"If, during a weekend drive in the country, you should happen to see a thin trail of white smoke shoot 100 feet into the air, you may well find a group of scientific amateurs near the bottom of it. They will be equally proficient in handling explosive chemicals, differential equations, and machine tools. In short, they are amateur rocket experimenters. Occasionally, they dream of setting foot on the moon, and people who live nearby wish they would!"

After reading this inspiring passage, I was determined to build one myself! Unfortunately, my first attempts literally fizzled. It was not until some years later, when I stumbled upon another book, Rocket Manual for Amateurs (Brinley, 1960), that I came upon the key to success, that is, a profoundly simple, but very effective rocket propellant. Not long after, I had succeeded in developing some remarkable rocket motors, and the rest is, as they say, history, and the makings of this Web Site.

Oh yes, in answer to the question that led you here--who I am. My name is Richard Nakka, I'm originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, where I did my early rocketry work while still in high school. On the urging, or should I say insistence, of my high school physics teacher, I entered the local Science Fair with my "Experiments with Rockets" project, which ended up capturing first prize. This led to my entry in the province-wide Science Fair later that year. Out of 475 entries, my rocketry project took first overall prize, and carried with it a fortnight stay in London, England to attend an international science seminar.

After high school, I worked as a labourer for a number of years to save money to attend university. I then studied engineering at the University of Manitoba, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1984. In fact, I wrote my graduation thesis on Solid Propellant Rocket Motor Design and Testing, which I had based largely on my rocket experimentation.

I now make my home in Toronto. For the past two decades, I have been employed at Bombardier Aerospace, and am currently positioned as an Engineering Specialist in aerostructures, working on the splendid Global Express corporate jet project.

In my spare time, when I'm not toiling on my web site or doing experimental rocketry work, I enjoy reading or doing carpentry work such as renovating projects around my house. I enjoy travelling, having visited much of the USA and Canada (ok, I haven't been east of Montréal or north of Jasper...yet), Mexico, and the northern part of Europe: England (a number of times), Finland (I wonder how my grandparents could have left such a nice country...), Sweden, Estonia and Holland (if an overnight stay counts). And of course I head back to Winnipeg for regular visits, even in wintertime. Actually, winter's my favourite season, and so I miss the long cross-country skiing and outdoor skating season there (yes, I've done both in -30C. weather)! Other interests of mine include geneology and photography, as well as enjoying the more mundane pleasures of gardening and cooking. I'm a devotee of Formula One motor racing, and attended the Grand Prix du Canada 2000, 2001 and 2004 in Montréal. National Geographic is the only magazine that I read (and which I read religously, cover-to-cover). New Age and Classical are the music of my choice, which I usually listen to while here at the keyboard, or while plying the ever-crowded lanes of the 401.