Frequently Asked Questions

We released our "Little Joe" DVD and V-2 kit years ago, and since that time we've noticed that folks have many of the same questions about who we are, what we're doing, and what plans we have for the future.

Do you ship beyond the United States? At this time, no, sadly.  We recognize that there is significant demand for our products internationally, but the loss of the de minimis tariff exemption has made it impossible for us to sell internationally and feel good about it.  For  instance, an order of a single V-2 kit (bearing a $34.95 US price) shipped from Texas to Canada would cost a Canadian customer over $130 CAD to purchase! Similar charges would be assessed for orders to Europe and Asia.

We feel strongly that our products represent a good value, but when tariffs, shipping, and associated fees triple the price to a customer, it stops being fun for anyone involved.  So, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue international sales at this time. We will watch for changes in tariff rates closer, and if a reasonable de minimis exemption returns we will begin sales beyond US borders again.

Who are you?  My name is James Duffy, and I am a lifelong aviation enthusiast.  I have built model spacecraft and aircraft for literally as long as I can remember.  Model rocketry is another lifelong passion of mine, and I have had the privilege to represent the USA at every FAI World Spacemodeling Championships from 2002 through 2025.  In 2023, I had the privilege of serving as Event Director for the World Championships, which we held in the Austin metropolitan area.  

My preferred modeling subjects are the Little Joe test vehicle and the two-stage Bumper WAC variant of the V-2, which accounts for a few of the offerings you can see here on this site.

I am also an FAA certificated commercial pilot, holding single engine, glider, and instrument ratings, as well as a UAS remote pilot certificate.  Additionally, I hold a B.S. in Aviation Science.

Where do you find the footage that appears in your DVD packages? We source film from a wide range of sources, but most of what you see on each rocket.aero DVD comes from the National Archives, where literally billions of feet of film are preserved. The variety of subjects are staggering, covering practically every US aircraft flown prior to 1980. The challenge is that nearly all of this remakable footage is still on celluloid film, not in an easily accessible digital format. We research the available footage, identify the film elements that we'd like to include on our DVDs, and work with the Archives staff to transfer the footage into a digital format. 

Are you discontinuing your DVDs? Yes, eventually.  The era of physical media is rapidly coming to a close.  So, we won't be making DVDs any more, nor will we be entering the BluRay market.  We will still be making cool videos, usually focusing on scale modeling techniques, and those will all be posted to YouTube for free.  In addition, all of our content is already available on YouTube.  If you still wish to purchase our physical DVDs we will continue to offer our DVD collection of all ten subjects at a remarkable low price while supplies last.  We will also ocontinue to offer our V-2 and Bell X-1 DVDs individually, again at a special low price.

Who is "rocket.aero?" And how did they end up with such a screwy name? When the .aero TLD (top level domain) for the aviation industry was first opened up in 2002 we were among the first to snag a name. As an FYI, the correct pronunciation of our name is "rocket dot aero," and we keep it all in lower case to piss off our old English teachers.

Why did you begin producing aviation and space history videos? Well, the simple answer is that I am simply goofy for anything that flies, probably much like most of the people visiting this website. There is also a more thorough answer: during a trip to the National Archives facility on Fort Worth to delve into their extensive NASA holdings for any available Little Joe info for a model project, the archivist made an offhand comment concerning the NARA film holdings. A light bulb went off over my head, and I soon found myself sliding down the slipperly slope into the world of archival film. I ended up building a series of spiffy Little Joe models based on the film uncovered during that first search, and have moved on to other subjects since. This journey has greatly assisted by the fact that my employer at the time had just released a suite of pro-grade video editing tools, which they encouraged us to use freely.  I've been using Final Cut Pro since 2000.