Can a bad bat become a new rocket?

Okay, brainstorming time. My 5 year old son cracked his composite bat tonight - specifically the cap at the end of the barrel broke. Since it is now in the baseball scrap heap, I am wondering if it can be converted into a rocket.

I have yet to inspect the bat for any cracks in the composite material, and if the structural integrity of the bat barrel is compromised then it will go back in the trash. Provided it is sound, however, there may be some options. It is 2-1/4" OD and the entire bat weighs 13 ounces. I estimate that removing the handle will take it down to the 8-9 oz range. I'm thinking that the tapered handle-to-barrel transition can be used for the nose cose once an aluminum tip is installed. The barrel would make for the BT and I'd need to sort out a fin can. Nothing too fancy- single deploy and 29 mm should get it done. I'm estimating the finished produect would be in the 1-1.25 lb range.

Anyone ever try something like this? It would be a cool gift for my son to see his bat reborn as a rocket. I'm going to look into the specific composite material that this bat was made of.

This idea is batty.

ThirstyBarbarian said:

This idea is batty.

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No Thirsty, if he hits it hard enough he may score a home run.

Just make sure you touch base, and don't run afoul of the mods.

K'Tesh said:

No Thirsty, if he hits it hard enough he may score a home run.

Just make sure you touch base, and don't run afoul of the mods.

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I've learned that when you are dealing with TRF mods, it's Three strikes, you're out!

Well, it's good to see you back on the field.

To the OP:

Even if the body of the bat was cracked (unlikely) you could always give it a wrap or two of fiberglass, and still salvage it. Perhaps as a design challenge you could put the motor up inside a "baseball" and/or use clear plastic fins to hide them when it comes time to launch.

Of course please do include photos of this, as we all like seeing the action (even if it's only an instant replay).

I'd advise giving it that extra wrap no matter what. Given that it is what's left after a traumatic disassembly, there could be latent defects.

How about turning the bat the other way around? Drill a hole in the end of the handle. Put one centering ring near one end of a motor mount tube, then insert it from the open end, but push it all the way down so the other end of the tube goes through the hole in the handle end. Then close off the barrel with a ball instead of a cone. You'd probably want to cut notches into the flange of the handle for fins, so you might as well extend those into TTW slots. I myself find clear fins cheesy, but that's personal; if it were me I'd display the fins prominently, saying "I turned this bat into a rocket" loud and proud. Then decorate the fins with baseball themed decals.

jqavins said:

I'd advise giving it that extra wrap no matter what. Given that it is what's left after a traumatic disassembly, there could be latent defects.

How about turning the bat the other way around? Drill a hole in the end of the handle. Put one centering ring near one end of a motor mount tube, then insert it from the open end, but push it all the way down so the other end of the tube goes through the hole in the handle end. Then close off the barrel with a ball instead of a cone. You'd probably want to cut notches into the flange of the handle for fins, so you might as well extend those into TTW slots. I myself find clear fins cheesy, but that's personal; if it were me I'd display the fins prominently, saying "I turned this bat into a rocket" loud and proud. Then decorate the fins with baseball themed decals.
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Isn't your pic a replication of an old Estes kit?

Is it? Great minds think alike, I guess. But this would be bigger, no doubt.

Just found this video on YouTube: [video=youtube;urmbJrfKl80]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urmbJrfKl80"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urmbJrfKl80[/video]

Has anyone ever flown one of these? It looks like the ball is loose on the endcap of the bat and the ejection charge blows it off - apparently creating a 'pop fly' to match the name of the rocket. Is that correct - is the ball not attached to the rocket/bat with a shock cord?

It is an interesting idea and may change up my thoughts on this project. And Joe you are correct; my version of this would be quite a bit bigger/heavier.

Off topic here, but please get that young'un a proper, wood bat. It's baseball.

Crash-n-Burn said:

Just found this video on YouTube: [video=youtube;urmbJrfKl80]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urmbJrfKl80"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urmbJrfKl80[/video]

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... And he knocks it out of the park! Home Run!

Crash-n-Burn said:

Just found this video on YouTube: [video=youtube;urmbJrfKl80]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urmbJrfKl80"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urmbJrfKl80[/video]

Has anyone ever flown one of these? It looks like the ball is loose on the endcap of the bat and the ejection charge blows it off - apparently creating a 'pop fly' to match the name of the rocket. Is that correct - is the ball not attached to the rocket/bat with a shock cord?

It is an interesting idea and may change up my thoughts on this project. And Joe you are correct; my version of this would be quite a bit bigger/heavier.

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Built and flown this (built is an overstatement, it pretty much is RTF.) Also my own football modification of it, https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?62920-Hail-Mary&highlight=football

The ball acts like a round nose cone. It is placed in a shallow depression in the forward end of the rocket (think Golf Tee.) There is NO attachment at all between the ball and the body of the rocket. However, the routing of the launch rod through the ball and the rocket is somewhat unique.

I have modified your drawing to show the path. It is the red line.


Notice it passes internal to the outer wall of the rocket body to intersect the ball. Does NOT have to go through the center of the ball.

The rod keeps ball on bat until the rocket gets up to speed, then air pressure keeps it in place for the flight. The original Estes Pop Fly and my Hail Mary both used foam balls as they are LPR birds. I guess you "could" use a baseball, a brief google search shows terminal velocity is 74 mph though. https://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/airfri2.html

Not sure that would fly at a NAR sanctioned launch!

Straight Trails!

That is great information, BABAR. Thanks a bunch. I agree that for safety reasons it makes sense to stick with Nerf-style balls - a real baseball could do some serious damage. In that Estes video it looked like that ball fired off in a wild direction and could easily be lost. I like the idea of adding a streamer as in your football version.

I have a drill press so drilling a Nerf ball wouldn't be a problem. I would drill oversize and glue a lug in the ball so it slides smoothly on the launch rod. The biggest challenge I see is drilling a hole through the tapered neck of the bat. That seems the key hole - everything else can be aligned with that one. Also seems pretty tricky without a decent jig to stabilize the bat.

you could always just glue a launch lug to the outside of the rocket, and to one of the fins (Think: EnerJet Egg Crate)... You still would need a hole in the "baseball" though.

A composite bat may be a bit on the heavy size, I'm sure with a large enough motor anything "Can" be converted to fly.

Been flying a wiffleball bat and ball Odd-Roc for many years that I call "Bat & Ball SCREAM" Fly's on a single D12 and the ball lights up with Red LED's for Night flights.

I'm sure a 13oz Composite bat could be hollowed out a little and converted fairly easily.

Crash-n-Burn said:

That is great information, BABAR. Thanks a bunch. I agree that for safety reasons it makes sense to stick with Nerf-style balls - a real baseball could do some serious damage. In that Estes video it looked like that ball fired off in a wild direction and could easily be lost. I like the idea of adding a streamer as in your football version.

I have a drill press so drilling a Nerf ball wouldn't be a problem. I would drill oversize and glue a lug in the ball so it slides smoothly on the launch rod. The biggest challenge I see is drilling a hole through the tapered neck of the bat. That seems the key hole - everything else can be aligned with that one. Also seems pretty tricky without a decent jig to stabilize the bat.

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Not a tool expert so not sure if my lingo or logic is correct.
?.?.. .? Use router or other tool to cut/dig a "trench" the location and length of your internal lug. BTW K'Tesh, external lug probably won't work as must intersect the Golf Tee depression and through the ball. Anyway, place your lug in the trench, then fill in or otherwise cover the trench to restore the original smooth outside contour of the bat.

Not sure if this would work, but an idea for thought.

Leave the handle on. Use it as the nose cone. Who ever said that the front end of a rocket needed to be pointy

Well I think I have a decision on what to do. I got really excited about jqavins and BABARs ideas on a modified Estes PopFly, but have realized that it won't work. Reason being that the ID of the handle of the bat can only accomodate a 18mm motor. There's no way this thing will fly on that power (I think the biggest 18mm is a D21?).

The alternate is to fly oriented like 455 suggested. Barrel down, handle up and modify the handle to act as a nose cone. I will probably cut the knob off the handle. I'm thinking rounded fins with a decal of a baseball on them. It will look like the bat is hitting a ball.

I am going to measure and order up some parts for the 29mm MMT. I will route my own fin slots and use plywood for fins. Of course the battery on my calipers just died but the barrel ID is ~ 2-1/16". Is that a standard size?

I also owe you all a picture or two, once I figure out how to get one to upload. Thanks to all for the help, you are a creative group with great ideas.

Crash-n-Burn said:

I also owe you all a picture or two, once I figure out how to get one to upload. Thanks to all for the help, you are a creative group with great ideas.

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The picture uploader is broken, you need to "Go Advanced" then upload the image there OR upload your images on flickr (it's FREE) and then paste the provided code into your post.

Crash-n-Burn said:

Well I think I have a decision on what to do. I got really excited about jqavins and BABARs ideas on a modified Estes PopFly, but have realized that it won't work. Reason being that the ID of the handle of the bat can only accomodate a 18mm motor. There's no way this thing will fly on that power (I think the biggest 18mm is a D21?).
.

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Not true
I built an ExoSkell (neat kit, pops up on EBay once in a while) and modified it to handle a 24 mm D engine by adding a booster like section mated to the native 18mm engine mount. See post #9 here
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?36956-Exo-Skell-build-thread&highlight=ExoSkell

You could put your clear fins on the "booster" section.

Emphasizing not telling you to do this. Will be a cool project no matter which way the bat flies! Just helping you keep your options open. You want REAAAALLLLY cool turn it sideways and make a mono copter out of it!:dark:

BABAR said:

Not true
I built an ExoSkell (neat kit, pops up on EBay once in a while) and modified it to handle a 24 mm D engine by adding a booster like section mated to the native 18mm engine mount. See post #9 here
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?36956-Exo-Skell-build-thread&highlight=ExoSkell

You could put your clear fins on the "booster" section.

Emphasizing not telling you to do this. Will be a cool project no matter which way the bat flies! Just helping you keep your options open. You want REAAAALLLLY cool turn it sideways and make a mono copter out of it!:dark:

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I just have images of that going and hitting someone upside the head...

Name suggestion: Slugger