new rocket

spent a few hours today and made this from a pool noodle toy. features 'boink' recovery, thought I would try it on an F12 .
Rex

Every pool noodle or foam rocket I have seen flies very squirrelly. Mostly because (I think) the fins are all wavy, skewed, and whacked up. Also, the body is seldom even an approximation of straight. I would give a bit of distance on the first flight to be sure.

Boink recovery? Looks like a Rex seeking missile to me :wink:

one reason I'm taking it to the Woosh HPR launch where it go from the 'B' pads(100'+ away from everbody ), with a comparatively low thrust motor.
Rex

Hey Rex,

You can use body tubes in the interior of the noodle to straighten things...

See this thread below...

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?120919-Use-Your-Noodle&highlight=Noodle+Booster

Booster motor or sustainer?

That's not a bad idea. My only concern would be aft melting from the heat. The krylon short cuts spray is safe for foam. I sprayed a Styrofoam cup with a heavy coat of the clear to test it and there was no melting. It might work to strengthen the fins and make them straight for flight.

mine is setup for motors w/o an ejection charge...so heat shouldn't be a problem. I used an Estes 5080 centering ring on the motor tube as a thrust plate which should protect the aft end from backblast. provided I keep the airspeed down to something sane the fins etc. should hold up for a few flights. with a little modification this bird could be used for water landings(I don't plan to do this intentionally ), with a string cheese payload.
Rex

What's the balance like on that thing? Will it fly straight?

with an E9-6 loaded it balances about in the middle of the launch lug(which is about where the cg was before I converted it). needed 2oz. of nose weight to achieve this. as for the cp...the design doesn't lend itself well to OR simulation, I would guess just north of the fins. should be fun to find out how it flies.
Rex

Flight Report:
flew it this past weekend on an F12. even with gusty winds it was a nice straight flight both up and down(rod was angled to keep from over flying the parking area). had a nice 'boink' landing...upon retrieval I noticed that the nose weight and launch lug were missing(in the case of the lug, that included the epoxy I had used to secure it). both items can be replaced fairly easily. I figure that the rocket has about 2 -3 flights left in it before it gets too flexible. I was amused by some of the comments made by the TARC teams .
Rex

That water recovery idea could be handy at Bong.