Attractions to move from LPR to HPR?

[BBowmaster]

I confess to being puzzled by all the 3FNC rockets in high power. I love my lpr space planes, Mars Landers, starfighters and scale rockets.

HPR seems to care more about the engine than the rocket. I realize upscaling some of the exotic birds would be a problem.

Is it mostly just a matter of bigger, higher, faster; sacrificing cool design elements for another 5k feet?

 

[grouch]

It's just another page in the book of rockets. If you like stuff with wings, build stuff with wings. Larger rockets bring larger challenges. Some people like to go high and fast, some like to go low and slow. There is something for everyone.

 

[Binder Design]

Is it mostly just a matter of bigger, higher, faster; sacrificing cool design elements for another 5k feet?

Lots of people build and fly cool stuff other than 3FNC but the lane is clear for whatever you want to do. Why worry about what everybody else is doing? Do your thing and we'll be more than happy to support it.

 

[dhbarr]

I confess to being puzzled by all the 3FNC rockets in high power. I love my lpr space planes, Mars Landers, starfighters and scale rockets.

HPR seems to care more about the engine than the rocket. I realize upscaling some of the exotic birds would be a problem.

Is it mostly just a matter of bigger, higher, faster; sacrificing cool design elements for another 5k feet?

I happen to really like pushing no-hazmat MPR as far as I can -- it's an interesting ( to me ) challenge.

I'm sure other people do the same within their chosen constraints ( e.g. competition flying, Hamster Dance, drag racing, etc. )

 

[jlabrasca]

I confess to being puzzled by all the 3FNC rockets in high power. I love my lpr space planes, Mars Landers, starfighters and scale rockets.

How would you answer if somebody wrote to ask: "Can somebody please explain why anybody would want to build and launch a meticulously detailed model rocket?"

 

[mikec]

I realize upscaling some of the exotic birds would be a problem.

Some friends of mine are flying a 20-foot long Estes Trident upscale on an M this weekend. I've seen pretty much every Estes rocket upscaled.

There are a lot of reasons to fly HPR. It's a hobby, fly what you want.

 

[neil_w]

HPR is not for me but I can certainly see the appeal: big rockets are impressive to look at, and big motors are impressive to launch.

I'll stick with LPR and smaller MPR for a variety of reasons.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

As a fellow just back at it, with half a dozen low-power rockets awaiting their first launch this spring, or summer or whenever we can, I am fascinated by the possibilities that more power can give you While I remain limited by real life and the fact that I live in a fairly populous, hilly, tree-covered area, still, I look at all that is being done with video, clustering, staging, air starts, on-board microprocessors and radio, tracking, RC boost gliders... even now in the MPR range (I think) a fellow is offering active feedback control (thrust vectoring) - there seems to be so much you can do besides whoosh-pop-drop! Not that whoosh-pop-drop is a bad thing, and you certainly can do more than that in LPR/MPR, but yeah, high power, whilst expensive, is sure interesting to me.
I've often wondered if anybody's every successfully flown a 3 stage Saturn V for instance, without big ugly helper fins in the back - well someone on this forum did a successful single stage 5 engine cluster, so it can be envisioned at least... Some of my thoughts are (eventually) towards school demonstrations, so big and loud and smokey are great even if you only go a couple hundred feet up. I have a bunch of half-baked thoughts, but even in my circumstances the lure of bigger, louder, faster, higher & more sophisticated keeps me day-dreaming!

 

[Flyfalcons]

Is it mostly just a matter of bigger, higher, faster; sacrificing cool design elements for another 5k feet?

Definitely not. Watch any of the high power launch compilation vids, other than perhaps BALLS, and you'll see a wide variety of designs and interests among the HPR participants.

Just in my videos have been upscale Estes classics, big manned and unmanned scale subjects, landers, winged rockets, tube fins, and big saucers. There's all sorts of fun to be had if you're an "airframe" guy, like I am.

 

[jlabrasca]

confess to being puzzled by all the 3FNC rockets in high power.

Looking again at the lede in BBowmaster's post; I think grouch has it.

Larger rockets bring larger challenges.

Building for HPR is not just building a bigger 3FNC model rocket. There are different problems to solve.

As for why anyone would be attracted to that particular set of problems rather than some other set of problems -- who can say.

I will note that because of expense and regulation HPR is, necessarily, a community activity. So it becomes an excuse to go someplace and meet with other people.

 

[boatgeek]

HPR allows you more design freedom, because you can stick a larger motor in if you end up overweight. That's great for learning but sometimes leads to overbuilding. A couple examples from my fleet that are somewhat to very outside the 3/4FNC standard are Fafnir (dragon-themed, below next to a 4FNC Arcas) and Dimetrodon (square).



And all of that said, I'm gravitating more to MPR-capable rockets now because they're easier for me to launch than HPR. Waivered fields are just a little too far away to get to often.

 

[neil_w]

HPR allows you more design freedom, because you can stick a larger motor in if you end up overweight. That's great for learning but sometimes leads to overbuilding. A couple examples from my fleet that are somewhat to very outside the 3/4FNC standard are Fafnir (dragon-themed, below next to a 4FNC Arcas) and Dimetrodon (square).

Did you plant a tree inside your Arcas? That's certainly non-traditional.

 

[mrwalsh85]

Did you plant a tree inside your Arcas? That's certainly non-traditional.

Would that be considered a vertebrae?

 

[Nytrunner]

As mentioned above, there are different challenges for different folks.

You can upscale complicated designs and face the challenge of reducing mass and preventing landing damage (twice the size, cubic increase of mass). See Nick@Jet's Ultimate QCC Explore
What may work on small sizes will take extra work to convert to larger form factors. Also cost is a factor. The bigger things are, the more expensive material gets, and more custom work is required to produce

You can fly motors with more interesting effects like colors, sparks, smoke, etc...and if you want to fly more motors, simpler rockets are helpful. (see the various 3/4FNC of wayco and hardline)
Adding in here, some folks are all about mixing their own propellant and trying it out, so they also gravitate to the simpler rockets

Performance folks want to squeak every foot or ft/s out of a motor and rocket combo, so simpler form is less drag/weight slowing them down. They may do complex avionics bays, or clever lightweight composite work, or come up with ways to mitigate thermal damage when they get past ~M2.5

 

[boatgeek]

Did you plant a tree inside your Arcas? That's certainly non-traditional.

[Marvin the Paranoid Android voice] You try to be helpful, and all you get is hassle. [/Marvin] If I were a better photographer, I'd have seen that before taking the picture. On the other hand, I don't give a fig for your criticism!

[that's a fig tree behind the rockets for the non-botanically-inclined]

Would that be considered a vertebrae?

I am a huge fan of biomimicry in rockets, but not that much.

 

[Bat-mite]

For me, I like the prepping, launching and recovery way more than the building. I simply can't do small detail. No fingers for it. I am most comfortable in a big 6" - 8" tube, with lots of room to work.

At a launch, I enjoy having people come over to my space to look at my stuff and start conversations. Often, they are very willing to help me carry, load, and put the rocket on the pad, just because it is an experience they don't get everyday.

And there's something about the deafening roar of an O motor ....

My hat's off to all of you who can do those tiny, intricate model rockets with perfectly aligned decals. Cool stuff. I just can't do it.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

You can make HPR scale models and sci-fi designs. I’ve built a couple sci-fi inspired designs and have plans for more.

The number of kits is limited, but not nonexistent. LOC has a number of big HPR scale models. Pemberton Technologies has sci-fi fantasy designs. And there are others.

I like designing my own. And there’s also the option of creating your own design and then having someone “kit” it for you. I made a design similar to an Estes Silver comet upscaled to 5.5” diameter and had LOC kit it for me.

 

[jadebox]

How about ELGELF* instead of 3FNC?





*Eight Legs, Googly Eyes, and Lots of Fur

 

[jadebox]

One thing that attracts me is that building high-power rockets can be a very different experience than building low-power rockets. I have always enjoyed wood-working. And building a high-power rocket, you often use tools like table saws and drill presses. You acquire a wonderful "patina of sawdust and sweat and satisfaction."

 

[H_Rocket]

Lots of people build and fly cool stuff other than 3FNC but the lane is clear for whatever you want to do. Why worry about what everybody else is doing? Do your thing and we'll be more than happy to support it.

It's just that simple.

 

[Zeus-cat]

High power gives you the opportunity to hide the costs from your wife.

 

[neil_w]

High power gives you the opportunity to hide the costs from your wife.

High power gives you costs that you *need* to hide from your wife.

 

[Nytrunner]

High power gives you the opportunity to hide the costs from your wife.

I'm not married, but that can't be a strategy for a healthy and transparent relationship

 

[tomsteve]

3FNC

 

[tomsteve]

another 3FNC

 

[jlabrasca]

that can't be a strategy for a healthy and transparent relationship

What does transparency have to do with a healthy relationship?

 

[Nytrunner]

What does transparency have to do with a healthy relationship?

Oh, I dunno….being able to openly communicate about things sure seems healthier in a committed life partnership than sneaking big-ticket purchases around behind each other's back. Lying and/or obfuscating certainly doesn't sound healthy
If you're both independently wealthy the point is moot, but if that's the case, the partner wouldn't bat an eye at your purchase either making the purchase sneak unnecessary.

 

[Dustin Lobner]

Nothing saying you can't do both! Last year I launched everything from a 1/2A to a J. Good times all around, for different reasons.

 

[John Taylor]

I went to LDRS 2019 in Kansas. One flight that really impressed was an O motor launch. It launched from a significant distance away due to safety rules. The sound was deafening and the ground literally shook. Everyone around me was shocked.
Now that's an example of why I love High Power!!!

 

[BBowmaster]

Cool. Thanks. I guess I’ve been missing the non 3FNC threads and videos. I especially like the idea of going mpr with upscale kits.