Giant Squid Model Rocket

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I know I am a few weeks behind the curve up here...but this looks awesome!! I am afraid to ask what made you think of making a squid into rocket....I may enter some dark place..:dark:...but it is really cool...I even like the Gi Joe...or is it GI Tommy? even has a Lee Enfield rifle...very nice touch!

Pem Tech said:
OH! I am so jealous! Been wanting to do this with a stuffed squid.
Excellent work and the GI Joe is a nice touch.
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The WWI Black Watch soldier is an old one from Sideshow Toys. There have been other squid rockets and it fit well flying on a three motor, mid canted mount, with the fins in the wrong place and silly streamers to boot.
 
Nice project!

There was someone in our club a year ago, who had a similar trailing plastic strip device for a ghost around Halloween time. The device worked pretty good, too.
 
aerostadt said:
Nice project!

There was someone in our club a year ago, who had a similar trailing plastic strip device for a ghost around Halloween time. The device worked pretty good, too.
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That would be cool to see.

For Halloween I am doing one of those skulls and the twisty spinal cord with three tractor motors glued into a crown or head dress of some sort. Also working on a New York Central stream lined style steam locomotive with the rest of the train following it up, mid canted like the squid.
 
awesome flight Daddy! I agree...your builds are always fantastic...as well as your commentary regarding them...from the Hauptmann Kitty to the Black Watch soldier standing guard!
 
NJRick said:
awesome flight Daddy! I agree...your builds are always fantastic...as well as your commentary regarding them...from the Hauptmann Kitty to the Black Watch soldier standing guard!
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As for the squid rocket the Hauptmann just views it as another kitty toy, those tape tentacles being irresistible to bat at. He also thinks it should be accompanied with his favorite stinky dinner: Friskies Buffet - Captain's choice.
 
This is about as far as I would push this concept. Those outrageously big fins up front really didn't like when the motors burned out a split second apart, leading to some squirmy flying on the coast until the inertia from Mr. Nose Weight got her righted again. A more organic flight profile I will call it, yeah, I meant to do that. A good looker but only for calm days. Hacking down those fins would help the CP on this squid, lessen nose weight requirements and some E 12's would add more pep making the deployment at apogee instead of a bit over as was the case with the E9's.

P.S. And the LCO was very naughty with the Launch Lingo 3-2-1 FIRE! We all know it should be 5-4-3-2-1-START!:)
 
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Rob Campbell said:
How about a 98mm motor version. For tentacles, you could swipe a few spools of power cables from your local electric utility company!
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To fly this odd roc I had to get a T.U.B.O. (Temporary Un-Banning Order) from the Commissar, who is our Level Three Master of Ceremonies. He said he was not scared of the Squid, but would be if it was high power flying on three N motors. On the real high power Giant Squid you could even have suction cups and luminescence for night launching.
 
Sub Zero wind chill did not stop the Squid training at a top secret location.

Squid Rocket 1.jpgSquid rocket 2.jpg

Seven Certified levels of supervision here working out launch controller problems. The temperature is plummeting, the winds are picking up, we must launch it soon!

Squid Photo 5.jpgSquid rocket 4.jpg

Even with freshly lost tentacles lying about the launching continues at a fervent pace.
 
Good until the motors burn out a tad bit apart, then a bit of organic flying but still going up. Even in the cold it lands under chute. Good ejection charge blast from three motors but who needs them. The cold nose cone was loose so it drag separated on the way down.
 
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It flew about the same in calm and 5 mph winds on the second flight. a little lower in the cold, dense air. I was wondering if its flight characteristics after burn out might have a stability factor as well. As those mid canted motors burn they have a less positive effect on CG as motors usually do when they are placed where they should be - on the bottom of the rocket. As they burn out the rocket is also loosing the positive effect of the "flame fin action" from the mid canted motors, or maybe that effect is another one of my mind sim dreams. The two really big canards up front are not helping the issue, but it seems to want to straighten back out again and go into a flat spin on decent until deployment happens. This one could use some E9-2's. I'm sure there is some hard science that would explain it from someone who really knows what they were doing, but in the meantime I kinda like how it flies. It looks very squidy in the air and gets good laughs, and isn't that what flying an oddroc is all about?
 
The squid flew for the third time today. Ho hum, Kid tested, mother approved. Chute tangled a bit so it will need repair on the unreinforced top end of the tube that takes a real beating from the ejection charges. After three launches two tentacles remain relatively unscathed, but I am going to replace the whole lot with new ones when it flies again. Same flight pattern as first two flights, doing a dance in the air after motor burn outs. Some say it is looking for fish.
 
I think the dance after burn out just fits the rocket.
For tenticles, is there a light weight tubing like kevlar you could use?
Make 2 extra long with a button or something shoved in the end for wide flat part?
Really like the build, nice show of inventivness, thinking outside the box.
 
Woody's Workshop said:
I think the dance after burn out just fits the rocket.
For tenticles, is there a light weight tubing like kevlar you could use?
Make 2 extra long with a button or something shoved in the end for wide flat part?
Really like the build, nice show of inventivness, thinking outside the box.
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Thanks! Kevlar would be more heat resistant.
 
Flight number five a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to Paul for the video. Just a tad too much wind I guess. Like the CHI-COMS like to say it may have started out straight but caught an unfortunate gust of wind, causing it to veer horizontal and crash. At least a whole village was not destroyed. Let that be a lesson learned the hard way. Putting the fins up front might look cool but it can bite. Tentacles uniformly heat damaged. Ejection charges fried single layer of upper tube holding shoulder of cone.

[video]https://youtu.be/QS_a7AGy13g[/video]
 
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rstaff3 said:
Is it fixable?
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Yes. On one side it just burned the inside and cracked open the front end of the tube. One minute with some CA and accelerator and it was good to go again. But after such a terrible flight it can not get a redemption pad assignment until totally calm weather, snow covered ground and a few, yet experienced and certified observers. Not all it was Krackened up to be.
 

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