Tri Polus, UK Rocketry Association (UKRA), Space Connections and the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) are the proud organisers of the  UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKAYRoC).

The challenge is based upon the successful Team America Rocketry Challenge, the largest model rocket showcase in the USA. This has been running for years with 750 teams participating and is organised by the US Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and National Association of Rocketry (NAR).

The UKAYRoC provides secondary school students a realistic experience in designing a flying aerospace vehicle that meets a specified set of mission and performance requirements.  Students work in teams the same way aerospace engineers do.  It is not intended to be easy, but it is well within the capabilities of secondary school students with a good background in science and maths and some craftsmanship skills.

Apollo Models & Toys are one of the credited suppliers to UKAYRoC.

Before You Start....

This document is about what you need to do before you start to design and build your designs

What is the point?
What is the point? Sounds negative eh! What it means is "what do you want to achieve with your design". Are you attempting a design to fly high, fly low, dual deploy, record data etc. Keeping this in mind will help you during the design process.

Motor Mount Size
Design your rocket for the largest motor you might want to use in it. You can always use an adapter to use smaller motors. Always remember the 5:1 thrust to weight ratio. You will need 5 pounds of thrust for every single pound the rocket will weigh, eg. A 2 pound rocket will require a motor that has a thrust rating of at least 10 pounds.

Software
If you are unsure of the correct CG/CP relationship, use Rocksim with your design. It really does help to keep your design stable.

Recovery
How are you going to recovery? There are many options and deciding now will save time and money later on in the build. I have been there, built a great design then found out that there was not enough room in the payload bay for the chute needed to recovery safely. So recovery covers chute quantity, chute size, single deploy and dual-deploy

Shock Cord
Use shock cord suitable for the design. Don't use cheap 4 cord elastic for a 2kg design rocket, you would use decent tubular nylon or thick kevlar whereas on a small model you would use cheap 4 cord elastic or thin Kevlar. Remember to use the right shock cord that can handle the shock loads the design may encounter. For example recovery materials should be capable of handling at least 50 times the weight of the rocket. How long should your shock cord be, well for model rockets use a minimum of 3 times the overall length of the rocket. For HPR it should be at least 5 times the rocket length. I personally like even longer shock cords sometimes up to 10 times the length, but that's my preference.

Reinforcing the Airframe
Does your rocket require glassing? Think about the acceleration loads it might encounter compared to the thickness of the body tube.

Wadding or Piston
Think how you many want to protect your recovery gear from the hot BP gases. If you use wadding, use enough to fill twice the diameter of your Body Tube. You can also get Nomex sheets that you can use instead of wadding and this is reusable. For bigger designs you can use a piston to protect your recovery gear and to help eject it (remember to clean the inside of the body tube and out side of the piston after each launch to clear away any BP residue.

Parachute Size
Once you have completed you design and know its weight (with empty motor casing) you can use the chute calculator to get the correct size chute.