Launch Tower Plan and Parts - Completed

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That is a great piece of craftsmanship, especially for a chemist! Will you be bringing it to Gunter next Saturday or are you going to force me to Corsicana this Summer?
 
That is a great piece of craftsmanship, especially for a chemist! Will you be bringing it to Gunter next Saturday or are you going to force me to Corsicana this Summer?

Thanks Ted, I think. I'm going to see how it fits in the van, and if i can get it in assembled I'll bring it up. Othewise it will wait until I plan to use it.
 
Thanks Ted, I think. I'm going to see how it fits in the van, and if i can get it in assembled I'll bring it up. Othewise it will wait until I plan to use it.

Just pullin' yer leg. I hope to get over to Gunter next Saturday. Everything is contingent upon the 1) weather and 2) health issues. Today I'm experiencing a deficit of energy to compliment the ongoing deficit of money! Stay healthy my friend. :wink:
 
That looks like an awesome set up! Can wait to see a rocket go of that!
 
So the rails normally used are just framework on this pad. And the rocket doesn't have buttons?
It just stays between the 3 inner rails that doesn't lock in any way directly to the rock, correct?
And it's designed for 3 fins only?
Can you put a rocket in it and show a few more pics. I'm curious how this works.
Thanks
 
So the rails normally used are just framework on this pad. And the rocket doesn't have buttons?
It just stays between the 3 inner rails that doesn't lock in any way directly to the rock, correct?
And it's designed for 3 fins only?
Can you put a rocket in it and show a few more pics. I'm curious how this works.
Thanks

Yes, aluminum extrusion had the right mix of rigidity, light weight, and already had the central hole to tap; so I went with that.

Yes, it rides between the rails as closely as is practical without constraining the movement.

Yes, this is the major limitation of this setup. I thought about making it for 3 or 4 fin, but I couldn't work out a practical solution that didn't use a lot more rails (read as $), and I think 3FNC is relatively standard for MD.

In time, but it is exactly how you think it works.
 
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Nice design. I'd make one slight change. On the rings, I'd make one of the tabs such that one of the outer rails could double as a launch rail for much larger models external to the cage. Either mount that one outside the rings completely, or make the tabs the same shape as the cross section of the rail to not allow a gap but allow the rail button to move without getting stuck, but that is a lot of unions. Maybe just a single piece rail for one of them with the ring mounting to the opposite side of it with L brackets.

The workmanship is top notch.
 
Swung by the Harbor Freight today and picked up some ratcheting tie-downs. Finally got the chance to set it up, and it is quite sturdy. Also, found a great way to get confused looks from everyone driving by...What, you never seen someone with a 6 foot rocket launch tower in their front yard?

setup.jpg

Young Hagen, I am planning to bring this along to Gunter for the next launch, and you are welcome to try it out. I'll leave it configured for 29 mm.
 
Swung by the Harbor Freight today and picked up some ratcheting tie-downs. Finally got the chance to set it up, and it is quite sturdy. Also, found a great way to get confused looks from everyone driving by...What, you never seen someone with a 6 foot rocket launch tower in their front yard?

View attachment 253548

Young Hagen, I am planning to bring this along to Gunter for the next launch, and you are welcome to try it out. I'll leave it configured for 29 mm.

Awesome, thanks! My MD bird probably won't be ready by then but I sure hope it will be. :)
 
Finally got to use this beast at the High Frontiers 12 launch this last weekend. It was set up in the 6' configuration.

TRF's own AlfaBrewer caught a picture of my 38 MD rocket, Aram, leaving the tower on an AT I357T. I had an RRC2 in it, so I don't know the speed, but there was a very audible pop at a few hundred feet which combined with the sim make me real comfortable asserting the rocket broke Mach 1.

The tower came through with no damage, with a nice little scorch right in the center of the base and radiating out between the rails. I put down a welding blanket under the pad as some extra fire insurance. When I loaded the rocket there were quite a few spiders crawling on the tower, I imagine they did not enjoy the launch experience.

Aram.jpg
 
Nice job Chris! I wish I could have been up in Oklahoma this past weekend but, well, you know how it goes. (But I did catch some nice channel cats out of my pond!)
 
Awsome flight Chris. That POP was cool. Glad to have met you and hope to see you and your son next year. I know he can't wait.
 
Thanks Gents, and yes, both of the young'uns have been talking my ear off about going back next year...won't be too hard to convince me I think. I talked to my dad on the drive home, and he wants to fly down from Pennsylvania to go along next year. He did some rocket stuff as a kid, and some with me when I was little, but he has never seen anything larger than a C motor fly.
 
Unfortunately I only kept the video running long enough for the immediate launch. Had I gone one more second I would have captured the mach pop.

I agree with Chris. This was a definitely a launch worth attending again.
 
Unfortunately I only kept the video running long enough for the immediate launch. Had I gone one more second I would have captured the mach pop.

I agree with Chris. This was a definitely a launch worth attending again.

The shock wave from a supersonic flight emanates perpendicular to the flight path and sound like a sharp crack. From the ground you would not hear a crack unless the rocket passed by horizontally overhead. You probably heard some portion of casting liner being spit through the nozzle. That's not uncommon and definitely causes a pop.
 
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