Record Setting Saturn V Rocket

On Saturday April 25th 2009, a Saturn V rocket set a new world record as the largest amateur rocket ever launched and recovered. Steve Eves of Akron, Ohio constructed the 36 foot tall rocket in his garage over a two year period. Eves got the idea after remembering his childhood when teachers would broadcast Apollo launches.

The 1,648 pound replica is 1/10 scale which was powered by nine rocket engines. There were eight 13,000 Newton-second N-Class motors and a 77,000 Newton-second P-Class motor which had a price tag of $13,000 and burned within 10 seconds. The nine rocket engines managed to send the Saturn V rocket 4,440 feet over Price, MD.

Originally the Maryland-Delaware Rocketry Association, who helped with the launch, had expected a crowd right around a thousand people. The day of the launch twice as many people showed up to Higgs Farm to witness the record breaking launch. The launch was actually delayed, because Eves had gotten stuck in the traffic heading to the farm. People as far as California traveled to the small town to witness history be made.

Steve Eves, a auto-body repair specialist, managed to track down schematics on the Internet and in old NASA drawings. The skeleton of the Saturn V rocket was constructed from seven-ply aircraft-grade plywood and the tubular skin from Luan plywood. Next the rocket was coated in fiberglass, which took more than six hours to dry and over 14 gallons of resin was used. The total cost to build the rocket came out to $25,000. The rocket managed to catch the eye of NASA, who has offered to place the rocket at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. The rocket will be displayed beneath an original Saturn V rocket which will hold the idea that everyone has the potential to be a rocketeer.