Square rocket!

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Rokitman88

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Work is slow so am looking for new projects. I saw this square rocket kit on the internet and it gave me the idea to scratch build one! While waiting for my tubing to arrive to repair my PML Intruder, I'm heading for the crafts store to get some material for the fins and see if they have any square tubing. If not I was thinking of using the boxes that alumunum foil comes in! I have some 38MM coupler tubing which would be perfect to re-inforce the air frame and have just enough tubing to make the motor mount. Gonna fly it on Estes E-9. I'll keep you posted!
 
Work is slow so am looking for new projects. I saw this square rocket kit on the internet and it gave me the idea to scratch build one! While waiting for my tubing to arrive to repair my PML Intruder, I'm heading for the crafts store to get some material for the fins and see if they have any square tubing. If not I was thinking of using the boxes that alumunum foil comes in! I have some 38MM coupler tubing which would be perfect to re-inforce the air frame and have just enough tubing to make the motor mount. Gonna fly it on Estes E-9. I'll keep you posted!


I published the plans for an all-square rocket back in 1984. Take a look at pg 16 of this old club newsletter:
https://www.spaar.org/Archives/Newsletters/1992-MayJun-Vol5-Issue3.pdf

These plans called for an 18mm motor mount, but it should be easy to do a 2x upscale of the patterns.

Back in the 1970s, when I was high school student with very little money, I did a lot of experimentation with using folded poster board as building materials. It was really cheap and thus I could save my yard care earnings to pay for motors. The original Infinite Square contained no commercial parts (other than the recovery system) - I "rolled my own" so to speak.
 
Here's my design of a square rocket made all out of basswood except for the mmt, parachute and shock cord called "And What Not". It's about 17" tall and about 1.5" square and flies on C11-3, D12-3 and D12-5. I have kitted it up in the past and sold them at local club launches. :)

and what not.jpg

and what not in flight.jpg
 
I published the plans for an all-square rocket back in 1984. Take a look at pg 16 of this old club newsletter:
https://www.spaar.org/Archives/Newsletters/1992-MayJun-Vol5-Issue3.pdf

These plans called for an 18mm motor mount, but it should be easy to do a 2x upscale of the patterns.

Back in the 1970s, when I was high school student with very little money, I did a lot of experimentation with using folded poster board as building materials. It was really cheap and thus I could save my yard care earnings to pay for motors. The original Infinite Square contained no commercial parts (other than the recovery system) - I "rolled my own" so to speak.

Lawrence,

You know that just begs to be upscaled for at least 29mm! :D
 
I published the plans for an all-square rocket back in 1984. Take a look at pg 16 of this old club newsletter:
https://www.spaar.org/Archives/Newsletters/1992-MayJun-Vol5-Issue3.pdf

These plans called for an 18mm motor mount, but it should be easy to do a 2x upscale of the patterns.

Back in the 1970s, when I was high school student with very little money, I did a lot of experimentation with using folded poster board as building materials. It was really cheap and thus I could save my yard care earnings to pay for motors. The original Infinite Square contained no commercial parts (other than the recovery system) - I "rolled my own" so to speak.

Do you have this rocket in storage? I never got to see it.
 
Okay I am kicking myself over never thinking about using a empty foil or plastic wrap box as a hull. For the one square rocket that I built, I folded cardstock around a square dowel and was able to get a shell that could be mounted onto a round hull. My setup was for an 18mm motor and used 8.5x11 sheets of card stock. If you want more details on my build, you can check out my blog post about it here.

sq2.jpg

finished.jpg
 
Okay I am kicking myself over never thinking about using a empty foil or plastic wrap box as a hull. For the one square rocket that I built, I folded cardstock around a square dowel and was able to get a shell that could be mounted onto a round hull. My setup was for an 18mm motor and used 8.5x11 sheets of card stock. If you want more details on my build, you can check out my blog post about it here.

Call it pure laziness on my part for using the boxes, lol! I like to keep it simple when scratch building and use what I have on hand as much as possoble. The cool thing here is that the boxes were of different manufacture and one was slightly smaller than the other. I was able to slide one inside the other a couple of inches ........instant coupler! This made the airframe 20" long and with the nosecone it's 28" total.I glued the elastic shock cord to the outside of the round tubing, cut a small slot in the tube and ran the cord inside the tube well away from the ejection charge so to reduce burning. I have glued the round tube inside the square tube and it greatly strenghthens the whole thing. I made the fins and centering rings out of 3/16 basswood. A little overkill for the fins but I hate repairing broken fins! I cut slots in the outer tubing so I can glue the fins onto the inner tube and filet onto the outer skin. I'll use automotive glazing putty to to shape things up and make things more symetrical on the outside. I'm using epoxy on the high stress areas like the fins and centering rings but used good old Elmers on the rest! I have to go back to work tomorrow so I probably wont finish it in time for the ROC launch this weekend. So far this project has only cost me $3.
 
It probably wouldn't be too hard to build a 3- or 4- sided triangular/rectangular rocket with the interlocking fin design of the FlisKits Jig-Tech series. It would look something like the Washington Monument with fins.

The toughest part probably would be building the nose piece so it fit properly in the rocket body. You would have to cut and glue to pretty close tolerances to have that thing fit in there without rattling around (or too tight to pop the top at ejection).
 
Here's my design of a square rocket made all out of basswood except for the mmt, parachute and shock cord called "And What Not". It's about 17" tall and about 1.5" square and flies on C11-3, D12-3 and D12-5. I have kitted it up in the past and sold them at local club launches. :)

That looks awesome! How did you make the nose cone?
 
yrs ago I built and flew a alunimum foil box rocket and just used the flat end as the nosecone. it flew straight on F-39 reloads
 
That is one of the questions I get most, "do you have square engines?". This past summer at NARAM 53 this question came up during my portion of the Manufacturers Forum and the funny thing was that Gary Rosenfield of AeroTech said he could make me square motors. It would be fun but, not very cost effective for me at this time.
 
That looks awesome! How did you make the nose cone?

Square Nose Cones (technically "Nose Pyramids") are fairly easy to make if you don't mind having a "flange" overhanging the body of the rocket. I cut mine out of poster paper to use them on my helicopter rockets. Would not be difficult to add a "shoulder" on the inside to fit whatever tube you need. Being made of paper, they are obviously very light, so you will have to manually add some additional mass if your design has CG/CP issues. The base of the isosceles triangle has to be just a tad wider than the width of the side of the tube. The length of the "flange" is optional.

View attachment Square Nose Cone2.bmp
 
This was my Anti-Vampire Missile - a rocket-propelled wooden stake.

Actually it was a cardboard rocket with balsa panels glued to the sides and a nose made from balsa triangles, all the woodwork being finished with wood stain. It had space for a parachute, but on one occasion the parachute didn't come out, which is why all the above is in the past tense!

VAMPIRE.JPG
 
You square rocket fans seem a little 'nerdy' :)

I built this about ten years ago. It flew on an 'F'.

I think they quit making the drawing mailers. If memory serves me, it took three to make it including the fins, bulkheads etc.

It was a lot of fun and still gets comments when people come by my house.

Scott

photo1.jpg
 
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Finished my square rocket but now I have to wait a couple of months to test fly it. It weighed in at 9 oz. It aint the pertiest thang you've ever seen but I built it stout. Now I have to think of a name for it. I was thinking of "Square Root" but that almost implies something under the ground which I hope wont happen! Any ideas?
 
Finally got to fly my little square masterpiece and could not be more pleased. On an Estes E 9 it flew straight as an arrow and successful recovery. Wonder if I could get a full sized coffin to fly...............
 
Finally got to fly my little square masterpiece and could not be more pleased. On an Estes E 9 it flew straight as an arrow and successful recovery. Wonder if I could get a full sized coffin to fly...............

Ky Michaelson did - sort of.
 
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