lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
The Atlas-Able was a unique rocket, with a horrible track record. Three launches were made, all three were failures.
Here's a semi-scale version that uses the 1-1/2 stage concept, (2) booster motors and (1) sustainer, all of which fire at launch like the real thing did.
Estes BP motors are planned: (2) D12-3's in the boosters (canted) and (1) E12-4 as the sustainer. When the D12's eject, the booster will fall away from the sustainer and recover on it's own parachute. Seconds later the E12 will eject the sustainer parachute.
After stage separation occurs, the sustainer simulates as unstable.. but it won't be under power when staging occurs, and it will be at a high enough altitude as to not be a safety concern. The canted motors could be mounted slightly askew to induce spin during flight to add spin stability.... something to ponder.
I've also run simulations for other BP motors. The rocket could also be flown on composite motors, but I'm unsure as to if getting (4) to ignite at the same time would be feasible...
Sounds like a spectacular flight.
I just kind of visually threw together the model components into Open Rocket, just to see if the flight is feasible. I can later pull an actual photo of a real Atlas-Able into CAD to make the rocket proportions more to scale.
Thoughts?
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Here's the concept art that @Ez2cDave posted on this thread that sent me on this journey. The 1-1/2 stage concept is just too cool to not build a rocket that emulates it.
Here's a semi-scale version that uses the 1-1/2 stage concept, (2) booster motors and (1) sustainer, all of which fire at launch like the real thing did.
Estes BP motors are planned: (2) D12-3's in the boosters (canted) and (1) E12-4 as the sustainer. When the D12's eject, the booster will fall away from the sustainer and recover on it's own parachute. Seconds later the E12 will eject the sustainer parachute.
Or... if the fit between the booster and sustainer is a loose slip fit there's a good chance the booster will drag separate stage once the the booster motor thrust stops.
After stage separation occurs, the sustainer simulates as unstable.. but it won't be under power when staging occurs, and it will be at a high enough altitude as to not be a safety concern. The canted motors could be mounted slightly askew to induce spin during flight to add spin stability.... something to ponder.
I've also run simulations for other BP motors. The rocket could also be flown on composite motors, but I'm unsure as to if getting (4) to ignite at the same time would be feasible...
Sounds like a spectacular flight.
I just kind of visually threw together the model components into Open Rocket, just to see if the flight is feasible. I can later pull an actual photo of a real Atlas-Able into CAD to make the rocket proportions more to scale.
Thoughts?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here's the concept art that @Ez2cDave posted on this thread that sent me on this journey. The 1-1/2 stage concept is just too cool to not build a rocket that emulates it.
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There's the added complexity of getting (3) of them to ignite at the same time, and if that's overcome, additional altitude doesn't do anything but make the rocket so high up at staging that you can't really see what's happening from the ground. Plus... they cost more money.
