BayDesigns
Active member
This is a glider in the absolute loosest sense of the word. For those unfamiliar with the concept, it's an aircraft which gets lift from the shape of its fuselage rather than wings. They were investigated by NASA in the 1960s as a way to return astronauts from orbit! There's no good place to put this, but I figured that this fit best. I saw a video about these aircraft and it really intrigued me, so I decided to see if I could design such an aircraft. I'm planning on using small rocket motors to launch this to altitude, but this presents an issue. There are 2 types of engines available- booster and traditional. Boosters don't have an ejection charge, but they do throw small flaming bits of propellant forward to ignite the next stage. Traditional motors throw little or no debris forward, but they create a lot more gas which will create more pressure. Which one should I use? They both have benefits and drawbacks which will have to be addressed.
AMA rules state that rocket motors must remain attached to the aircraft, and this is absolutely a good plan. Based on this, there will be a retainer holding the motor in its sleeve, and pressure will have to be vented overboard somehow to avoid damage. How can I do this? As far as venting the gas overboard goes, it should be a simple matter of creating a few channels from the top of the motor to the outside, but if I use booster-type motors, I also have to deal with the issue of flaming debris. Dumping flaming chunks of propellant out the back of the aircraft is a bad plan. Yes, it's almost certain that they'll burn out before hitting the ground, but what if they don't? Keeping them on board also presents an issue- the aircraft will be 3D printed, and holding burning material inside could melt through the duct.
To sum it up, my questions are this- what motor style should I use? How should I vent gas and possibly debris outside? And how can I do this without melting through the airframe?
AMA rules state that rocket motors must remain attached to the aircraft, and this is absolutely a good plan. Based on this, there will be a retainer holding the motor in its sleeve, and pressure will have to be vented overboard somehow to avoid damage. How can I do this? As far as venting the gas overboard goes, it should be a simple matter of creating a few channels from the top of the motor to the outside, but if I use booster-type motors, I also have to deal with the issue of flaming debris. Dumping flaming chunks of propellant out the back of the aircraft is a bad plan. Yes, it's almost certain that they'll burn out before hitting the ground, but what if they don't? Keeping them on board also presents an issue- the aircraft will be 3D printed, and holding burning material inside could melt through the duct.
To sum it up, my questions are this- what motor style should I use? How should I vent gas and possibly debris outside? And how can I do this without melting through the airframe?
