- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
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Lots of dry places for this bird to land, it just HAD to land in the puddle. Suprisingly even though it was unpainted heavy cardboard (I went to Hobby Lobby and got some framing matting) it dried out okay and didn't warp!
Not many things in rocketry I am a purist about, but with the MIRV concept (single booster igniting multiple sustainers) I feel that the sustainer components SHOULD be independently stable. Many of the versions I have seen I have not been convinced that the sustainers are really stable, but attitude seems (to me) to be, "don't really matter, they don't ignite until they are way up there anyway.)
Biggest challenging is geometric, especially with nose cones, as I want the three sustainers to fit together like a single rocket (mainly for looks, no matter how I do it there is a lot of drag.) For the nose cones, this means the nose cone or pyramid is itself eccentric. This is my third version, first was plastic, heavy, and unstable. Second was card stock and worked well, still a bit heave. I have shortened the length on this one, it is still stable. I like the design. Next step will be to build three of these that fit together, and a booster to get them all off the pad and up to speed before ignition. At least for first flight the sustainers will be on A8-3 engines (low thrust, BIG nozzle, my main go to for 18 mm upper stage first flights.) Booster will be a D12-0, gives me a lot of thrust since I will need it to propel three sustainers and the booster itself.
Not many things in rocketry I am a purist about, but with the MIRV concept (single booster igniting multiple sustainers) I feel that the sustainer components SHOULD be independently stable. Many of the versions I have seen I have not been convinced that the sustainers are really stable, but attitude seems (to me) to be, "don't really matter, they don't ignite until they are way up there anyway.) Biggest challenging is geometric, especially with nose cones, as I want the three sustainers to fit together like a single rocket (mainly for looks, no matter how I do it there is a lot of drag.) For the nose cones, this means the nose cone or pyramid is itself eccentric. This is my third version, first was plastic, heavy, and unstable. Second was card stock and worked well, still a bit heave. I have shortened the length on this one, it is still stable. I like the design. Next step will be to build three of these that fit together, and a booster to get them all off the pad and up to speed before ignition. At least for first flight the sustainers will be on A8-3 engines (low thrust, BIG nozzle, my main go to for 18 mm upper stage first flights.) Booster will be a D12-0, gives me a lot of thrust since I will need it to propel three sustainers and the booster itself.
