Is This NAR Sanctioned?

[Gym_Class_Hero]

I was going to make a bottle-rocket style, min-diameter 18mm rocket. I plan to pack it with nose weight to make it stable.

NAR Sanctioned?

 

[boris katan]

The long stick hanging off the back should make it stable, the engine itself becomes the nose weight. Put a streamer in a tiny nose section and the RSO may be satisfied.

 

[adrian]

I was going to make a bottle-rocket style, min-diameter 18mm rocket. I plan to pack it with nose weight to make it stable.

NAR Sanctioned?

You can even make it a scale model. Here's my Congreve artillery rocket, which matches your description exactly.

I did add some nose weight to make sure it stayed stable after the propellant had burned out. There's not much room for a streamer, but a small one just about fits in with some Quest wadding (Estes stuff is too thick and won't fit with the streamer). The nose cone has no shoulder; rather, it has a sleeve which fits over the body tube, leaving more room inside for the streamer.

More recently, I saw the full scale model on display in the museum at the Völkerschlachtsdenkmal, Leipzig. I'll need to build a more detailed model now...

 

[DaveCombs]

You should be fine, because you're sticking to the code:
> No metal structural parts
> With streamer recovery (although you could make the argument for tumble recovery, if the rocket wasn't stable once the motor burned out - otherwise you get ballistic recovery)
> Within the weight limit
> Using electrically ignited, certified, unmodified, commercially-produced motors
> Launched from an appropriate rod or launch tower
> In a safe and appropriately-sized field

 

[jj94]

I was also thinking about making a few of these bottle rocket type rockets just for fun. I was planning on using wood dowels, but I'm not sure how much charring I should expect on the dowels from the motor. To those who have made and flown these, how bad is the burning of the dowels?

 

[Atlantis v2.0]

You can even make it a scale model. Here's my Congreve artillery rocket, which matches your description exactly.

I did add some nose weight to make sure it stayed stable after the propellant had burned out. There's not much room for a streamer, but a small one just about fits in with some Quest wadding (Estes stuff is too thick and won't fit with the streamer). The nose cone has no shoulder; rather, it has a sleeve which fits over the body tube, leaving more room inside for the streamer.

More recently, I saw the full scale model on display in the museum at the Völkerschlachtsdenkmal, Leipzig. I'll need to build a more detailed model now...

"...and the rocket's red glare and bombs bursting in air..."

 

[Rocketry nut]

It's perfectly safe. I saw a guy at our club last weekend launch a sky rocket with a C6-5. It flew well and came down with a 12in chute.

 

[adrian]

I was also thinking about making a few of these bottle rocket type rockets just for fun. I was planning on using wood dowels, but I'm not sure how much charring I should expect on the dowels from the motor. To those who have made and flown these, how bad is the burning of the dowels?

The dowel on my Congreve didn't burn, or even char. Mind you, the real Congreve has its stick secured in place by rings around the body and stick, so I made similar rings. Before launch, a piece of tape is wrapped round the stick near each ring, to prevent the stick from moving during flight. So if the stick does get charred (or broken by landing on a hard surface), it can be replaced.

And yes - when Americans sing their national anthem and get to the line about "rocket's red glare", this is the rocket they're singing about.

 

[jj94]

The dowel on my Congreve didn't burn, or even char. Mind you, the real Congreve has its stick secured in place by rings around the body and stick, so I made similar rings. Before launch, a piece of tape is wrapped round the stick near each ring, to prevent the stick from moving during flight. So if the stick does get charred (or broken by landing on a hard surface), it can be replaced.

And yes - when Americans sing their national anthem and get to the line about "rocket's red glare", this is the rocket they're singing about.

Is your Congreve minimum diameter?

 

[adrian]

Yes. That's why I can't get much of a streamer in there, even with the nose cone sliding over the outside of the body tube.

It doesn't have a launch lug. The only place to put such a lug would be on the body, which would put the lug right near the top of the launch rod. Instead, I tape a long brass tube to the launch rod and put the stick into that - effectively the launcher becomes the lug while the rocket carries its own launch rod. Or, looking at it another way, the tube is a very thin, very long bottle.

That's a B6-2 in there. I once launched a model Congreve with a C6. It probably landed somewhere, although there is no physical evidence to prove it. So the one in the photo is the second model, which has never been up on anything bigger than a B, which is why I still have it.