Candy Cane Rocket Scratch build

[KenECoyote]

Greetings Everyone!

There was recently a Candy Cane rocket thread in the Midpower forum that got me wanting to build one myself.

Holidays tend to get my creative juices flowing and even if they don't work out as planned, they are still a lot of fun and a great building exercise.

 

[KenECoyote]

The original CC thread was midpower, but I prefer these crazy scratchbuilds to be low power as a first test. This allows me to test it at my local park since I'm in the Northeast and my club is done for the season.

First thing... buy candy canes!

I found a nice variety for only $2-$3 and filled with candy no less!


The size is also close to bt50 (the clear tube slips over it nicely), which makes things easier imho.

 

[KenECoyote]

Here's some initial cutting and fitting.

A coupler or 24mm motor spacer fits into the nose well!

 

[KenECoyote]

I also picked up a larger white candy cane (it had Hersheys white peppermint kisses) and figured that it could be used for a bigger build if the smaller one works well.

Additionally, in the other CC thread, I had suggested canting the two side fins to account for the crook and I figured I could do some testing with this bigger candy cane.

(Flimsy rough fins, but I was short on time here.)

 

[KenECoyote]

A hand launched "flight test" video (I had a few really good throws, but couldn't capture it and throw well while recording).

View attachment 20231208_144537.mp4
I thought it was pretty good so far!

 

[KenECoyote]

So I still have a lot more to do as well as other in-progress projects, but I'll try to update as I progress.

My goal is yo have one or two built and launched by 12/25.

 

[Pinetree]

Fireball (the liquor, not the candy) is sold in candy cane shaped things around this time of year.. in case you need to upscale.

 

[KenECoyote]

Time for updates...

Work progressed at a feverish pace to get to the pre-Christmas launch window!

Angled motor mount:




Masked and painted the top (very rushed and sloppy job ) and added anchoring:



Added body tube stripe:


Epoxied on clear fins with two angled towards the top balance point (rushing this last night was a mess lol):

I also added a small bit of clay inside the crook to the top balance point just for good measure.

Ever hang your rocket to your range bag?

 

[KenECoyote]

Early this cold NY morning in a light drizzle:




Happy holidays everyone!

 

[cwbullet]

Very nice. I guess you put the motor to the side of the tube at the base because of the sharp of the nose cone. Looks like it made up for the cone shape well.

 

[neil_w]

Nice!

I admit I was dubious of the canted motor mount... how did it behave on ascent, I couldn't really see on the video?

 

[KenECoyote]

Very nice. I guess you put the motor to the side of the tube at the base because of the sharp of the nose cone. Looks like it made up for the cone shape well.

Thanks Chuck!

Everything (motor tube, fins, nose weight) was pretty much in line with the vertical balance point:

 

[KenECoyote]

Nice!

I admit I was dubious of the canted motor mount... how did it behave on ascent, I couldn't really see on the video?

Thanks Neil!

It flew very straight up!

Here's an inserted video which allows enlargement.

View attachment 20231224_081441.mp4

 

[KenECoyote]

Inside secret is that I had been thinking of a design like this for a while now.

One of my backburner/"One day" projects is to make an "umbrella rocket" with the curved handle and the recovery would be that the umbrella opens at apogee and floats down looking like a real umbrella

 

[BABAR]

Inside secret is that I had been thinking of a design like this for a while now.

One of my backburner/"One day" projects is to make an "umbrella rocket" with the curved handle and the recovery would be that the umbrella opens at apogee and floats down looking like a real umbrella

Congrats on the Cane! Like the umbrella idea. I‘ve tried something a bit like that with a rear blade hinge helicopter, without success yet. Something that maaaaay be useful in my learning curve, put the nose cone (or hook) on a long stiff piston, so that post deployment you reeaaaallly move the CG forward. It should help to orient the bird post deploy nose down.

you can also add a brunette Barbie doll to the nose and go for the Mary Poppins look (steal something from @Daddyisabar !)

 

[Daddyisabar]

All the crookedness balanced out the all the sin of the tiny motor. Just pop it up! Good job!

 

[teepot]

Great flight.

 

[Nv7]

Went a lot better than mine! Merry Christmas!

 

[KenECoyote]

Thanks Everyone!

 

[KenECoyote]

Here's a bit more detail on my thinking behind this....

So the rocket was in a way designed almost like a teardrop shaped rocket if you think about it.

So the fins, motor tube and nose weight all go in line with the central vertical axis.

The one tricky part is that the left side (dotted line area here) is a void and likely has a low pressure area almost like how base drag occurs.

How much? That calculation is beyond my ability, but I figured not that much. I also figured that in a build like this where I'm not aiming for precisely placed and exactly straight fins, there will likely be some rotation, which should counter the off-sided drag.

Additionally, I made the fins with a sort of rudder flexed into it so that if the rocket does veer to that void side on the first flight, I can adjust it so it flies straighter.

The rocket ended up flying straight enough (directly overhead and landing ~10 feet away) that I didn't need to adjust the fins at all.

I'll eventually launch this some more and start upscaling it as well as building an umbrella version when I get the chance.

 

[neil_w]

I suspect that, ultimately, as long as the fins are aligned with the motor, and the drag and mass aren't too far off center, it'll fly straight. I think you could probably have canted the fins and motor less and had equally good results... but can't be sure without a bunch of tedious experimentation.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory would "DO THE MATH!"

Guesswork and mindsiming are for Liberal Arts majors. But don't call Sheldon a Rocket Scientist!