CarolineTyler
Legendary member
Think they are going to need a bigger extinguisher!
Rocketry for the common R/Cer
- Thread starter FAI-F1D
- Start date
FAI-F1D
Free Flight Indoorist
P. There's a thread going on about it at The Rocketry Forum. I can't imagine building something to handle that, although several have done so including the 3/4 scale Mercury Redstone launched earlier this year.
JTarmstr
Elite member
So are you NAR certified level 3 high power? i think that maybe a scale space shuttle would be fun
FAI-F1D
Free Flight Indoorist
So are you NAR certified level 3 high power? i think that maybe a scale space shuttle would be fun
I wish! I'm just dreaming right now...hoping to get my L1 next year with a large delta wing or something of that nature. Preferably one that lets me slide under the FAA waiver threshold although that may result in a model that's faster than what I really want to deal with quite yet. I've flown some extremely fast rocket gliders but would prefer low and slow where official certification is concerned.
FAI-F1D
Free Flight Indoorist
Next installment...
Y'all want rocketry on the cheap? This is about as good as it gets. @Craftydan pulled me into this craziness of building redneck rockets from Pringles cans. He built his extra long, while I built mine from a regular Pringles can. Mine came out lighter for whatever reason, so it launches a bit higher. Right now we're flying on single use Estes D engines. As I understand it there are some F loads that will fit that motor mount and I'm looking forward to giving that a try in the future. In the meantime, enjoy some shenanigans:
You can build your own from the thingiverse files:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:887300
I'm going to upload Openrocket data eventually, but suffice it to say that you need to add ballast to the nose and pay very close attention to the CG location on these or they can get out of hand really quickly. Dan and I both ran those numbers and got safe results.
Y'all want rocketry on the cheap? This is about as good as it gets. @Craftydan pulled me into this craziness of building redneck rockets from Pringles cans. He built his extra long, while I built mine from a regular Pringles can. Mine came out lighter for whatever reason, so it launches a bit higher. Right now we're flying on single use Estes D engines. As I understand it there are some F loads that will fit that motor mount and I'm looking forward to giving that a try in the future. In the meantime, enjoy some shenanigans:
You can build your own from the thingiverse files:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:887300
I'm going to upload Openrocket data eventually, but suffice it to say that you need to add ballast to the nose and pay very close attention to the CG location on these or they can get out of hand really quickly. Dan and I both ran those numbers and got safe results.
FAI-F1D
Free Flight Indoorist
Hehe. I told Dan that I had 10-12 career launches as a kid. But never had a club type environment. Looks like fun!
My first formal launch was back in September after hundreds of launches over my 25 years of rocketry. It's definitely a completely different environment, and flying alongside the high power stuff is really cool. I highly recommend attending an NAR launch. Many clubs allow you to launch G and lower impulse without an NAR membership so locals can come get a taste of rocketry without having to commit to a membership.
FAI-F1D
Free Flight Indoorist
Now for my next shenanigan: Hope and I worked up this idea of building a reliable glider from a single 4x12 sheet of 1/16" balsa. It was successful, and I decided to launch it on a rocket, but if you're gonna do that, might as well do it right, and make it repeatable for others. I shredded the first one, but managed to prove that you can get nice flights from some 1/16" scraps and no sanding. The launch is much straighter and higher than Hope or I ever expected. Also, I successfully stuck a fin in the exhaust stream and got it to survive--twice!
Links to plans and such are in the video description. I hope to get more details up eventually, but there's enough data provided to be able to build the whole setup without having to send me money (and I'll happily clear up any confusion free of charge because this isn't about making money).
Links to plans and such are in the video description. I hope to get more details up eventually, but there's enough data provided to be able to build the whole setup without having to send me money (and I'll happily clear up any confusion free of charge because this isn't about making money).
JTarmstr
Elite member
i have a strip of 1/16 and some Bt 20 tubes left.... hmmmmm...
JTarmstr
Elite member
So i launched the giant rocket i had in the earlier photo now name Hephaestus 1. The flight was spectacular with a C11-7 motor and it landed about 40 feet away. This has quickly become one of my favorite custom rockets so far.
Anyway had a ton of fun with it, now have to work on a camera to ride along. And if i want to i can also launch this with 4 motors: 3 A3-4T's and one D12-7. Might be something fun to try.
Anyway had a ton of fun with it, now have to work on a camera to ride along. And if i want to i can also launch this with 4 motors: 3 A3-4T's and one D12-7. Might be something fun to try.
FAI-F1D
Free Flight Indoorist
That would be a very cool flame, although you won't get much extra performance from the A cluster with a central motor that powerful. Someone in one of the rocketry facebook groups gave that critique to one of the Mach 1 prototypes. I think it was a 54mm surrounded by 3 29mm motors and the remark was that the rocket would go just as high if not higher with the cluster mounts empty. So you might want to try another with the cluster units upscaled to 18mm. The other nice thing is that above 13mm you can start using composite motors, and there are some really cool offerings. Currently you can't get past D power in 18mm, but that's still pretty substantial (it's possible to do Mach 1 with a carefully designed/built D21 powered rocket).
Anyway, it's a cool rocket regardless. I actually have yet to try a cluster and keep wanting to, but I need a higher voltage launch controller before I try that stuff. Sometime in the next few months I'll probably cluster my big F rocket glider, but that'll be at a public launch where ignition voltage is nice and aggressive.
JTarmstr
Elite member
This rocket was designed primarily for bragging rights at a launch meet I go to. My goal was to make something that would be loud, smokey and still only do 500 feet for short recovery times, the A motors are just there for the launch smoke. I have no doubt if I tried to crack the sound barrier with that I would tear the fins off. One of my rockets I tried disintegrated at mach .5. with two C motors. I want to try for the sound barrier at some point but not now. This is basically a really cool looking big bertha.
This rocket was supposed to go to mach .62
It wound up doing a flip when it lost a fin and i got saved because the fin fell off the first stage and right in its 2nd flip it lost the first stage and went horizontal.
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FAI-F1D
Free Flight Indoorist
For those days when you really, really wish you had a contest sanction. Yeah, I managed to unofficially crush the standing 1/8A boost glider record, caught it on camera, and yea, I'll never get credit for it. Oh well it was still really fun. Also, plans for an even better one!
