ThirstyBarbarian
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I had my MDRM with the fin pods at a launch recently, and a lot of people asked me if there were outboard motors in the pods. There aren't, but someday I would like to make a rocket with that design. I had a few discussions with different people about strategies for lighting such a cluster, and probably the best way to do it would be using an airstart --- get the rocket up and moving fast on a single central motor then airstart the outboards once it is going. You would probably also need to do an electronic deployment, so in case the outboards did not light, you could still have deployment at apogee.
That makes for a more complex rocket with electronic airstarts and electronic deployment. One person suggested just designing the pod motors for effect, and not really using them to propel the rocket. And one thing he suggested would be to use zero-delay black powder booster motors, and insert them into the mount backward and light them from the non-nozzle end. That way you would get smoke and flame from the pods, but the thrust would be almost zero, so the pod motors would not have a chance of disrupting the flight if they didn't light properly. You could light everything on the pad, and you could still use motor ejection. It would make things much simpler and still look cool.
First, would such a use of a motor be in violation of safety code or illegal? Second, if it is not in violation, then would it work? Also, if the central motor did not light and the outboards did, would the rocket be burned by the outboards?
That makes for a more complex rocket with electronic airstarts and electronic deployment. One person suggested just designing the pod motors for effect, and not really using them to propel the rocket. And one thing he suggested would be to use zero-delay black powder booster motors, and insert them into the mount backward and light them from the non-nozzle end. That way you would get smoke and flame from the pods, but the thrust would be almost zero, so the pod motors would not have a chance of disrupting the flight if they didn't light properly. You could light everything on the pad, and you could still use motor ejection. It would make things much simpler and still look cool.
First, would such a use of a motor be in violation of safety code or illegal? Second, if it is not in violation, then would it work? Also, if the central motor did not light and the outboards did, would the rocket be burned by the outboards?