The detail that grabbed me first: this little demonstrator runs on nitrous oxide and ethanol, the same kind of bi-propellant reaction you find in full sized spacecraft, all built around a clear plastic bottle. That seems a brilliant way to make a small scale project feel connected to the big stuff, and the clear body lets you watch what is happening instead of guessing.
The build itself is refreshingly simple. White fins on the bottle, a launch apparatus to hold it, tubing in the ground setup, and a red pressure cylinder or canister among the launch items. Ignition comes from ground wires. The maker even ran both an onboard camera and an external one, and remarked that the flight was better with the camera riding along, which I think says a lot about how much fun this flight turned out to be.
The launch sequence is tidy: the rocket is handled on grass, set on the apparatus lined up with a ground marking, then goes up on a 3, 2, 1 count with a cloud of exhaust, soaring into a clear blue sky. It tumbles at apogee and comes down to the turf, where the operator retrieves it.
One thing left open: getting a decent burn was a struggle, since the right mixture of N2O and ethanol is a fussy target. The nitrous dispenser also wore out, so the maker moved on to oxygen boost bottles instead. That switch is an interesting turn, and I would love to hear more about how those flights compare.