Check out my fins.

[Senior Space Cadet]

Rocket on the left is the one with fins I patterned after the tail of a Boeing 777X. I have on order a rounder balsa nose cone I was planning on using.
On the right, as an experiment, I took what was left of the 24mm tube I used to make the other rocket, and attached six arrow vanes. I figure I'd use four on an 18mm tube and three on a 13mm tube.
I had a long nose cone, that I hadn't planned on using for anything and, since the tube was a little short, decided this would be the perfect job for it. The extra length should add some stability.
I think I might play around with making some tiny rockets from 13mm tubes, powered by 1/4A and 1/2A engines, and using the arrow vanes for fins.

 

[Mugs914]

Both of those look cool, but I particularly like the one with the arrow fins (Fletches, fletchings???). That is a great idea...

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

What I meant to call them is vanes, which are a type of fletching. The other type is feathers.

 

[Nytrunner]

Thise little fins are a but short in span, but maybe having 6 will provide enough stability. Id be curious what the CP location is there

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

The arrow vanes are small and I am concerned about the height. The turbulent boundary layer next to the skin will make them less effective, which is, of course, why I used six, but it still may not be enough. There is a huge selection of arrow vanes, but all of them are pretty small. You can get feathers much larger, but they aren't as sturdy and have more drag. Check out lancasterarchery.com. You might also check out YouTube videos on bare shaft arrow tuning.
I'm sure vanes will work well on a rocket with a 13mm body. We'll see how they work on 18mm and 24mm.

 

[David Schwantz]

Love the idea, looks great. Had never thought of that myself. AAE Platsifletch is what I use, they come in various lengths. Are a bit stiffer, bright colors. One concern is flutter with them on a rocket. Shorter span will help. When I fletch arrows I like to add a drop of CA right at the front on the base of the vane. Keeps them on the arrow when they blow through the target

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

I'm an archer too, but I'm semi traditional, so I shoot recurves and longbows and use only feathers.
I tried to find some big vanes, but they are all pretty small. I ended up ordering some clearance vanes that didn't sound too bad.

 

[David Schwantz]

Yup, kind of figured that. I still shoot my 2 recurves that I made in High School for Ind. Arts class. They were kits from Bingham Archery. They are 45 years old.

 

[neil_w]

The arrow vanes are small and I am concerned about the height. The turbulent boundary layer next to the skin will make them less effective, which is, of course, why I used six, but it still may not be enough.

Throw it into OpenRocket or Rocksim and find out. No need to guess.

 

[boatgeek]

Throw it into OpenRocket or Rocksim and find out. No need to guess.

Does OR deal with the fins being less effective if they are in the boundary layer?

 

[neil_w]

Does OR deal with the fins being less effective if they are in the boundary layer?

I'm not sure. It does address fin/body interaction, not sure if that's the same thing.

In any case, it'll at least give an idea if you have enough fin area there, although my mindsim is throwing warnings about those tiny vanes, and *personally* I'd be reluctant to fly it like that no matter what OR says.

 

[mbeels]

Very cool!