RC Bottle rocket glider

[horsie_flites]

Hi,

First things first, I'm a newbie and I haven't been able to fly my FT Vector (not a very smart first choice) because of so many rainy weekends.

To the point: I'm thinking of adding elevons to a bottle rocket.

It's the kind that builds air pressure on 2 liter bottles and launches them along with the minimal amounts of water inside when launched. I plan on having it launch high into the air, then glide and take control of the rocket from there.

No props and motors, or why would I even want to launch it that way in the first place?

I don't know how I might make a design that could function as both a rocket and a plane. I know this isn't a model rocket forum, but perhaps I could get some pointers on the plane part?

I also want to point out the fact that the bottle isn't that large, and I might even add a second bottle to increase space for wings and a longer fuselage (or body tube in model rocket terms).

Ph and I have no idea where this thread goes

 

[liamnave]

Weight is definitely going to be your limiting factor. Your gonna need a pretty big bottle rocket for that to work. The way I would do it is find the CG of the rocket, build wings of DTFB, and the get elevon mixing. Like I said, unless you have a pretty big rocket this is never gonna get off the ground. What size rocket to you have in mind?

 

[Andrew]

@LIAMNAVE , he's talking about "water rockets" 2 liter size bottle.

Back in the late 90s I played with water/air bottle rockets a lot, with the right exhaust nozzle they are very powerful.

I've always wanted to build a water rocket glider since then but it's always being pushed way down on my "to do list".

 

[horsie_flites]

@LIAMNAVE , he's talking about "water rockets" 2 liter size bottle.

Back in the late 90s I played with water/air bottle rockets a lot, with the right exhaust nozzle they are very powerful.

I've always wanted to build a water rocket glider since then but it's always being pushed way down on my "to do list".

Yup, that's right! They're about a foot long in height and have about a 4" diameter

 

[liamnave]

okay, sorry about that, but a fire one would be cool to! Well in that case it should be pretty easy to build some fins and just slap em on. What kinda configuration do you want? D you have a programmable transmitter?

 

[horsie_flites]

I figured I could have something that functions as both fins in rocket mode and a tail in glider mode.

I have a measly DX6i, but it's good enough for programming elevon.

What's a configuration again?

Also, I figure a 4s lipo can help as a weight too.

I've only used 4s batteries but maybe I could connect a 1s battery directly to the Rx without ESC.

I don't have any servos right now so I might buy the twin power pack C large because I want to have the Guinea Pig as my next project. I'll be sure to buy a trainer plane first because I suck at flying

 

[f91ddr]

A DX6i can do "measly" programming.

Just be sure to keep your electronics in a balloon or ziplock… They don't like water too much!

 

[CartCurt]

How about putting a glider on the nose of the bottle rocket that comes off and glides down while the 2 liter bottle falls back to earth. That would cut down on the weight of the glider and the drag of the bottle.

 

[horsie_flites]

How about putting a glider on the nose of the bottle rocket that comes off and glides down while the 2 liter bottle falls back to earth. That would cut down on the weight of the glider and the drag of the bottle.

I think I might have to make the bottle the fuselage because I need the whole thing to be one piece. I think it might be simpler to not have an ejection system of some sort.

Can you tell me how I might disconnect the bottle and the glider?

I think it also wouldn't work as well in rocket mode too when the glider is on the nose.

 

[horsie_flites]

What gram servos should I get? I think 9 gram or 8.5 is enough for a foam board control surface

 

[f91ddr]

For an overweight, 60mph+ Versa Wing, I use Corona 3Kg 9grams. But for something like this, just get some hxt900 servos (~0.9Kg), plus 2 or 3 extra (QC is nonexistent, so you might get unlucky). The extra cost isn't justified for something like this, and I've never had a problem with the cheap servos unless you strip them out by accident.

 

[horsie_flites]

What's the difference between those servos and flite test emaxx servos? Also what's QC

 

[JimCR120]

Schools often do water bottle rockets in a science theme. I'm sure many must post their research and you can use that to find the best design formyour purposes. Since the shot up will be quick and limited, perhaps a very light DLG approach would be helpful for a longer sustained glide down. Both the winged bottle glider and the bottle booster are interesting ideas.

If you use 1S be sure your selected rx will operate on that voltage.

QC refers to quality checking of products to ensure each work as advertised.

 

[horsie_flites]

Is this wing design ok?

Going to add electronics to the nose for weight

(Attempted to taper but failed)