ThirstyBarbarian
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2013
- Messages
- 12,249
- Reaction score
- 7,477
I absolutely LOVE Nose Weight!!! It's one of my favorite parts of doing a build!
If you want a Performance Rocket there are plenty of those 3FNC MD Jobs.
I personally don't burn enough propellant to worry about maximizing things like altitude or speed for any given Motor. An L1 is a long way off for me, as the only Club in my State supposedly does'nt even have a Field to fly at still, and I have yet to be able to scrounge up the Funds for an NAR Membership.
I'de be happy with a semi-scale Patriot that stayed around 800ft. or less on Composite SU G Motors.
Yeah, I'm not into performance rockets either, and not against nose weight --- just pointing out you would probably need some for a scale model adapted from a Leviathan. My Leviathan keeps well below 1,000 feet on Econojet F motors, which is what I use a lot of the time. It goes over 1,000 on G's. Maybe if you did make one into a scale Patriot, glassed it, and added enough weight to make it stable, you might end up with a rocket heavy enough to keep under 1,000 feet on G motors.
I prefer keeping them low and slow with drag, not weight. One rocket I am hoping Santa will bring to me is a G-Force --- 4" airframe, and stays under 1,000 feet on G motors. I've seen pics of them painted in missile livery. Some look OK, but the fin shape and the fact it has 3 fins means it's not very convincing. I'll probably opt for a sport paint job. I'm looking forward to that rocket for the low and slow G motor flights.
My L1 flight was about 800 feet on a Single Use AT H115DM drilled to a 6-second delay. The rocket has a lot of drag --- Mega Der Red Max with pods on the fins. It goes about 400 to 500 feet on G motors, which is what I usually use. I know you prefer rockets with a military missile style, and this is definitely not like that, but the high drag gives the kinds of flights you are looking for. You want a 4" or more airframe with some draggy fins, but not so heavy you are forced to get your certification. (That's why I got my L1 cert --- the pod rocket went over the weight limit and needed L1 to fly it at all, even on G motors.)