Descon14: Voting and Comment Thread

[EMRR]

Okay - all entries are finalized, including the "missing files" of Niall Oswald for both of his entries.

Voting Box Software is now online.

Step 1: Vote for your top (3) choices

Rule #9) Entrants are entitled to vote, but not for their own entry, nor a family member's entry*

* We recognize that the latter portion of this is difficult to enforce, so please call up your sense of fairness and use it.

Step 2: Rank the entries from Top (1) to Bottom (22)

Step 3: Place Vote

Step 4: (Optional but ENCOURAGED): Cut and Paste your vote into RMR/TRF and give comments about any of the entries (not just your Top (3)).

Have a happy day!

https://www.rmrdescon.com

Sponsors - be sure to thank them and buy something before summer ends!
(Listed in order of sponsorship):

U.S. Rockets - https://www.usrockets.com/
Xavien - https://www.xavien.com/
Rocketflite - https://www.rocketflite.com/
QuickBurst - https://www.quickburst.net/
Art Applewhite's Rockets - https://www.artapplewhite.com/
QModeling - https://www.qmodeling.com/
ARA Press - https://www.arapress.com/
Discount Rocketry - https://www.discountrocketry.com/
FlisKits Rockets - https://www.fliskits.com/
Micro Classics - mailto: [email protected]
Propulsion Polymers - https://www.propulsionpolymers.com/
Public Missiles - https://publicmissiles.com/
Aerotech - https://www.aerotech-rocketry.com/

Regards,
Nick

 

[rstaff3]

I voted but my selections will remain secret. It was really hard to choose this time around. I had to resort to paper and pencil and a rating scheme. This got me close and then I moved them around a bit based on my personal preferences. I will say that my entry was almost dead last, far out of the running for any loot!

 

[hokkyokusei]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system:

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [12] - Mark Schrader - Project OMEGA
2nd Choice = [8] - Art Applewhite - 3-Stage Cluster Cone
3rd Choice = [20] - Adrian Hurt - MIRV Gatling

I have the following comments about the above and other entries:
It was a tough contest to vote on, so many could have made my top three!

Mark's project OMEGA won out in the end, because of the cool design and the back-story. I'm a sucker for a good back-story!

Art's saucers are amazing! I've tried to stage saucers myself, and I know how hard it is!

I knew about Adrian's entry in advance, as we had discussed the idea. It was well executed and the flight (which I witnessed at the IRW) was awesome. I'm sure he would have got the sustainers back had the weather been more clement.

Honourable mentions to:
Stuart Lenz 1000 lb Laser Guided Bomb
Dennis McClain-Furmanski Thunderchild
Drake "Doc" Damerau Three Bird
Adrian Hurt Rheinbote
Mark Schrader Polish Meteor 2K
Tater Schuld The Day The Earth Stood Still
Eldred Pickett X-Factor

 

[n3tjm]

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [14] - Drake "Doc" Damerau - Three Bird
2nd Choice = [2] - Niall Oswald - ETV2/Crumple Zone
3rd Choice = [20] - Adrian Hurt - MIRV Gatling

I have the following comments about the above and other entries:

I knew I was going to give Drake my first vote the second I saw his entry, Very cool design.

The Crumple Zone was a well researched and constructed project. It deserves high marks

MIRV Gatling - Cool design. I would love to see something like that fly .

Honourable mentions to:
Mark Schrader - Project OMEGA - Sorry bought the cato.
David Fergus - Heavy Lifter - Looks like a real space rocket
Drake "Doc" Damerau - Prometheus - As always... Drake has AWESOME rockets.
Tim Breland - Aeon - Is that a FlisKits motor mount kit
Dennis McClain-Furmanski - Thunderchild - Cool Sci-fi rocket
Eldred Pickett - Round Robin - Just looks.... COOL!!!

 

[MetMan]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system:

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [1] - Niall Oswald - SA-2 Guideline SAM

I really like this subject--great representation!

2nd Choice = [20] - Adrian Hurt - MIRV Gatling

I wish I had seen the launch!

3rd Choice = [3] - Tater Schuld - The Day The Earth Stood Still

Interesting subject--I particularly liked the use of the tennis ball! Awesome night launch picture!
------------------------------------------------
Outstanding contributions by all, especially:

Rheinbote (I love German engineering!)
Prometheus (in another league!)
ETV2/Crumple Zone (stout and well crafted!)
Renegade Extreme (awesome--needs parachutes int he pods!)

Thanks, Nick--another super effort by you and the contributors!

MetMan

 

[adrian]

1st Choice = [12] - Mark Schrader - Project OMEGA
Just about every way of using multiple motors - parallel staging, clustering, series staging - all in one model, with an impressive science-fiction airframe.

2nd Choice = [8] - Art Applewhite - 3-Stage Cluster Cone
Art is also a sponsor, and is on record in this thread as saying that all his good ideas go into kits. Therefore, if I actually manage to win, I want your entry as my prize.

3rd Choice = [2] - Niall Oswald - ETV2/Crumple Zone
A superb piece of engineering.

Honourable mentions:
Polish Meteor 2K - I love parallel staging!
Thunderchild - this thing looks so cool you could keep drinks in it.
Mercury Transport - another imaginative, fine looking design.
The Day The Earth Stood Still - watch the press for UFO reports. Or photograph it in flight and send your own UFO report.

No disrespect intended to any of the others. The only way I could rank them was to do pretty much the same as rstaff3, and even then there were several with the same rank - if I were filling in the form again tomorrow, the top 3 would be the same but the rest would probably be shuffled round again.

 

[Mike]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system:

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [12] - Mark Schrader - Project OMEGA
2nd Choice = [8] - Art Applewhite - 3-Stage Cluster Cone
3rd Choice = [14] - Drake "Doc" Damerau - Three Bird

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[andysrockets]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system:

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [8] - Art Applewhite - 3-Stage Cluster Cone
2nd Choice = [2] - Niall Oswald - ETV2/Crumple Zone
3rd Choice = [21] - Drake "Doc" Damerau - Prometheus

I have the following comments about the above and other entries:

I based my decisions on design, rather than up/down-scaling of kits etc.

Art Applewhite had to win my vote, for ingenuity with both clustered & staged motors.
Niall's ETV is a piece of engineering, both rocket and electronics (and shed loads of quickmatch too!)

If i could have voted another 3 it would be: Rheinbote, Day the Earth Stood Still, and Three Bird.

 

[slim_t]

Well I finally voted, and boy was that difficult.
Here's my top 3.

1st Choice = [7] - Adrian Hurt - Rheinbote
2nd Choice = [3] - Tater Schuld - The Day The Earth Stood Still
3rd Choice = [2] - Niall Oswald - ETV2/Crumple Zone

The Rheinbote I like from the beginning along with the ETV2.
I love clustered and staged rockets, and the Rheinbote has those cool canted motors in the first stage.
The Day The Earth Stood Still, I thought was very creative all around, from the design to the construction.

For 4th I chose Doug's American Spirit, but I may be a bit biased on that. It's on the NSL/NYPOWER DVD and I've seen it fly on 7G's over and over, and in slow motion even. Awesome rocket.

They were all great designs and very hard to choose from. As someone else said, if I voted again tomorrow, they'd probably get shuffled around again.

This has been a fun contest. For the next one, I hope to stay more informed so I can give myself more time to come up with something better. I found out about this one a little late.

Tim

 

[n3tjm]

Originally posted by slim_t
For 4th I chose Doug's American Spirit...

I had to calm down my American Spirit.. I heard him in the garage sobbing "I'm LOVED!!! I'm really LOVED!!!!"

Originally posted by slim_t
..., but I may be a bit biased on that. It's on the NSL/NYPOWER DVD and I've seen it fly on 7G's over and over, and in slow motion even. Awesome rocket.

I am glad that I am not the only one to do that ...

Maybe one of these days, I will unload the spent casings from it... but it looks SO cool....

I want to fly it on 7 G40's, but something has changed my mind about it... unless I can find 7 original G40's...

 

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system:

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [12] - Mark Schrader - Project OMEGA
2nd Choice = [13] - David Fergus - Heavy Lifter
3rd Choice = [1] - Niall Oswald - SA-2 Guideline SAM

I have the following comments about the above and other entries:

Tough choices in this contest!

On the bench: Semroc ThunderBee
Being Finished: Citation Patriot clone, Estes Solar Probe, Centuri Excalibur clone
Just Completed: Quest Nike Smoke

 

[Planet Andy]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system, but do not wish to share my choices.


I will say that I love the futuristic fins on my top choice.


Andy

 

[jflis]

I voted, but will keep my choices secret

I wish Doc had had better luck with Prometheus. Man, that is one heck of a rocket!

 

[brianc]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system:

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [2] - Niall Oswald - ETV2/Crumple Zone
2nd Choice = [19] - Mark Schrader - Polish Meteor 2K
3rd Choice = [13] - David Fergus - Heavy Lifter

I also liked the Art Applewhite 3-stage cone (I might just have to buiild that)
and the Prometheus.

Al the entries were great and it was difficult to pick favorites. Congrats to all
contestants!

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system:

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [11] - Eldred Pickett - Round Robin
2nd Choice = [7] - Adrian Hurt - Rheinbote
3rd Choice = [21] - Drake "Doc" Damerau - Prometheus

I have the following comments about the above and other entries

I just think Eldred's Fin design was rather unique. A real shot outside the box. Adrian's scale Rheinbote is appealing to the eye. And anything with a ring fin works for me....

 

[Omega_D]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system, but do not wish to share my choices.

After looking at the entries I thought it would be easy to vote on my favorite. Boy, was I wrong! I bet I spent over an hour reading all of the entries and narrowing it down to my 3 favorites. There are some very cool birds.

My comments (in no particular order):

I liked the detail of the 1000lb bomb and the fact that the laser system is flyable on a MM motor, very cool!

I really liked the Crumple Zone with both cluster and multistage configuration. Very nice work.

The 3-stage Cluster Cone is pretty cool as well as The Day The Earth Stood Still (I'm a sucker for those saucers, they're so fun to watch fly).

Project Omega is definitely a fine piece of work.

I loved the Three Bird idea, I would of loved to see that fly.

The MIRV Gatling caught my attention... I'm thinking upscale on that one!

The American Spirit and the Prometheus are great looking birds!

The Rheinbote is a rocket I've always wanted to build ever since I saw it on the History Channel a while back. What an engineering challenge that must of been in the 1940's. Adrian made a nice entry with that one.

Really, all of them were great entries! I had a design I wanted to enter but I didn't get around to building it. Work has really gotten in the way of my fun this year... maybe next time.

Congrats to all of the designers and builders and good luck with the contest!

 

[nialloswald]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system:

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [19] - Mark Schrader - Polish Meteor 2K
2nd Choice = [7] - Adrian Hurt - Rheinbote
3rd Choice = [5] - Jason Hommrich - Renegade Extreme

I have the following comments about the above and other entries:

The PM2K just looks very cool - kinda like a rocket 'should', in a slightly
cliche way. Obviously whoever designed it had an eye for a nice design.

Rheinbote - I like the fact that it has 4 stages, and clustering. Also an innovative method of recovery. Anything
with muchos BP has my vote

Renegade EX - again muchos BP, and a very nice launch photo.

Project omega is pretty nice too, there's plenty of good entries this time
round. I think its a good idea to prompt people to go the way of the cluster
too!

I think my next clustering project will be to replace the torched and bent cardboard fins of BlackJack and set it up with a proper set of motor tubes to take an 'H's worth of BP. I *will* be having fin-mounted D12s, which were very cool on the last flight, and the fins will be made of something with much more strength than corrugated cardboard!

I have certainly got the clustering bug, the whoosh of 11 Estes motors going at one (not to mention the sound several metres of quickmatch used to ignite them) was quite something!

 

[Doc]

Originally posted by jflis
I voted, but will keep my choices secret

I wish Doc had had better luck with Prometheus. Man, that is one heck of a rocket!

Thanks Jim. I am fixing her up now. The 60" 7.5" LOC tube I won at LDRS for the bowling ball loft has come in handy. Her next flight will be on a Pro54 K550 and four Pro38 J300's (Love them CTI motors!)

Doc

 

[nialloswald]

So you *are* going to cluster CTI motors again! I read in your Descon write-up that you werent. Just seems to me that they would be perfect for clustering, with the almost instant ignition. With the igniters being low-current e-matches, I would have though that they would all fire as close as you like to simultaneously, did you decide why yours didn't light?

Has anyone else dipped CTI igniters?

 

[Ryan S.]

Originally posted by n3tjm
I had to calm down my American Spirit.. I heard him in the garage sobbing "I'm LOVED!!! I'm really LOVED!!!!"



I am glad that I am not the only one to do that ...

Maybe one of these days, I will unload the spent casings from it... but it looks SO cool....

I want to fly it on 7 G40's, but something has changed my mind about it... unless I can find 7 original G40's...

and he gets all the credit

 

[Doc]

Originally posted by nialloswald
So you *are* going to cluster CTI motors again! I read in your Descon write-up that you werent. Just seems to me that they would be perfect for clustering, with the almost instant ignition. With the igniters being low-current e-matches, I would have though that they would all fire as close as you like to simultaneously, did you decide why yours didn't light?

Has anyone else dipped CTI igniters?

Yes. I talked at length with Anthony regarding this issue and with the help of one of his engineers, it was concluded that I had a group of motors that were "retro fitted" to make the new grain size. This caused a failure.

I am still a fan of CTI motors and will continue to use them.

CTI uses Oxral igniters. They are reliable and good for clustering CTI motors. BUT, it's very important to have them at the top of the motor and not allowed to fall to the rear before ignition.

Doc

 

[Rocketjunkie]

I voted for the RMR Descon, using the online voting system:

My top (3) were:

1st Choice = [20] - Adrian Hurt - MIRV Gatling
2nd Choice = [8] - Art Applewhite - 3-Stage Cluster Cone
3rd Choice = [21] - Drake "Doc" Damerau - Prometheus

 

[nialloswald]

What I've heard of oxral igniters has been positive, not sure if they're available over here on their own. From speaking to people at launches, virtually all the CTI ignition failures seen over here have been due to the igniter not being in contact with the BP ignition grain at the top of the motor, this being the 'magic' bit that makes them light 'instantly' and capable of using an e-match for ignition.

Obviously AT motors are rather scarce over here at the moment, but those I have seen have all been very noticeably different in ignition time to CTI motors. Best one was a K550, even with the mother of all igniters, it was very slow coming up to pressure (but very very cool when it did )