Anyone built a Wacky Wiggler or something like it?

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DynaSoar

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I'm working on a bird that has to come apart in two places upon ejection, and comes down as three separate sections. The only model I've heard of that does this is the Estes Wacky Wiggler (its parts are tied together with a shock cords, but it comes apart in several places). Has anyone built one? I could use some tips on how to make sure they all separate. I saw on EMRR that one of the problems people had was some of the sections staying together. I'm wondering how to overcome that problem.
 
Having both a Wacky Wiggler and a CATO, I would say, study the CATO design.

I got the Wacky Wiggler for my daughter. She loves it, but I hate to fly it because of stability issues. We have put some tape on the shoulder of the various connectors to add to the diameter and hopefully tighten it up a little, but we haven't flight tested this yet.

I love the CATO. I wish they'd bring it back as I'd like to build another one. It is always a crowd pleaser. You might get some good ideas from that design. It's got piston ejection and various pieces come down with different methods (parachute, streamer, tumble are all used). Even with all those pieces holding on in different ways, it is MUCH more stable than the wiggler.

Just my 2 cents. Hope this gives you some ideas.
 
I haven't seen the CATO yet. But my wife owns a Wacky Wiggler. Seperation is rather simple. Every piece of the BT has a small coupler section attached to it, used to connect all the pieces together. There is practically no friction at all between these pieces. Just turning the rocket upside down will cause every piece to disconnect. It's fragile in that sense. But they stay together standing up, and the force of an engine pushing the rocket up keeps things nice and solid until one of two things happen. Ejection charge, which breaks all the pieces apart, or until the rocket turns horizontal. When that happens you get a shredding effect (with no damage) and the thing breaks apart while still under force from the engine. I love that!
 
Originally posted by cbutler
Having both a Wacky Wiggler and a CATO, I would say, study the CATO design.

I got the Wacky Wiggler for my daughter. She loves it, but I hate to fly it because of stability issues. We have put some tape on the shoulder of the various connectors to add to the diameter and hopefully tighten it up a little, but we haven't flight tested this yet.

I love the CATO. I wish they'd bring it back as I'd like to build another one. It is always a crowd pleaser. You might get some good ideas from that design. It's got piston ejection and various pieces come down with different methods (parachute, streamer, tumble are all used). Even with all those pieces holding on in different ways, it is MUCH more stable than the wiggler.

Just my 2 cents. Hope this gives you some ideas.

I have the design already; it's built. It requires simultaneous separation at two places. I'm looking for tips on how to make sure they both occur rather than one cutting loose and letting the gas escape too fast to blow the other off. I figure they need to be loose enough to do so, but not so loose that drag during coast pulls them apart. Just wondered if anyone had fine tuned a Wiggler or something similar to make sure all the pieces separated.
 
I have seen the Wiggler launch many times at our local launches. The only thing I noted is that it tends to wander sometimes during launch ... but then again, it is a wiggler. ;)

Carl
 
That's just WACKY!

Originally posted by CTulanko
I have seen the Wiggler launch many times at our local launches. The only thing I noted is that it tends to wander sometimes during launch ... but then again, it is a wiggler. ;)

Carl
 
Originally posted by CTulanko
I have seen the Wiggler launch many times at our local launches. The only thing I noted is that it tends to wander sometimes during launch ... but then again, it is a wiggler. ;)

When I launch my Wiggler, I give the assembled rocket a good compression before putting it on the pad... grab the nose and tail and push them toward each other. That makes sure all the segments are fully seated, where they're at their largest amount of friction. If put on the pad carefully, it won't lean over and I get pretty straight flights.

Put it on the pad without making sure everything is tight and it lets the nose droop over, and that's just asking for trouble.

The Wiggler is kind of fun... it comes down fast so it doesn't drift far, and my 4-year-old son thinks it's a hoot to watch it come down. And it's really fun when you're launching with soon-to-be-BARS who have never seen one... they're sure something has gone terribly wrong with the recover system, because they don't see a chute and there's parts all over the place. :)
 
Originally posted by ravenx99
When I launch my Wiggler, I give the assembled rocket a good compression before putting it on the pad... grab the nose and tail and push them toward each other. That makes sure all the segments are fully seated, where they're at their largest amount of friction. If put on the pad carefully, it won't lean over and I get pretty straight flights.

Put it on the pad without making sure everything is tight and it lets the nose droop over, and that's just asking for trouble.

The Wiggler is kind of fun... it comes down fast so it doesn't drift far, and my 4-year-old son thinks it's a hoot to watch it come down. And it's really fun when you're launching with soon-to-be-BARS who have never seen one... they're sure something has gone terribly wrong with the recover system, because they don't see a chute and there's parts all over the place. :)

So, if all the parts are seated well, it's more likely to break at all points on ejection?

Yeah, this one will also be mostly for the looks on peoples' faces. I'm gonna keep it secret until the next CATO launch.
 
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