NZ's largest amateur rocket soars from Waikato paddock

From humble beginnings in a Te Pahū shed, the country's largest amateur rocket shot into the skies from a Waikato paddock.

The 6.5m tall rocket, a full scale replica NASA's Nike Smoke, was the grand finale of Sunday's New Zealand Rocketry Association (NZRA) National Launch Day.

Rocket enthusiasts, ranging from children to members of the six-strong Nike project, took to the paddocks of an Orini farm to watch their homemade rockets soar.

Grayson Spittle, 15, from Mt Wellington with his homemade rocket. Photo / Dean Purcell

Sunday's Havoc in the Paddock was the culmination of the three-day event, with the Nike's launch the product of 10 months' worth of work from the enthusiasts behind it.

Replication of the 1960s rocket was managed by Ethan Kosoof of Huntly, Dr Martin Van Tiel and his wife Debbie of Taupiri, Chris North from Onewhero and Kelvin and Kim McVinnie from Te Pahū.

Dozens of rockets launched on Sunday's Havoc in the Paddock. Photo / Dean Purcell

The team, all members of the New Zealand Rocketry Association, specially built the rocket for the event.

With no test run before Sunday's launch, it was up in the air whether the rocket would really fly.

But to the delight of the Nike team and rocket enthusiasts at the paddock, the giant rocket blasted into the sky, sparks and smoke trailing behind it.