With the Blast Deflector resting right on the tripod, which is plastic, wouldn't the tripod melt?
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Thanks, Rob.
No. The thermal plume is typically so brief that the plastic never gets near its transition temperature. Especially so if you use a good standoff distance from the plate.
If possible, I would strongly recommend that you remove the tripod head and utilize the mounting screw that might be hiding beneath. Better tripods are configured to allow the use of different heads, and use either 1/4"-20 (good) or 3/8"-16 (better) threads for this purpose. There's an article on the subject to be found on the NAR website at:
https://www.nar.org/contest-flying/fai-spacemodeling/construction-techniques/tower-launchers/
Hope this helps,
James
If it is a good tripod I would not use it for launching rockets with or without the head.
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