I have a great Idea. But I think I saw something in the NAR newsletter already on it. Well the NAR article was not exactly what I had in mind but it is close. The NAR article showed a device some kid thought up on how to light clusters. He had a large dia tube with a pre measured amount of black power or pyrodex. Then that tube had a bulkhead in it with a bunch of straws going out of it up into the back end of the motors. When the pre-charge was set off it shot flame up the tubes and lit off all the other motors.
Well my Idea is similar to that only different. I wouldn't tell ya'll and make it to sell but I would need an explosives licence to do that and that just defeat the principle of the IDEA of going around the ATF so I'll tell ya'll anyway and maybe some one else can add to this idea then some one else and soon we will have a real good working ignition system for clusters.
The idea is this... make a small motor that has APCP propellant in it. Obviously this motor would have to be less than 62.5 grams of propellant. Put a medusa like nozzle in it with tubes sticking out of the nozzles (probably would have to be part of the nozzle so they would not pop out. Now this small motor which I will call the igniter can be part of the launch pad arraignment. The clustered rockets would have to have a standard cluster configuration so that this igniter system would be interchangeable from rocket to rocket. Anyway this igniter motor would be facing aft end up with these tubes sticking up in a standard config. Then the rocketeer would take his rocket and lower it onto the igniter system so each of the tubes went into the clustered rocket motors. You would only have to light the one igniter motor and it would shoot nice and hot aluminum APCP up into the clustered rocket igniting all the motors at the same time.
Staging could be done the same way.
Hmmmm I think I'll try it. Any one else up for the challenge? Sounds fun. Lets report back on our successes or failures. That way all of us can put our heads together and finally end up with a nice working ignition system that we can all standardize and share with one another!
Hmmm. I own a mill and lathe. Maybe I could come up with the igniter motor casing and hardware and sell that. You guys would have to put your own propellant in it. Maybe you could stick a standard Aerotech reload grain in it. But making your own propellant would be funner. And since you are not flying the igniter you could use this homemade "igniter" it at a NAR certified flight.
If we work together our ingenuity can over come any obstacle that falls from the ATF wagon.