Rocket Induced Lightning!

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TopRamen

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I have seen it in the Past on Science Shows, and just barely on The Weather Channel Show, Strangest Weather On Earth.
Now, first, let me say that I have no Intention of building or attempting something like this, as I'm afraid of Lightning after one of my Friends was struck and killed by it while playing Softball.:(
The difference on this Show was that they had a part where you got a real good look at the Rocket and how it is designed/built.
That said, the Rocket is'nt anything special, and looked as if it was built as a 29mm Minimun Diameter, thus it could be built as a Model Rocket and not High Power.
Has anyone here ever done this? :confused:
I immagine that some of you have, as a College Experiment or some such Research Activity.
 
I used to work at the Natn'l Severe Storms Lab. I've read about several research projects carried out by either Florida U. or Florida State, involving rockets that had spools of thin copper wire located aft of the fins. When the ground level electrical charge was correct, a pneumatic system triggered an electrical igniter, launching the rocket. A lightning strike followed the copper wire back to the pad. Obviously, with the pad getting hit by the lightning, you don't want electrical conductors going back to the bunker you're hiding in, hence the pneumatic launch trigger.

A quick google search yields: https://www.lightning.ece.ufl.edu/ and https://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageplanet/03deadlyskies/02lresearch/indexmid.html you can find more...
 
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I have seen it in the Past on Science Shows, and just barely on The Weather Channel Show, Strangest Weather On Earth.
Now, first, let me say that I have no Intention of building or attempting something like this, as I'm afraid of Lightning after one of my Friends was struck and killed by it while playing Softball.:(
The difference on this Show was that they had a part where you got a real good look at the Rocket and how it is designed/built.
That said, the Rocket is'nt anything special, and looked as if it was built as a 29mm Minimun Diameter, thus it could be built as a Model Rocket and not High Power.
Has anyone here ever done this? :confused:
I immagine that some of you have, as a College Experiment or some such Research Activity.

Top,
As Sooner Boomer noted, there's a fair amount of lightning research conducted down this way -- out west of Jacksonville, FL (about 2 hours south of here). One of the flyers here (back in the 90s) - from SC - did some deals with them (he had a on-site traveling business in rocket stuff). Those folks were using a black powder rocket - something like an 'H' motor - that they bought from France for some ungodly sum (can't remember - but something like several hundred dollars per rocket (without the wire)). Our local dealer here was able to provide them with a composite based vehicle - like a G class that was vastly cheaper (and better - in terms of performance and altitude capability), which, as I last knew, they were switching over to.

He had one of the spools of wire that the vehicles trailed to induce the lightning strike in one of his visits here, so I got a good look at it -- basically, a 'ring fin' design (by trailing the wire behind like this, the rocket didn't have to 'lift' all the wire - just pay out - a smart design).

Interesting stuff.

-- john.
 
Top,
As Sooner Boomer noted, there's a fair amount of lightning research conducted down this way -- out west of Jacksonville, FL (about 2 hours south of here). One of the flyers here (back in the 90s) - from SC - did some deals with them (he had a on-site traveling business in rocket stuff). Those folks were using a black powder rocket - something like an 'H' motor - that they bought from France for some ungodly sum (can't remember - but something like several hundred dollars per rocket (without the wire)). Our local dealer here was able to provide them with a composite based vehicle - like a G class that was vastly cheaper (and better - in terms of performance and altitude capability), which, as I last knew, they were switching over to.

He had one of the spools of wire that the vehicles trailed to induce the lightning strike in one of his visits here, so I got a good look at it -- basically, a 'ring fin' design (by trailing the wire behind like this, the rocket didn't have to 'lift' all the wire - just pay out - a smart design).

Interesting stuff.

-- john.

Yeah, that is the design that I saw on the Show. There was basically a Ring, about 4"-5" Diameter that was mounted beneath the Fins, which were of D-Region Tomahawk Style. The thin Copper Wire was loosely bailed around the Ring.
 
I used to work at the Natn'l Severe Storms Lab. I've read about several research projects carried out by either Florida U. or Florida State, involving rockets that had spools of thin copper wire located aft of the fins. When the ground level electrical charge was correct, a pneumatic system triggered an electrical igniter, launching the rocket. A lightning strike followed the copper wire back to the pad. Obviously, with the pad getting hit by the lightning, you don't want electrical conductors going back to the bunker you're hiding in, hence the pneumatic launch trigger.

A quick google search yields: https://www.lightning.ece.ufl.edu/ and https://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageplanet/03deadlyskies/02lresearch/indexmid.html you can find more...

Thanks for the Links.
While it is totally outside the Realm of our Hobby, it does still use Rockets, which makes it cool and relevant.
 
On an episode of James May's "Man Lab" TV series, a group of people attempt to attract a lightning strike using a rocket. They did it safely with a remotely-operated launcher and following the advice of a real expert. But, they had a hard time. One reason is that in their part of England they had to chase storms and predict good spots for to launch from with enough time to set up the launch pad and rocket. I think repeats of the show are running on BBC America so you can look for the episode.

BTW, in Central Florida, where UF performs their experiments, there's no problem with being in the right spot for lightning much of the time.

-- Roger
 
This will be a great way to awaken the monster I am putting together from spare parts in my basement.
 
I've always wanted to make one of these, but too scared to actually attempt it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgurite

When I was young, a friend of mine would earn extra money by finding "petrified lightning" on the beach and selling them to local shops in Fort Walton Beach. He would go to the beach after a thunderstorm which was also a good time to look for driftwood, sand dollars, shells, and other interesting things that may have washed ashore.

I don't think he found very many fulgurites, but they sold for enough to make looking worthwhile to him. They are very cool. I only saw the small pieces he kept (though he told me he had found and sold much larger ones). They seemed rather fragile, so large ones are probably rare.

-- Roger
 
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