CLEAR ROCKETS ANYBODY??

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Not me personally, but I know it's been done. I seem to recall someone posting pics of one in a thread. Maybe run a search?
 
BuiltFromTrash said:
Has anybody ever built a transparent rocket??

BuiltFromTrash
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Yes. Me and my son made one and called it "Color Me Gone". The body tube was made from one of those plastic protective shields made to dispose of T12 florescent lamps. The motor was home made ANCP based upon formulas found in John Wickman's book, "How to Make Amateur Rockets", published by CP Technologies. The casing was made from epoxy and rolled kraft paper with an O.D of 1.20 inches, thus minimum diameter. As I recall, we rolled up a piece of florescent orange construction paper and inserted it into the tube to shield the plastic from the ejection heat as well as provide visual tracking. The first flight was spectacular with an altitude of 3500-4000 feet and it was recovered about 0.6 mile downrange. The second flight fractured all three fins during thrust and the booster was found about 1/2 mile west of the launch pad, minus the nose and chute. Haven't flown it since.
 
Thanks for all the reply's, I looked at the links - Very Cool!! Thought I would ask cause I have a clear tube from a cheapo light saber and some clear plastic sheet, I started to get ideas and... Maybe I'll get the time to build it soon, as I have some projects that I am working on currently. Hmmm... Rearward piston ejection...

BuiltFromTrash

Bth, what about a glass rocket?? (With a big parachute of course) :)
 
I've built two. The Estes Phantom, and my Cherokee D upscale (I had some trouble with the clear coat).

9410621895_f4de64a68c.jpg
 
BuiltFromTrash said:
Has anybody ever built a transparent rocket??

BuiltFromTrash
Click to expand...

You mean something like these.

I'm currently working on the design for a 4" OD Clear about 60" long 4 -d12 clustered Illuminated Night Vehicle for next years September Night launch.

The only thing that has to be kept in mind when designing Clear models is the interior has to be protected by some means from the Ejection gas and burning bits or your clear mode is only clear for one flight

670a1-sm_Phantom NITE Nike-Apache wo Shield_08-30-07.jpg
 
What about a telescoping piston ejection system that sealed the ejection gases in? How many cubic inches of gas does a standard size engine produce?

BuiltFromTrash
 
I've used piston deployment several times. Most recently on the 20 mill. At least from my perspective ,it's only worthwhile in an unusual design where basic exhaust charges my not work----separation of parts with separate chutes for example. As far as telescoping. A tube inside a tube inside a tube---no I have not and can't think of a reason to do it. First off it's heavy, second how will you keep the extended tubes together? at any rate, I wouldn't worry about how many cubic inches the charge has---surely enough to push a telescope out---you'll most likely need a vent hole at the bottom of the bottom tube to make sure the whole contraption doesn't blow apart. That said the bottom tube would have to come out last--yet another problem !!
 
Oh well, maybe a completely clear rocket is for Hi Power rockets where you can use a CO2 ejection charge. Or maybe I could use a C6-0 with an epoxy plug, but then I wouldn't have a passive ejection system. Could I use a drag separate nose cone?

BuiltFromTrash
 
RichAndRichieWithRockets_WebVersion.jpg


A picture from Vern Knowles' website from way back when. I like the name of the rocket. "Clearly Unfinished"



Braden
 
If the clear rocket you are building is going to be dual deployment using a barometric altimeter, be careful, as some if not all barometric sensors are effected by sunlight that normally can't get to them with a opague altimeter bay. Some altimeter manufactures manuals specifically mention of this.
 
jmattingly13 said:
I was planning to make one (and then fill with lights for a possible night launch). I was told to avoid polycarbonate, as it's too flexible. Apparently acrylic is the way to go (at least for HPR).
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Absolutely the very Worst advise you could have gotten! Polycarbonate is FAR superior for your Night flying airframe. Acrylic is FAR to brittle for use in model rockets it just cracks and splitters into shards.
reinforcing a thinwalled Polycarbonate outer airframe with Clear polycarb or ply centering rings and/or inner Polyethylene or polycarbonate stuffer tube(s) make for very stiff and stable rockets that aren't a hazard to fly. I use Polycarbonate Fins on models from micro to 4" with NO problem at all. My thickness of choice for most LMR Clustered models is .063" but .080 and .125" polycarbonate are readily available.

If you're planning on a night flying rocket all that LED Strings and electronics add a good bit of rigidity to the thin walled airframe.
As a Sign Manufacturing professional who has to use all kinds of plastics on a daily basis I'll tell you the exact opposite of what you heard:...Acrylic Plastic, even Modified Acrylic (High impact) plastic should be avoided in ANY Flying model rockets at all cost. It's A Flight SAFETY Issue.
 
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The olde insulin syringe was clear plastic rocket from many moons ago.

syringe6_25-4.jpg
 
Protecting the interior surface of clear tubes is NOT That difficult.
You simply have to use an ablative (Sacrificial) inner sleeve.
This can be a piece of rolled Polypropylene, Heavy vinyl or other semi-transparent or translucent material that can handle a little heat. If nothing else a multi layer sleeve of rolled wax paper will work. That was how I discovered the beauty of the ablative sleeve in my Estes Phantom demo flying back in the 70's.

670o1-sm_PNA CleanUp inside tube after 2 flts_09-23-07.JPG

670o2-sm_PNA CleanUP_Pull out Protective sleeve_09-23-07.JPG

670o3-sm_PNA CleanUP_after 409 wipedown Parts AOK_09-23-07.JPG

670o4-sm_PNA parts after cleaning before repacking_09-23-07.JPG

670o5-sm_PNA repacked After 2 Launch Clean up_09-23-07.JPG
 
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That is a good idea! I bet you could use a dry cleaners bag or similar material for a shield! It might melt through though...

BuiltFromTrash
 
Micromeister said:
Absolutely the very Worst advise you could have gotten! Polycarbonate is FAR superior for your Night flying airframe. Acrylic is FAR to brittle for use in model rockets it just cracks and splitters into shards.
reinforcing a thinwalled Polycarbonate outer airframe with Clear polycarb or ply centering rings and/or inner Polyethylene or polycarbonate stuffer tube(s) make for very stiff and stable rockets that aren't a hazard to fly. I use Polycarbonate Fins on models from micro to 4" with NO problem at all. My thickness of choice for most LMR Clustered models is .063" but .080 and .125" polycarbonate are readily available.

If you're planning on a night flying rocket all that LED Strings and electronics add a good bit of rigidity to the thin walled airframe.
As a Sign Manufacturing professional who has to use all kinds of plastics on a daily basis I'll tell you the exact opposite of what you heard:...Acrylic Plastic, even Modified Acrylic (High impact) plastic should be avoided in ANY Flying model rockets at all cost. It's A Flight SAFETY Issue.
Click to expand...

Good to have a second opinion. Thanks!
 
BuiltFromTrash said:
That is a good idea! I bet you could use a dry cleaners bag or similar material for a shield! It might melt through though...

BuiltFromTrash
Click to expand...

Nope! Dry cleaners bag are .010" thick. Great for making ultra light HUGE competition parachutes but not worth a darn as a protective shield.
Our Shield or albative material chosen must have enough backbone to be at very least self-supporting with enough spring to create a semi-seal with the Outer body airframe protecting it from the soot, hot gases and burning bits of ejection. I've had wonderful results with .020" or .030" Polycarbonate sheet, .030" PETG sheet and a number of different thickness semi-rigid vinyl's.
Keep firmly in mind these shields are to be removed from the clear model as quickly as possible after each flight to preserve the clear look of you base rocket.
If you look at the photo of my Old Estes modified Phantom it might be hard to believe that it has more the 40 some flights on it spanning over 30years. At the time that particular photo was taken it had more then 10 flights.
 
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Yes. Somewhere there is a thread about one I did called Fish Sticks. I bought a tube of fiberglass electrical wire fishing sticks from HF, donated the sticks to work and used the clear container for the rocket!
Ken
 
I've seen a design for a rocket made with a clear body tube that has a smaller diameter stuffer tube running through it. Think it was a Centuri design, but I don't remember for sure, or where I saw it, and all my rocket PDFs are on my home computer.
 
Cookie the Dog's Owner said:
I've seen a design for a rocket made with a clear body tube that has a smaller diameter stuffer tube running through it. Think it was a Centuri design, but I don't remember for sure, or where I saw it, and all my rocket PDFs are on my home computer.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about doing something like that if I were to build a clear rocket that was capable of flight. I'd probably go zipperless, and use a standard cardboard coupler/baffle to take the forces of the heat and gasses. The only area where I see this being a problem is if I wanted to do a clear motor tube. The workaround I came up with would be to just apply a graphic to the outside of the motor tube that would describe what's hidden by the cardboard. Remember, I'm thinking teaching aid, not night launches.
 
Cookie the Dog's Owner said:
I've seen a design for a rocket made with a clear body tube that has a smaller diameter stuffer tube running through it. Think it was a Centuri design, but I don't remember for sure, or where I saw it, and all my rocket PDFs are on my home computer.
Click to expand...

That is more or less how I built the LED lighted payload section for my 3X UpScale 4-D12 Clustered Nova Payloader. 2.606" OD clear Polyethyene outer tube with a BT-50 Mirrored Vinyl covered inner tube with cardstock centering rings.

Same procedure with my Phantom Nike-Apache motor mount Bt-20 motor tube covered with mirror vinyl and cardstock centering rings.
You still need some sort of protective sleeve if the recovery compartment is the outer clear body tube.
OBTW the reason for the mirror vinyl is so the eye dismisses the inner tubing.

604uc07-Lg_NovaPloaderRework_6strips & NCincl tube_05-31-11.jpg

604uc09a_Nova P-loader Rework_Trans tape NC_06-03-11.JPG

604uc09c2_Lights off-51 LEDs & Flashing NC ON_06-03-11.JPG

670d-sm_Working on motor mount-base ill. unit_08-29-07.JPG

670f-sm_Nike booster unit complete with lugs_08-30-07.JPG
 
It's not quite the same thing, but I was given an older Semroc kit called "The Scrambler" which features a prominent clear plastic payload tube.
I have yet to launch this cluster rocket due to weather concerns, but it's going up next week with some clever payloads, action figures, eggs and packaging (not all at once, I hope...)
 

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