Gary C. Rosenfield Bio
President, RCS Rocket Motor Components, Inc.
Gary Rosenfield has been involved in rocketry for nearly forty years. After launching his first model rocket in 1969 and quickly advancing through the scope of the hobby at the time, he manufactured and tested his first successful composite propellant rocket motors in 1973.
Gary founded Composite Dynamics (CD) in 1975. CD was one of the first companies to manufacture and sell composite propellant hobby rocket motors after the demise of Enerjet (the first composite propellant hobby rocket company), and one of the first to manufacture commercial rocket motors using Hydroxyl-Terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB).
Gary served in the U.S. Air Force from 1976-1980 as an Imagery Interpreter. After leaving the military, he continued guiding CD to grow to a prominent position within the hobby rocket industry.
Gary joined the Bermite Division of Whittaker Corporation in 1980 as an R & D Engineer. He applied his experience with HTPB propellants to such diverse projects as oil well tool gas generators and the Reduced Smoke Sidewinder.
From 1982 to 1984 Gary worked for Aerojet Tactical Systems, initially as a Process Control Engineer but was quickly promoted to a Manufacturing Engineering position within the "Line 1" manufacturing department. While at Aerojet, he was responsible for technical assistance and process improvement in all phases of propellant and liner manufacturing operations for a number of missile programs such as Minuteman, Peacekeeper, Harpoon, Hawk, Standard Missile and Sidewinder.
Gary founded AeroTech in 1982 as a part-time endeavor, which by the early '90's had become the second largest hobby rocket company in the U.S. He also co-founded Industrial Solid Propulsion (ISP) in 1985, a manufacturer of rocket motors and propellants for military, industrial and commercial applications. He founded RCS in 1995.
Gary is the inventor or co-inventor on 5 U.S. patents covering technological advances in rocketry including reloadable solid propellant motors, hybrid rocket motors, igniters and fin mounting systems. He received the National Association of Rocketry's (NAR) prestigious Howard Galloway Spacemodeling Award in 1989 for the development of the modern composite propellant model rocket motor, and was granted the Tripoli Rocketry Association's Lifetime Membership Award in 2001. He has served on the boards of both organizations, including simultaneously holding both board positions for three years. He has been a voting member of the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) Pyrotechnics Committee since 1984, and has served two separate terms on the California Fireworks Advisory Committee.
Resume' of Selected Technical Achievements and Contributions to the Rocket Industry
1973 Constructed and tested composite propellant motors using phenolic and fiberglass casings, polyester resin binder and Ammonium Perchlorate oxidizer
1975 Constructed and tested the first composite propellant hobby rocket motors using Hydroxy-terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB) binder
1977 Developed technique for casting propellant into paper cartridges, now used by virtually all hobby rocket manufacturers and experimenters
1981 Coined the term "Moonburner" for Bill Wood's offset-core grain design and developed the first commercial composite propellant motors using the now-popular configuration
1982 Introduced the first commercially available certified endburning composite propellant rocket motors
1983 Introduced the first commercially available segmented BATES grain motors to the hobby rocket market
1986 Introduced the first commercially available motors using Ray Goodson's "C-slot" grain design to the hobby rocket market
1988 Co-designed the first reloadable composite propellant hobby rocket motor for glider applications
1989 Designed and tested the first fully reloadable hobby rocket motor with user-configurable integral delay and ejection charge
1990 Developed an 87% solids room temperature castable and curable reduced-smoke propellant delivering nearly 250 sec. Isp
1990 Introduced the "Reloadable Motor System" (RMS) to the high-power hobby rocket market
1991 Introduced the RMS to the hobby rocket market in model rocket ('B' through 'G') sizes
1992 Developed an 88% solids room temperature castable and curable propellant with a theoretical Isp of 267 sec.
1994 Developed the first hybrid rocket motor using cardboard fuel and a practical pyrotechnic oxidizer valve
1995 Certified the first reloadable hybrid rocket motor for consumer use
1995 Granted DOT-E 10996 (now DOT-SP 10996) by the U.S. Department of Transportation, an exemption that permitted the shipment of high power rocket motors and reload kits by common carriers such as UPS as a division 1.4 explosive, now used by virtually all hobby and a number of military/commercial rocket motor manufacturers
1998 Demonstrated technique for "instant on" ignition of composite hobby motors using a black powder pellet
1998-1999 Developed and certified the "RMS-Plus" advanced delay sealing system for reloadable motors
2001 Co-developed the first hobby rocket motor combining a molded case/nozzle assembly and molded bulkhead with a threaded joint
2005 Demonstrated the first practical "Limited-Use Reloadable" (LUR) rocket motor for model rocket applications
2006 Developed and certified the highest-thrust hobby rocket motors in their class ('G' through 'K'), using "Warp-9" propellant
2006 Introduced the "Electronic Forward Closure" (EFC) to the hobby rocket market
2006 Introduced the "Loadable Motor System" (LMS) to the hobby rocket market in 'F', 'G' and 'K' sizes
Patents
5,004,186 "Finlock Alignment Mechanism For Rockets", granted 4/2/91
5,054,397 "Parachute Ejection and Recovery System For Rockets", granted 10/8/91
5,123,355 "Rocket Ignition Assembly and Means and Methods For Making and Using Same", granted 6/23/92
5,212,946 "Reloadable/Modular Solid Propellant Rocket Motor", granted 5/25/93
5,579,636 "Pyrotechnic Valve, Igniter and Combustion Preheater For Hybrid Rocket Motors", granted 12/3/96