What is a 'sparky' motor

[bschultz32]

"Sparky Motors are a landowners nightmare" - you got that right. Sparky motors are a field-fire debacle waiting to happen. I’ve witnessed several. A landowner willing to allow high power rocket launching on his property is a rare and precious thing; the last thing you want to do is jeopardize that relationship. That’s why I made my decision: I will never fly a sparky unless it’s in a desert. Some place like Black Rock or Lucerne Dry Lake with no combustibles present. To do otherwise is foolhardy.

 

[n3tjm]

I personally never started a fire with a sparky motor... However... I have started fires with regular motors. Fire at the pad with an Estes D12 and another one with a J357 White Wolf.

Back in the early days of certified (I know there was some earlier but they were never certified) sparkies, there was no certified G motor sparkies, the smallest was the AMW I315 Skidmark (I still have one or two of them), I wanted a G motor sparky. So I came up with what tested to be a G54. Two short grains (like what loki was doing to make their H144 and I405 USPS shippable), provided a Regressive burn which on the test stand provided a Total Impulse of around 83 and average thrust of 54. Perfect. Flew several of them.



Shortly after that flight CTI certified their Skids and I had to get my hands on a G69 to try out


Just for fun I thought I share this static fire of a 54mm I sparky I was working on. Never flew this one


Although I did fly its larger brother, the J300


Largest Sparky I have flown was the K540M

 

[ksaves2]

"Sparky Motors are a landowners nightmare" - you got that right. Sparky motors are a field-fire debacle waiting to happen. I’ve witnessed several. A landowner willing to allow high power rocket launching on his property is a rare and precious thing; the last thing you want to do is jeopardize that relationship. That’s why I made my decision: I will never fly a sparky unless it’s in a desert. Some place like Black Rock or Lucerne Dry Lake with no combustibles present. To do otherwise is foolhardy.

Agreed. When I was in an active TRA Prefecture we flew out of a no till corn field. We were prepared with 6 pressure water fire extinguishers. After the second launch fire both of which we got under control at different launches, Prefect outlawed sparkies. I agreed with that. The extinguishers were just plain heavy to lug around but we always kept a couple at a launch. I recall we didn't have a problem after that.
I do remember attending a couple major launches where they had a large farm tractor towing a large high pressure water tank and nozzle hose. If there was a fire, the driver would get out there fast and kill the fire. At another launch there was an access road close to the pads and the local volunteer fire department stationed a tanker truck with hoses some distance away but they could get to the pads in a flash. They had a few fires to deal with too. The firemen enjoyed watching the launch and said, "The fires were good practice for us."

I have seen a couple of huge corn stubble fires but didn't have anything to do with rockets. Probably someone tossed a lit cigarette out of a car. Looked
like several departments were battling the blaze both times. Probably took awhile before anyone noticed the fires. Kurt

 

[loopy]

"Sparky Motors are a landowners nightmare" - you got that right. Sparky motors are a field-fire debacle waiting to happen. I’ve witnessed several. A landowner willing to allow high power rocket launching on his property is a rare and precious thing; the last thing you want to do is jeopardize that relationship. That’s why I made my decision: I will never fly a sparky unless it’s in a desert. Some place like Black Rock or Lucerne Dry Lake with no combustibles present. To do otherwise is foolhardy.

I wouldn't say foolhardy...you just have to be prepared and take proper precautions. We fly on a farm from a grass strip next to a creek that bisects the field. If it's excessively dry, we don't allow sparkies, but we typically allow sparkies. we put welding blankets under the pad when a sparky is being flown, and have a designated fire crew that runs out with water and flappers as soon as the pad is clear. Never had an issue.

 

[Rocketjunkie]

I fly my upscale Deuces on sparky motors a lot. The Deuce is all about the show. My avatar is the Deuce98 on Aerotech M1075DMs. Our current land owner does not permit sparkys on his sod farm.
Flight avatar comes from
Onboard the Deuce54