The Rocketry Show is hosted by three rocket geeks, CG, Gheem, and Daniel The Rocket n00b.
As a team, we strive to entertain as well as inform you on the topics of Model and High Power rocketry as well as STEM relates activities built around amateur rocketry.
We will occasionally delve a little into the world of “professional rocketry” (NASA, SpaceX, ESA, and other space agencies & companies) when something interesting comes up there…but our main focus is amateur rocketry.
And now, about us:
CG:
Gould, a professional Broadcast Technician, first became involved in the rocketry hobby during his “tweener years†when his dad introduced him to the hobby with his first rocket kit, the Estes Vindicator.
By the time he was in his teenage years, his interests drew towards electronics…specifically, broadcast audio. He built pirate AM & FM radio stations that broadcast from the basement of his family home.
This carried on throughout High School and became his professional career that spanned 20 years. He was responsible for building & maintaining broadcast radio studios along with the associated transmitting equipment and antennas.
These days, Gould works for Angry Audio designing digital audio algorithms and gear that make audio better for broadcast and digital content creators.
Gould’s journey back to hobby rocketry started late in 2009, after taking his Stepdaughter to see the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center.
After being inspired by that launch, he joined his local rocket club MTMA rocketry later in 2009, where he eventually would serve as Vice President, and later on as Secretary.
The concept for The Rocketry Show came to mind for Cornelius in 2010. He registered the domain and spent the next few years studying the Podcast world.
Along the way, he came to know “Gheemâ€, and the two got along well, and Cornelius knew that he found the co-host he was looking for. Gheem agreed to join the project, and in October 2014, he and Gheem launched The Rocketry Show podcast.
The Rocketry Show would become Cornelius’ second podcast. His first one started in 2008 and lasted a little over a year. It served as an experiment of sorts for him and friends to learn the tech behind doing podcasts.
In 2019, shortly after becoming the Managing Director for his brother’s side business Little Beth Entertainment, Ltd, Gould launched his third podcast with Daniel “The Rocket N00b” called The Model Rocket Show, which takes on the topics of low and mid power hobby rockets. This change allowed The Rocketry Show to focus exclusively on High power and Advanced amateur rocketry, which it generally tended to do anyway.
Gheem:
My true foray into hobby rocketry did not really begin unit about 2 years ago. I had built a few of the kits from the local hobby store, and remember being really proud of my mars lander, and orbital transports, as well as the infamous interceptor model. Over the years from that time, i lost sight of the fun and moved on to other aspects of life until 2 years ago, when I once again took a look at my local hobby shop and was surprised to see the size and downright coolness of the Leviathan, from the Pro-Series 2 of Estes. As a birthday present to myself, i bought it and built it.
I remembered the fun I had as a kid, and it all came back to me as I was sanding fins and building the motor mount. I soon turned the the internet, being in IT, and found out all sorts of things like dual deploy, the reloadable motors, and the sheer power of all the new things that came out since I was a kid. I decided at that time to go for dual deploy, learn the electronics, fly G motors, and move up to L1, before I even flew my first rocket in over 30 years! At that point I decided to find a club and join the NAR, being less cavalier than my younger days, and besides, its more fun to fly with other people anyway.
I joined the MTMA, and found the best bunch of guys that I could have imagined. Each of the members is into different aspects of the hobby, contest or sport, and each have developed techniques and building practices that are all different and all valid, so the info I have gained from my club has been fantastic and fun.
Almost one year since I built my first born again rocket, I was ready fro my L1 test. I had chosen the Madcow Torrent and dual deployed it. Some folks said I was nuts to attempt an L1 with dual deploy, but I had flow and tested it enough to know the electronics would work and be fine. The first attempt failed, but because of an improperly loaded motor. I was able to attempt again that day, and the flight was perfect.
It seemed perfectly normal for me to go for the mid power dual deployment, since it offered me a lot of data and a step into what I would need to get my L1 and beyond. The experience I gained with dual deploying F and G motors has given me a solid foundation which is exactly what I wanted to do.
Currently I am enjoying my L1, I tend to prefer the larger rockets, and I dual deploy everything except one or 2 rockets I like to fly on lower power H motors, like my LOC 4 inch V2. I am slowing down my push to L2 a bit as I am really enjoying where I am right now. I also want to gain some more flying experience with the larger impulse I motors and then just make the move to the L2. I do have a single use J motor in my box, and the L2 rocket I am building is a 5.5 inch Archer upscale, but I still need to put the parts together and I’m not rushing to the finish line with it.
I am currently the Vice President of the MTMA, and continue to outreach as much as I can including the development of a TARC team at the school where I work.
Daniel, “The Rocket N00b”:
I got into rocketry in a very unusual way – through theater.
One Christmas, as a kid, I got a lot of space-themed presents, including a giant plastic model Space Shuttle with hundreds of parts, and the Estes Silver Arrow launch kit, which included an easy-to-assemble rocket. The rocket required only a bit of plastic cement to assemble.
But all my attempts at model building as a kid were just a mess of glue, and since I didn’t have anyone to help me or guide me, I never built the rocket. I thought about that rocket kit from time to time for years afterward.
A few years ago, at a Target, I saw that same Estes Silver Arrow launch kit. My first thought was, “Huh… People still do that?†I immediately sent a text to my friend Chad, who was the artistic director of the Bloomington Playwrights Project, a theater where I was a frequent actor. Chad is also a magician and a NASA geek. I wrote, “Hey, dude, if I got a model rocket, would you want to go launch it with me?â€
Five seconds later, Chad replied “#%$* YES!†But I had other stuff to do, and never got the rocket.
A year later, Chad informed me that he had some model rockets, and we should have a launch. We went out to a park, launched five of his rockets, lost three of them, and I thought maybe I should have one of my own, just in case we did it again.
After shopping around, I found Der Red Max, a cool-looking rocket which didn’t cost too much. I was really nervous putting it together, as I never thought I had the skill to “make stuff.†But four days later, I had a really awesome rocket I’d built myself, and when we launched it, and I got it back in one piece, I was hooked.
I read The Handbook of Model Rocketry. I started buying more model rockets and building them, and decided I needed a place to put pictures of what I was doing.
I created a blog called The Rocket N00b, just to show somebody what I was doing. Soon, I started doing instructional posts, my hope being that maybe some of my friends, most of them also in the arts, might see that this is really fun, and it’s not that hard, and might join me.
Eventually, other people started finding The Rocket N00b. It’s a blog where I like to share what I’ve learned with other beginners, making things as clear as I can, so other rocket n00bs can benefit from my experience and mistakes. Getting into rocketry has been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.
Harry Legg (the show announcer):
YES…Harry Legg IS his real name. What were his parents thinking? Of course, the name works well for the entertainment business – you can’t forget it!
Harry’s career has taken him to radio stations, recording studios, and even a record label. He moved from his hometown of Cleveland to work in over half a dozen cities including the top 3 markets of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. Besides voiceovers, Harry is an accomplished air talent having worked on-air at stations such as KIIS-FM Los Angeles and Kiss in Chicago. His awards include the NYC A.I.R. Creative Services Director of the Year Award for his work at WKTU and a nomination for Billboard’s Rhythmic APD/Music Director of the year while at Energy in Chicago.
Harry is the voice of The NBC Sports Radio Network and currently works out of his studio in suburban NYC. Besides stations here in the USA, Harry has a large international following with stations in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cairo, Cape Town, Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Jordan, Malta, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tasmania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Val-d’Is0/026egrave;re. Harry’s other passion is martial arts. He currently trains at Body Mind Studios in Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Bagua Zhang, Ship Pal Gye, Kong Su Do, Akido/Hapkido, Udo, Kom Do and more.
Please send your comments, thoughts, and feedback to mailbag <at> therocketryshow.com. Â Replace <at> with the @ symbol when e-mailing us. Â 🙂
