1 # 1/2-scale AIM-120 AMRAAM
5 A couple of years ago, [Rocketry Warehouse](http://rocketrywarehouse.com/) had
6 an introductory offer for the Performance 3.5 inch, 1/2 scale
7 [AMRAAM](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM-120_AMRAAM) kit as part of their
8 Black Friday sale. I couldn't resist. I generally prefer to
9 design and build my own airframes, but my son was working on a custom build
10 of a [1/3-scale Maverick](../Maverick) missile, and I thought it would be fun
11 to embark on a scale missile project in parallel.
13 A neat feature of this kit design is that the strake fins are mounted through
14 the wall of both a piece of airframe tubing and a longer piece of coupler
15 tubing to a 54mm inner tube. This makes for a very stout airframe (often a
16 problem with AMRAAM builds), and provides a mid-airframe electronics bay
17 that's 54mm diameter and 15 inches long! Just perfect for our
18 [Altus Metrum](http://altusmetrum.org) flight computers with radio downlink
23 * [Performance Rocketry](http://performancerocketry.com) kit in 3.5 inch G-12,
24 which consists of all the pieces shown in this [kit flyer](./amraam.pdf).
25 * [Aero Pack 54mm flanged retainer](https://aeropack.net/webstore/product.asp?productid=332369740757234)
26 * Altus Metrum [MegaMetrum](http://altusmetrum.org/MegaMetrum) flight computer
30 I chose the MegaMetrum for this design, even though it's overkill in many ways,
31 both because I needed more test flights on MegaMetrum prototypes, and because
32 I'm really curious to see if we can measure spin rate on this crazy 8-finned
33 airframe using the gyros...
37 Built starting in mid-March of 2013.
41 I've put all the [build photos](http://gallery.gag.com/rockets/AMRAAM/Build/)
42 together in one place.
46 The intended first flight of this AMRAAM will be at the [NAR](http://nar.org)
47 [2013 National Sport Launch](http://nsl2013.org).