Has anybody ever built a clear acrylic rocket? Is it even possible?
Jim
Rear ejection - keeps the clear tubes clean. The only opaque area would be round the motor mount. I wonder, though, if someone could build one to recover via backsliding, and then just use a plugged motor. Unless the motor needs to be ejected in a backslider; I don't know.Well, the first flight it would be clear but unless whoever figures how to eject the 'chute without an ejection charge then it won't be clear long. Hot, sticky and melting black powder will see to that.
Well let's see - you could also use a clear plastic canopy for the 'chute, with clear monofilament for the shroud lines, and then perhaps some more clear mono that was hand-braided to make a shock cord... Then you wouldn't even see the recovery system! (Or at least it wouldn't be as opaque, especially after deployment.)About 20 years ago, I build a D-powered ~8ft rocket using a clear plastic tube that's sold as a florescent light protector. It was almost exactly BT-60 sized. I used a clear fin can from a Gemini Titan kit, and a clear plastic easter egg half for a nose cone. From a distance, all you could see was the recovery stuff! It flew great until one flight with a weak ejection charge... went straight up and straight down tail first.
-John
Remember that (sort of) well-known YouTube video of the static firing of a hybrid motor? The one in which the motor housing and fuel grain were made of clear acrylic?
There is a man in SARA (Southern Arizona Rocketry Association) that has a clear rocket and launches it almost every month. It is about 6 or 7 feet tall, 5 or 6 inches in diameter with dual deploy. I believe he launches it on 'I' motors. Every part of the rocket is clear from the nose cone to the fins. You can see all of the components from the motor to the drogue chute, main chute and the electronics.
I don't know what it is made from. I have seen it launched 6 or 7 times now and it is always a crowd pleaser.
That would be our club president's rocket. It usually flys on K class reloads and I think it is made from polycarbonate. It always has an impressive flight, day or night.
That would be our club president's rocket. It usually flys on K class reloads and I think it is made from polycarbonate. It always has an impressive flight, day or night.
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