Crazy Rocket Ideas?

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gladiator1332

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What are some of the crazy ideas for rockets/launch locations that you have had?

Here is an idea that I had, and it was just that an idea, not something that I would actually do, because a sea launch sounds like fun, I have wanted to design a rocket that is waterproof and that can float so that it can be launched from a small platform towed by a boat in the ocean. The boat would then pull up to the rocket and you can pick it up with a fishing net.

I have also had ideas for huge scale rockets, like 20' tall Delta IV Heavy's or Saturn V's, but those are just ideas in my head that will never amount to anything.
 
frozen lakes, defrosted lakes, fields, anything open. Every time I pass osmething I size it up for a rocket launching area
 
Dont do it!!!!!!! Someone will alert the coast guard of a flare, and you will either be greeted by a rescue squad or find yerself looking down the barrel of an assault rifle off safety. Both would be very embarrasing, and you would get in deep doodoo.

You dont even want to know what evil plans I have devised on Rocsim. You just dont.
 
Two odd ones that i've actually done...

55 gallon drum filled with water and a waterproofed rocket... Came out of the water looking like something outta a Trident sub! LOL very cool, but a *whole* lotta setup time...

Another was to build a rocket that looked like a launch tower. I would put it on the pad and stand an Alpha along side it. At T-0 everyone would be expecting the rocket to go up , but it just sat there on the pad while the tower turned in a great flight :)

Here I am preping it for a launch: https://jflis.com/hobbies/rocketry/photos/launchtower01.jpg
 

Remember as a kid when maybe late on a friday or saturday night...kids would "roll" someones yard with rolls of tissue paper(you know the kind!!!) and it usually made a big mess on the lawn and in the trees...
I always wanted to lift rolls of toliet paper up and over the trees...get the stuff really high...
Always thought a rocket or two or three would work...never did it though...!!!
 
Once a year (usually in mid May), the statewide association of Tripoli prefects launches rockets from Sheboygan into Lake Michigan, where the Coast Guard fishes them out. Several engineering schools in the area design payloads for the rockets.
 
From "The Rocket City" comesa group called Project HALO that have tried a few times at lofting rockets on a ballon out of the Gulf of Mexico, and igniting them from an altitude of 100,000 ft...theres a couple of extreme locals for launching.

https://home.hiwaay.net/~hal5/HALO/index.shtml
 
Originally posted by Neil
Dont do it!!!!!!! Someone will alert the coast guard of a flare, and you will either be greeted by a rescue squad or find yerself looking down the barrel of an assault rifle off safety. Both would be very embarrasing, and you would get in deep doodoo.

You dont even want to know what evil plans I have devised on Rocsim. You just dont.

When launching rockets on a frozen lake... you should contact local authority. That will let them know you are there... that way they will know how to respond if someone calls something in. At AMW, they do that... when ever they burn propellant or static fire motors... they let the local switchboard know about it. Because the amount of smoke that they produce.... it gets everywhere... and people have called in a fire before... :)
 
I never actually would launch from the ocean, it was just an idea that I had, one that I would never follow through with. ;)
 
Remember as a kid when maybe late on a friday or saturday night...kids would "roll" someones yard with rolls of tissue paper(you know the kind!!!) and it usually made a big mess on the lawn and in the trees...
I always wanted to lift rolls of toliet paper up and over the trees...get the stuff really high...
Always thought a rocket or two or three would work...never did it though...!!!
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I now have tog o out and buy a roll of toilet paper, put an engine mount in it and launch it. Would it fly though?
 
Another idea that I had, actually more of a question like the Sea Launch, could a rocket be launched from the bottom of a small pond or lake? If you can get the rocket waterproof, anchor a pad down on the floor of the lake, dive down and set up the rocket would it be possible to launch a rocket from the bottom of a lake. You would have to build something to keep the igniters and the clips dry, but it deffinatley would be a awesome sight.

Jim do you have a picture of your "Trident-like" launch? Sounds really interesting!
 
Toilet Paper: I'd build a rocket out of coat-hangers, so the TP roll would be held horizontally to unroll properly. The hanger wire would come up to rejoin at an overhead motor mount, with two motors angled down and outwards to keep the flames from igniting the TP.

Lakebottom Launch: The rocket is filled with air. How would you keep it on the pad, but still allow it to be released when the motor lights? Best way I can think of would be to have it a tube-launched rocket with a membrane over the top of the tube... you might even pressurize the tube a bit as you take it down to launch depth. The membrane would break when the motor ignites and the nose cone pierces it. Actually, it would probably break as soon as the motor came to pressure, but by that point, who cares? This also helps you keep the motor and ignitor dry for as long as needed.

Fin fillets. Big honkin' fin fillets. Water resistance working against fin mounts will hurt.

Only question I'd have beyond that would be, how can you be sure that the rocket will be up to a safe speed for fin-stabilized flight before it leaves the water? Water being thicker than air, I'd think the safe speed IN water would be a lot lower, but acceleration will suck, so will it be going fast enough when it breaks the surface?
 
I haven't given it serious thought, it was just one of those crazy ideas that I will never try, but it just seems interesting.
 
Originally posted by gladiator1332


I now have tog o out and buy a roll of toilet paper, put an engine mount in it and launch it. Would it fly though?


Here is a much more effective way of doing that job: put the roll in a rocket a deploy it at apogee. Looks really cool, longest "streamer " i've ever seen :D Works every time for the guy who has done it at our club. his vehicle of choice is a PML Ultimate Endeavour. fits great in the 6" airframe.
 
Originally posted by gladiator1332
Another idea that I had, actually more of a question like the Sea Launch, could a rocket be launched from the bottom of a small pond or lake? If you can get the rocket waterproof, anchor a pad down on the floor of the lake, dive down and set up the rocket would it be possible to launch a rocket from the bottom of a lake. You would have to build something to keep the igniters and the clips dry, but it deffinatley would be a awesome sight.

Someone in another forum a while back has done a lot of work with underwater launches, up to "J" motors at least. Very interesting stuff, and LOTS of design challenges involved. (Like making rockets that won't be crushed by the pressure of the water). Wish I could remember more of the details.
 
Originally posted by rocwizard
Here is a much more effective way of doing that job: put the roll in a rocket a deploy it at apogee. Looks really cool, longest "streamer " i've ever seen :D Works every time fir the guy who has done it at our club. his vehicle of choice is a PML Ultimate Endeavour. fits great in the 6" airframe.


THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT...!!!!!
 
You moderator guys are probably not gonna like this one.

When we were kids, our gang mounted launcher tubes on our bikes (aimed horizontally). It was quite an accomplishment to pedal, aim, and fiddle with the ignition wires all at the same time. I don't remember actually hitting anything. That was waaaay back before we figured out that flying model rockets was a lot more fun.

Of course, now I would NEVER dream of doing any such thing. Well, to tell the truth, there HAVE been a few times in traffic when I wished for a rocket launcher on my car.
 
I own a deck boat with a nice fishing platform on the front, and I live on a nice big lake.

I fly kites from my boat all the time.

I've often contemplated setting up a launch pad on the front of the boat on a calm day, going out to the middle of the lake, launching a rocket with a larger than normal parachute, and then try to drive the boat under the rocket to "catch" it.

If I can find a suitable rocket that's entirely made of plastic (not just one of the mini Estes rockets, but one big enough to at least use a C engine and hold an 18" or larger chute), I GUARANTEE that I'll attempt this. I've been thinking about this one for a while.
 
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