The 80's rocket and now. Clips touch pad

So it has been a very long time. I was building three stage rockets in junior high when the igniters had a black blob on the tip.
I saw a kit at Michaels and picked it up for 19 bucks. The new Estes launch pad is less than robust from what it used to be, and the rocket which my kids could put together had the trail end of the fins forward of the engine.
Here is my question. From the days of building the Alpha III and Quasar, how do I now keep the clips from touching the launch pad? There was nothing in the kit to lift the rocket up off the pad so the igniter and clips weren't laying on the base.

Sorry for the idiot question but I didn't see anything in the threads.

I like a clothespin, some folks use a spent motor casing, I've seen a wrap of tape but wouldn't recommend it, extra launch lug / straw / coffee stirrer, etc.

dhbarr said:

I like a clothespin, some folks use a spent motor casing, I've seen a wrap of tape but wouldn't recommend it, extra launch lug / straw / coffee stirrer, etc.

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Are you freaking serious? It is the 21st century and model rocketry is putting a clothespin on the launching pad? I was looking at rocket kits online and holy cats. Most of them have the forward swept fins? I work for a medical device company and this engineering wouldn't haven't gotten past design freeze. Thanks for the heads up. I thought I was losing my mind thinking this was bad design but obviously not.

MajorBon said:

Are you freaking serious? It is the 21st century and model rocketry is putting a clothespin on the launching pad? I was looking at rocket kits online and holy cats. Most of them have the forward swept fins? I work for a medical device company and this engineering wouldn't haven't gotten past design freeze. Thanks for the heads up. I thought I was losing my mind thinking this was bad design but obviously not.

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Well, if you really want to PAY for something there's this:

https://www.siriusrocketry.biz/ishop/oddl-rockets-raise-spring-1046.html

Like dhbarr says, I usually use a clothespin or spent engine casing. Free and it works.

The plastic straw idea works great...

Welcome to the forum new guy.

If you can design a non-conductive disposable clamp that doesn't look like a clothespin and costs pennies, there's probably a good market for your device ;-)

A lot of kits swing forward from the back edge so that you are less likely to land on a fintip, thus breaking it off.

MajorBon said:

Are you freaking serious? It is the 21st century and model rocketry is putting a clothespin on the launching pad? I was looking at rocket kits online and holy cats. Most of them have the forward swept fins? I work for a medical device company and this engineering wouldn't haven't gotten past design freeze. Thanks for the heads up. I thought I was losing my mind thinking this was bad design but obviously not.

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MajorBon said:

Are you freaking serious? It is the 21st century and model rocketry is putting a clothespin on the launching pad? I was looking at rocket kits online and holy cats. Most of them have the forward swept fins? I work for a medical device company and this engineering wouldn't haven't gotten past design freeze. Thanks for the heads up. I thought I was losing my mind thinking this was bad design but obviously not.

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Actually forward swept leading edges are high tech advanced technology in the aeronautical world:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_X-29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-47

kuririn said:

Well, if you really want to PAY for something there's this:

https://www.siriusrocketry.biz/ishop/oddl-rockets-raise-spring-1046.html

Like dhbarr says, I usually use a clothespin or spent engine casing. Free and it works.

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Thanks so much for the link. I put rocketryforum in the ref. Here's hoping the next time I get the kids to go with me to the park, it won't be a total fail like Saturday. LOL. Got new motors and igniters

Major,
I would say that you and your kids are well on the way to hours, maybe years, of fun together. Enjoy, and if there are any questions you probably can find a posting that answers it here, or post the question yourself. BTW forgot to mention that another good reason to elevate the rocket besides preventing the igniter wires and clips from shorting on the metal deflector, is to prevent the aft end from scorching from the "bounce back" of the exhaust gasses striking the deflector.

kuririn said:

Like dhbarr says, I usually use a clothespin or spent engine casing. Free and it works.

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A favorite here in the Midwest for Fall/Winter launches--the ever-plentiful corn stalk.

This thread reminds me of a David Bowie song? "Ground Control to MajorBon.... Rocket in place with clothes pin on..."

kuririn said:

Major,
I would say that you and your kids are well on the way to hours, maybe years, of fun together. Enjoy, and if there are any questions you probably can find a posting that answers it here, or post the question yourself. BTW forgot to mention that another good reason to elevate the rocket besides preventing the igniter wires and clips from shorting on the metal deflector, is to prevent the aft end from scorching from the "bounce back" of the exhaust gasses striking the deflector.

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I forgot what a blast (pun intended) it was. I grew up in the mountains so there weren't too many place to launch and launch high, so I focused on the building. I did the Orion Starfighter / Torellian Invader to perfection but they never saw the sky. Now that I have moved out to New England, plenty of big fields to launch in. If the daughter gets behind the launches with the starter set, Pigasus is definitely in the works.

MajorBon said:

Are you freaking serious? It is the 21st century and model rocketry is putting a clothespin on the launching pad?

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i sometimes forget the clothes pin, so a soda can or nearby stick works.

I know someone here has advised against it, but I've been using the same half wrap of masking tape on our launch rod for probably 20 low power launches now, no worries or issues at all.

I just don't like the sticky when I need to clear off the powder residue is all.

The thing that may not be obvious is that whatever holds it up is going to get a) scorched and b) covered with a variety of potentially corrosive materials so the clothespin is actually pretty sensible for any rocket you could put on a lightweight rod like that. Now, when you're talking big high power systems there's usually some kind of big thick metal thing jutting out just below the rail that serves the same basic purpose, and the blast deflector is way far below that.

As I recall in college we just did the tape thing and yeah, in the long term you're going to have some mess to scrape off, but if you don't HAVE a clothespin it's totally workable.

Clothespins have been used as rocket elevators for millennia. It was only within the last 100 years that someone realized you could hang clothes with them.

^_^

Bat-mite said:

Clothespins have been used as rocket elevators for millennia. It was only within the last 100 years that someone realized you could hang clothes with them.

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