Rocket Powered St. Louis Arch!

They still are your crimes.

Reply to
Jerry Irvine
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Roger that. I was worried there for a bit...

Thinking this one might've gone south too...

Thanks for all the tips from everyone else, also!

Will test fly this week, and report back the results...

tah

Reply to
hiltyt

Here's a rocket that flew the Arch, or "rainbow":

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(The first two shots are not of the streamer flight. In the right-most photo the streamer had torn to about 1/2 of it's expected length, but was still a nice flight. )

This was a "found parts" contest rocket built from a 3" tube from holiday gift-wrap. Powered by a D12-3 it made nice flights to about 600' and flew great on E15's.

When pulling the streamer with a D12-5 it would go about 400 feet. I just taped one end of a crepe paper roll to the fin with masking tape extending down along the streamer for about a foot for strain relief. The roll is set flat on the ground a few feet away from the pad with just the first few feet unrolled. As the rocket ascends it just unwinds from the roll. Obviously, try to keep the streamer out from under the exhaust plume.

The streamer is very difficult to control if there is any surface wind - it will start to unwind prior to launch and tangle with the rocket, pad, itself, etc. I had other attempts where there was too much unfurled streamer and when the rocket finally caught up to the slack, it snapped the streamer. Also note that the streamer can affect the rocket's trajectory and drift in odd ways. Best to fly only on low wind day with a rocket that is known to be very stable.

I think the key is that you need a *slow* acceleration. Therefore a big draggy rocket with a motor than can lift the weight but won't jump off the pad so fast that it tears the streamer.

Good luck. This is a fun project and a real crowd pleaser.

Blue Skies, Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Hove

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