Hey all..new here!

[Apollo18]

Hey everyone!
Just joined this forum hoping to get help and tips for my latest rocket project. looks like a very helpful place, so I'll ask a question or two now..hehe....first, heres my plan. The rocket im designing is going to be close to the Apollo Saturn V with mods to allow for a cluster engine booster of either 4 or 5 engines..(havent decided yet)..while being a 2 stage rocket (single engine on second stage for weight and reliability). Im purposly trying to make a little on the heavy side to make it lift off a slow as possable for extreme realism..and making it second stage to achive a decent altitude. I know..your all going to laugh at this project..lol I thought it was pretty hard myself until i did some research. My goal for the project is to Build a 2 stage Rocket with scale looks similar to that of a saturn V...but make alot of smoke and noise for a good show....and on top of it all, might be crazy enough to design a payload bay for carrying crap up there on the second stage.....So, Can it be done?? Ive been narrowing down the engine selection for the main booster to either using 4 E engines..or 5 D Engines...and a B engine for the second stage with the option of using a C engine for heavy payloads. So guys...can it be done??? Will ya help..hehe?? Thanks!

 

[BrnAgainRoc]

first off weclome to the forums bro. If theres anything you need help with let us know but iam sure someone will tell you that theres multiple discussions on this forums
you have high medium low powered rocketry threads. Low is A-D motor sizes, medium is E-G motor sizes and then High powered is anything larger than a H and up. So your post should be located in the low powered section area. Not being rude just letting ya know so you dont get rudely advised by others. But to get to ya clustering question. Yeah it can be done with the right directions and research. But imo go with a 4 cluster setup reason being itll have balanced lift off power when leaving the rod/rail although if you space the 5 engines right itll do the same thing, just muhc easier with 4.Plus its less motors ya gotta worry about not firing.As for making the lift off as realistic as possible might be a hard thing to accomplish. Ive seen alot of rockets build up pressure then take off but that was cause of the engine needing to builld up pressure to leave the pad itself.But iam sure someone else here can help ya just as much as i can.

 

[bobkrech]

If this is your first 2 stage cluster project, I would suggest a more modest effort.

Without high power certification, you can't fly 4 E9s in a rocket since you will be over the 125 gm large model rocket limit. You can fly 5 D12s and a C6 in a rocket, but you will have to send a large model rocket notification to the FAA since you'll be over the 112 gm model rocket limit.

You really don't want to make the rocket too heavy. If one or more engines fail to ignite, the rocket will crash. A single D12-0 will safely lift a 1.3 pound rocket off at a 4 G acceleration rate which is the lowest acceptable acceleration rate for a calm day.

I suggest you build a 2 stage cluster rocket with 3 D12-0s for the booster and 3 B6-4s for the second stage, and keep the total weight below 1 pound so you can fly it as a model rocket without FAA notification. Fly the second stage alone until you get the cluster ignition technique down, and then fly it as a two stage.

Bob Krech

 

[Apollo18]

Thanks for the heads up..I'll make sure to post in the right forum next time. No, this is not my first 2 stage deal, ive had one 3 stage before..but never done any cluster work. The engines would be set up in the same order as the real world saturn V with 4 engines around the 5th.but ill probably go with 4 as it will probably be tough enough getting 4 engines to light. As for the weight..I see your point...thanks for the heads up on FAA.
What engines wopuld I use that actually take time to build up thrust on the pad? That sounds like what im looking for...somehting that will sit there for a second and make lots of smoke and noise before lifting off..lol

 

[brianc]

Welcome to the forum!

Check out this project that I stumbled across the other day..

https://vernarockets.com/id1.html

Sounds similar to what you want to do.

GOOD LUCK! And post updates (with pics) as you progress.

 

[Apollo18]

WOW!!!!!!!!!Thats Exactly what I want to do....didn't think it could be done...Well, Theres what Im building! Thanks for the Link Brianc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gerbs4me]

Welcome to the Rocketry Forum!
this is the place to come for answers

 

[powderburner]

Originally posted by Apollo18
The rocket im designing is going to be close to the Apollo Saturn V with mods to allow for a cluster engine booster of either 4 or 5 engines..(havent decided yet)..while being a 2 stage rocket (single engine on second stage for weight and reliability).

Wow, that's pretty ambitious! I hope you can make it work the way you want

Instead of building 'heavy' to achieve the slow lift-off you want, may I suggest that you plan to build lighter and work with some simulation software to check out how your design would perform with a combination of C and D motors, or even D and E. There's no sense in deliberately building something heavy when you could just launch with smaller motors. And if your rocket accidentally gets too heavy, you won't be able to fly at all. bobkrech gave you a lot of good advice.

I can strongly recommend that you plan on a boilerplate version for preliminary testing. You will learn a lot that way, including how stable your specific design will be and how well the clustering and staging works.