ISP or FX?

What is your preference?

Just a little poll as to whether you like performance or colored flames or FX?

For me I like Performance mostly, with a hint of color from time to time.


JD

If it burns, and makes a rocket go, its COOL.
Colors are nice, but so is a rocket ripping off the pad.

Density ISP. In other words, how much total oomph I can stick in a case. That is not the same as ISP.

Gerald

I like a strong motors like the AT Warp9, but my favorites are the White Lightnings. Kick it in the a$$ but look good doing it!

Prettyness, performance, and what the trust curves are like all factor

It depends. If I really feel like stretching my eyesight or if it's an especially calm day I'll always choose isp and altitude over effects. But if it's a day with more wind or it's the first flight of a rocket or I just want a cool looking flight then effects are more desirable

White Thunder is my favorite. But big Skids are unbelievable. And big White Lightning motors can't be beat. And I really like the M2400T/M2500T because Blue Thunder has that nice scream. So I voted option 4... just fly it!

I like to kick rockets in the ass. That being said, I am not a huge fan of super short warp or vmax type motors. I usually look for higher thrust with an actual burn time. That being said, I really like the Mojave green from AT and the White Thunder from CTI.

That being said, I am not a fan or sparkies.


Mark Koelsch
Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

Depends on what's flying. Skids are amazing on those low n slow flight but are wasted on MDs. Vice versa with an ISP based propellant.

Alex

High ISP, everything else is fireworks.

M

AndyC said:

If it burns, and makes a rocket go, its COOL.
Colors are nice, but so is a rocket ripping off the pad.

Click to expand...

Yeah, what he said...

Though I do have to admit that sparky motors are beginning to bore me. They were cool at first, now just kind of pedestrian.

I went with FX. For me most of the fun is over with at motor burnout. What fun is it seeing nothing after sending one out of sight? I like to stick with around 1000 ft. per inch of dia. for flights. Low & slow for me. Even if I had a desert to launch in, I'd rather launch 10 to 5,000ft. than 1 to 50,0000 ft. and spend hours trying to retrieve it.

Aksrockets said:

Depends on what's flying. Skids are amazing on those low n slow flight but are wasted on MDs. Vice versa with an ISP based propellant.

Alex

Click to expand...

My opposition to skids is more from a fire safety standpoint.



Mark Koelsch
Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

I used to want sparkies, but decided I liked the red flame propellants better... now I am pretty much looking for varying performance that efficiently would not chew up your hardware and nozzles. So I have settled to at hybrids all over again.

I will usually look at ISP, but it really depends on what I'm flying. It is hard to pass up a good Skidmark flight, though. Especially if you can cluster them. Phil L.

It used to be either color or ISP,,,
According to the rocket and intended flight......
but since I've become more interested in photography
I like a nice metal storm..............

Teddy

I like them all, but I am not a fan of sparkies, not so much because of ground fires which aren't really an issue up here, but because of the extra pitting etc to the launch rails. I am into rockets, not fireworks, (which I have heard visitors comment that the "big rockets look like" when powered by sparkies).
I can think of better uses for Mg propellant wise..
In the end it's different strokes for different folks ,which is what makes our hobby so interesting!

I rarely select the motor based on the flame - typically I select it based on the performance I want at that moment due to conditions. Sometimes that means a colored flame or a sparky vs. a higher ISP. On a few saucers and smaller rockets I like a G69 Skid because it SOUNDS bigger than it is and the performance is within reason for the smaller rockets vs. a more efficient G - probably I could fly the same rocket on a high ISP F but it wouldn't get as much attention next to the bigger rockets... LOL

I also want to play with Hybrids but the opportunity just hasn't presented itself.

Nothing beats a Skidmark. Unless of course you have to reach a specific altitude for an academic project. I've done one rocket where my advisor cared neither about effects or Isp, rather the thrust curve shape. That's actually a really important performance measure, too.

daveyfire said:

White Thunder is my favorite. But big Skids are unbelievable. And big White Lightning motors can't be beat. And I really like the M2400T/M2500T because Blue Thunder has that nice scream. So I voted option 4... just fly it!

Click to expand...

No surprise there! :wink:

I like the spectacle and excitement of a rocket launch, so I picked FX. I like to see the rocket in flight, so I don't really need or want it to go too fast. I enjoy watching the deployment, so I do not need or want it to be too high at apogee. A good smoke trail makes the rocket easier to see and track, so I like that. Colored flame and other effects are cool to watch. I'd rather launch a large rocket to 1,000 feet on a pillar of smoke and fire than teleport a small rocket out of site.

I think if I were more into the engineering and performance side of rocketry, working with electronics, dual deployment, trackers, etc. then ISP would mean more to me, but I'm not into that yet. Probably my first foray into electronics will be with air-starts --- again, for spectacle and excitement, not performance.

ISP is it's own FX.