthinkable today.
And there is absolutely no connection to a career which held a lot of bigger bangs. That was probably decided before.
Oh, and a heartfelt welcome to the TEAhouse to the lady tinkerer!
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