As strange as it may be... I know nothing about rockets and I'm seeking advice.

[LizBennett]

I'm desperately seeking advice... I'm hoping some of you are familiar with GISH or GISHWHES. I was tasked launching a wedding cake with a rocket 6 feet in the air. I have know idea if this is really even possible or safe. Was hoping for some input or help. Looking for someone to bounce ideas off. I've got the cake part down, it the rocket science part that is just out of my league.

 

[CoyoteNumber2]

Possible, yes. Safe - not without knowing what you're doing.

Do you - personally - have to do the launching? If not, you can probably find someone local to do the launching for you for the sheer absurdity of it. It will likely go higher than six feet, though.

 

[Rex R]

does the cake have to survive the landing? and is 6" the minimum altitude or the maximum? how much does the cake weigh? an angelfood cake would be my choice if the cake has to be exposed to the air as they already have a hole in the center for the launch guide .
Rex

 

[LizBennett]

Higher than 6 feet is even better. I've done model rocket kits when I was a kid, and I do have a few people who have built kits. I just need it on video, I'm not required to perform the launch myself. If I cannot find someone local who is comfortable doing this, or I am told this is unsafe, this will not be done.

 

[LizBennett]

The only guidelines I have are: It has to be 3 tiered, and decorated for a wedding. I'm going to keep the weight down as much as possible, but until I have the cake made... I guess 15 pounds max. Has to go 6 feet minimum, higher the better. Not required to survive the landing, but would be cool if it did, I'm not expecting it to though.

 

[tfish]

could it be a hostess cup cake in a rocket?

Tony

 

[Rex R]

right, cake and cake plate should weigh no more than 2.5 pounds. cake plate should be considered sacrificial (you're going to need a hole near the middle...I can't see any way to keep the cake on the plate once the chute deploys and the cake should be fairly small no more than 2 tiers.
Rex

 

[Rex R]

hmm, you're going to need someone certified to fly high power rockets for a 15 pound cake!
Rex

 

[LizBennett]

There in lies the problem. It's not possible to make a real 3 tiered wedding cake, decor and all under 15 pounds. If needed I can go model size, because I was sure that weight was not going to work out. Stacked cake requires a dowel through the center to stay up right and not slide. I was thinking the rocket could be used as the dowel. It's a matter of power to get the darn thing off the ground.

 

[LizBennett]

hmm, you're going to need someone certified to fly high power rockets for a 15 pound cake!
Rex

Thank you. That is the kind of info I was looking for. Legally not possible for your everyday civilian to launch something with that kind of power.

 

[Rex R]

for a while folks were launching 16 lb. bowling balls....

 

[CoyoteNumber2]

Liz, where are you located?

 

[LizBennett]

Oregon.
Where even our fireworks are not allowed to leave the ground. Haha.

 

[K'Tesh]

Liz contact the folks at Oregon Rocketry (based out of Beaverton), or the people at Southern Oregon Rocketry (based out of Eagle Point). They can help you out.

My imagination has this being done as a ring finned design with the motor in the top layer dragging the rest behind it. Of course this would be a fake cake (or perhaps with a real cake inside the top layer).

 

[Rex R]

so I am picturing something like this

 

[LizBennett]

so I am picturing something like this

Yep. That was the same idea I had.

 

[LizBennett]

Depending on weight distribution and functionality it could sit lower on a plastic plate.

 

[Rex R]

it will of course need some rather stiff frosting to stand up to the air flow .
Rex

 

[LizBennett]

Liz contact the folks at Oregon Rocketry (based out of Beaverton), or the people at Southern Oregon Rocketry (based out of Eagle Point). They can help you out.

My imagination has this being done as a ring finned design with the motor in the top layer dragging the rest behind it. Of course this would be a fake cake (or perhaps with a real cake inside the top layer).

I'll look into them. The requirements of the challenge state 'real' decorated wedding cake 3 tiered.

 

[LizBennett]

it will of course need some rather stiff frosting to stand up to the air flow .
Rex

Royal icing dries hard and is pretty durable, but is heavier. Fondant is lighter, but not as strong.

 

[K'Tesh]

Here's a quick (and really ugly ) concept of my idea. the outer rings would need to be supported by fins that link them together (a minimum of 3 per ring). You could decorate it anyway you like.

 

[Rex R]

.ork file available on request if anyone wishes to go further with this, note I 'used' a 12" dia. cake for the bottom tier(along with a 12" x 0.125" plywood 'plate')

 

[Rex R]

J'im think you missed the stipulation that the cake be real.

 

[LizBennett]

The bottom tier will be 6" dia, I could possibly go smaller. The top tier would be 4" dia, middle being 5" dia.

Each tier would be about 3" tall give or take. totalling about 9" tall or so.

 

[K'Tesh]

My idea was based on an 18" bottom layer, 12" middle, and 6" top layer. If built correctly, it could have real cake segments inside of it.

 

[Rex R]

going to need sizes of all 3 tiers before we can adjust the rocket size...likely minimum rocket diameter of 1.637" will be the smallest in order to fit the motor needed.
Rex
for reference my straw design is 2.6" dia.

 

[K'Tesh]

Here's a rear view of what I'm thinking of...



cardboard "plates" could be inserted to support real cake (say 2" thick) segments

 

[LizBennett]

In order to keep weight down the size we came up with for the cake is roughly: Top tier 4" dia 3" tall, middle tier 5" dia 3" tall, bottom tier 6" dia 3" tall. There will be perhaps a .5-1" approx. in height and dia, being that frost/icing will be applied by hand and might not be exact.

These sizes can be adjust to whatever works best. This was just the lowest weight option we came up with.

 

[Rex R]

okay that's doable on a G motor my BOE suggests that the cake will weigh about 2.5 lb.s and will have to settle on having the icing blowing off but some of the cake should survive the recovery.
Rex

 

[LizBennett]

okay that's doable on a G motor my BOE suggests that the cake will weigh about 2.5 lb.s and will have to settle on having the icing blowing off but some of the cake should survive the recovery.
Rex

And this is where I start getting lost... I know nothing about rockets.