Tier F Rocket — Zixian Zhang

1.0

Objective

I led a four-person team (named “Team Team”) from a Tier D trainer to a Tier F rocket on a G80T-13 motor. We laid up our own fiberglass airframe, redesigned the fins for drag, and built a nose-cone cushion that brought the egg back intact.

2.0

Work performed

2.1Modeled the rocket in SolidWorks and simulated flights in OpenRocket, first for the Tier D trainer, then for Tier F.
2.2Replaced the elliptical fins with swept, curved fins to cut drag at ~500 ft/s².
2.3Estimated the parachute deployment shock from nose-cone mass and shock-cord stiffness, then designed a two-density foam cushion in the nose cone, away from motor heat.

3.0

Specification

Motor	G80T-13
Airframe	Two-layer fiberglass hand layup on a steel-pipe mandrel
Nose cone	3D printed, minimum infill
Avionics	BMP388 altitude sensor with telemetry
Tools	SolidWorks · OpenRocket

4.0

Plates

Model rocket in flight against blue sky with a smoke trail, its nose section separating. — Pl. 1Tier F recovery deploying: the red parachute streams out as the nose section separates on its shock cord, above the exhaust trail.

Pl. 2OpenRocket side profile on a G80T-13: 44 cm long, 6.3 cm diameter, 581 g with motor, 1.3 cal stability, simulated apogee 895 m and max velocity 191 m/s.

Purple model rocket with a blue nose cone on a red launch pad. — Pl. 3The Tier D trainer, a purple rocket with a blue nose cone, on the rail of a red launch pad on artificial turf.

Purple model rocket, blue nose cone and black parachute lying on artificial turf. — Pl. 4The Tier D trainer after recovery, lying on turf with its blue nose cone and black plastic parachute still tethered.

Translucent fiberglass tube standing on a kitchen scale. — Pl. 5A hand-laid fiberglass body tube standing upright on a digital kitchen scale.

Fiberglass cloth and a wrapped steel pipe mandrel on a work table with layup tools. — Pl. 6Layup setup: woven fiberglass cloth on plastic sheeting with a film-wrapped steel-pipe mandrel, plus scissors, gloves, stir sticks and resin hardener.

Rendered model rocket with a white nose cone, transparent body tube and swept fins. — Pl. 7CAD render of the Tier F rocket with a see-through body tube showing the motor mount, centering rings and an internal payload, with CG/CP markers and swept fins.

Line chart of simulated altitude, vertical acceleration and vertical velocity against time. — Pl. 8OpenRocket vertical motion vs. time: altitude peaks near 2,920 ft at about 12 s, acceleration runs about 500 ft/s² during the burn, and spikes at recovery deployment near 14.8 s.

Four students in a lab holding a silver model rocket with a gold nose cone. — Pl. 9Four team members pose with the silver, gold-nosed rocket in a lab with rocket airframes hung from the ceiling.

Hand holding a silver rocket with a gold nose cone and four names written on the body. — Pl. 10The silver airframe held up outdoors, signed "Henry, Sam, Jason, Justin", with its gold nose cone and swept fins.

Silver model rocket labeled Team Team on a launch rail in a dirt field. — Pl. 11The silver rocket with an orange nose cone and "Team Team" written on the body, on a launch rail at pad C.

5.0

Anomaly report

Closed

Observed: Air bubbles in the first fiberglass layup.
Corrective action: Cut the tube and kept only the section with the best structural quality.
Lesson: Concentricity came from the steel mandrel. Quality came from being willing to throw material away.