Applewhite - Max Q Cluster Beta Test

[JAL3]

Some time back, several people were kind enough to send me a few kits to try out...right about the time work got intense and I had to duck out for a while. A little got done on each of them but I have only been able to resume building in the last few days.

The first of the Beta queue is Art Applewhit'e Max Q Cluster. Since its from Art, it is odd and follows a minimalist approach but it is also interesting in its simple approach to a very versitle cluster rocket. I also have very little fear of losing this one.

Art has cleared me to release info on this one so here it goes...

[JAL3]

Construction begins by gluing the launch lug to the inside of the motor mount. Yes, that's right, to the inside. The lug should be flush with the bottom of the mount and will protrude over the top by about 1/2".

[JAL3]

Next comes the thrust ring. It is a short length of tubing with a slot cut out of it. It is glued to the inside of the forward end of the motor mount with the slot aligned to accomodate the launch lug. The thrust ring should protrude from the tope of the mount by 1/2" just like the launch lug. After everything was glued into place with white glue, white glue filleting was added to all the joints.

[JAL3]

As the motor mount was set aside to dry, attention was turned to the body.

The kit came with a square of 1/2" foam board. Mounted on one side of the foam board was a template of two concentric circles.

[JAL3]

An X-acto was used to cut the outer circle. I found it best to insert the blade along the line to penetrate all the way keeping it plumb the whole time. I then removed the blade and inserted it about an inch further along the line. The blade was then rocked gently back and forth along the line until the cut met up with the previous one. The blade was then inserted another inch along the way and the process repeated until the entire outer line was cut away.

[JAL3]

The process was then repeated to remove the inner circle.

That's it. That mostly completes the body of the rocket although it still needed a little bit of cleaning up.

[JAL3]

Its bedtime for Bonzo, and me too.

[MarkII]

OK, I'm totally guessing here - Delta Saucer-shaped cluster rocket?

[Pantherjon]

Interesting...And having the launch lug INSIDE the motor mount...hmmmm...

Looking forward to seeing more of this..

[MarkII]

Placing the lug inside the motor mount makes sense if:

1. the top of the airframe is open
2. the motor mount is a holder for a cluster of motor tubes

Time will tell.

[JAL3]

OK, I'm totally guessing here - Delta Saucer-shaped cluster rocket?

Nope. You're over complicating things.

[JAL3]

Interesting...And having the launch lug INSIDE the motor mount...hmmmm...

Looking forward to seeing more of this..

What's really interesting is that along with the lug, there are also 13 motor tubes.

[JAL3]

The cluster configuration I started out with was the 13mm version. It features 7 motor tubes.

[JAL3]

6 of the tubes were glued together in parallel pairs leaving the 7th alone for the time being.

[JAL3]

The 18mm cluster mount has only 4 tubes.

[JAL3]

These too were glued together in 2 parallel pairs.

[JAL3]

For 24mm, there are only 2 tubes.

[JAL3]

As with the previous ones, these two were also glued into a pair.

[JAL3]

By this time, the 18mm tube pairs had stiffened somewhat and I was able to glue the 2 pair together to form one set of 4.

[JAL3]

The singleton of the 13mm tubes was glued along the seam of one of the 3 13mm pairs to form a triplet.

[MarkII]

Nope. You're over complicating things.

A flat plate, then? Or, OMG, a cylinder? (OK, where is Scraps?)

[JAL3]

A flat plate, then? Or, OMG, a cylinder? (OK, where is Scraps?)

You're on the right track.

[MarkII]

You're on the right track.

Oh, of course, a spool! Duh!

Wow, a cluster spool?

[JAL3]

Oh, of course, a spool! Duh!

Wow, a cluster spool?

You're overdoing it again.

[Peartree]

Some kind of flying doughnut?

[JAL3]

Some kind of flying doughnut?

You guys have missed the 2 most obvious clues:

1. Art Applewhite designed it

2. If you wanted the worst Reynolds number you could get, max Q, what shape would you be pushing through the air?

[MarkII]

You guys have missed the 2 most obvious clues:

1. Art Applewhite designed it

2. If you wanted the worst Reynolds number you could get, max Q, what shape would you be pushing through the air?

1. Art has designed spools before.
2. I had previously offered a flat plate as a guess.

What is it designed to do, produce a Prandtl–Glauert singularity?

I'd like to see a Cluster Cinco, BTW. I really like that design.

EDIT: Wait, a flying piston?

[JAL3]

1. Art has designed spools before.
2. I had previously offered a flat plate as a guess.

What is it designed to do, produce a Prandtl–Glauert singularity?

I'd like to see a Cluster Cinco, BTW. I really like that design.

EDIT: Wait, a flying piston?

Art has indeed done spools. In fact, I saw him testing a nasty brute of one just a few weeks ago...but I can't say more than that right now.

I must have missed your flat plate guess. That goes a long way but really misses the point with this one. Its not so exciting to look at the basic rocket; its the options that make this one interesting. A 29, 2x24, 4x18 and 7x13 covers a lot of ground.

I was interested in clusters right from the start and several of my earliest rockets were clusters. They don't get much of a workout, though, because htey tend to go way up and I lose them. I rather suspect that even if I load this one to the max, I will be able to observe it really well at all stages of flight.

Then there's the added benefit of the really interesting effects it should have on the space-time continuum as it generates the singularities you guessed about as well.

[JAL3]

Both the inner and the outer edges of the disk were a bit rough when I got them cut out. I tried to regularize both edges with some sanding. In the case of the central hole, it had to be done in brief stages so that I could continually test fit the motor mount.

[JAL3]

When I was satisfied with the fit of the motor mount in the hole, I smeared white glue around the outside of the thrust ring, the part that extends above the mount, and then inserted it into the central hole.