As Air Rocket Works Co-Founders Rick Schertle and Keith Violette discuss their work, one word keeps coming up.

"Fun".

That's because Rick and Keith, both passionate makers, enjoy creating cool things that fly.

And so do the teachers, students, parents and various enthusiasts who get to build and launch their rockets--and learn engineering, hands-on, while having a great time!

Rick and Keith's small business, Air Rocket Works, came about almost by accident.

It all started when Rick, a middle-school teacher, dad and lifelong maker whose MAKE magazine bio says he "specialized in fun growing up", became intrigued with the idea of making a compressed air rocket launcher.

Rick came up with a project that, unlike other launchers available at the time, was inexpensive to create, as well as durable--and a lot of fun!

About a year after publishing his project in MAKE magazine, Rick and his family assembled a few rocket kits, and offered them through the magazine. When they sold out rapidly and customers wanted more, he began exhibiting his rockets and rocket launchers at maker fairs.

Meanwhile, Keith, who is an engineer by profession, as well as a dad and a maker who describes himself as a "big kid", saw Rick's projects in MAKE magazine and brainstormed ways to create a new working air rocket glider.

Keith and his son took videos and sent photos of their finished work to Rick--and the rest is history.

Today, Rick and Keith, who live in California and New Hampshire, respectively, have numerous rockets and launchers available on their website. They've developed rockets and launchers for educational programs all around the world. These include educational outreach programs by NASA, United Launch Alliance and The Tech Museum of Innovation.

Meanwhile, they continue to wow visitors at maker fairs--and may very well be coming to Maker Faire Bay Area this September!

(Like to get some hands-on experience before then? Here's a link to Rick's book "Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets: Simple Flying Things Anyone Can Make" on Amazon!)

Rick and Keith shared the story of Air Rocket Works, discussed some of their favorite experiences and offered a preview of what's next!