ducted-cone-rocket kit... anyone interested?

[benjarvis]

Hi folks...


I recently completed the first flight tests of a design I've been working on for a few years... a finless ducted cone rocket. The prototype rocket, currently nicknamed 'the cone of concern' was a 6ft tall, 9" dia (at it's base) cone with a 38mm mount. It flew twice on a 4 grain and a five grain Pro-38... both flights were good, but the five grain was particularly gorgeous, and the lack of fin area greatly aids stability in windy conditions.

A couple of manufacturers have expressed tentative interest in making a kit of the cone, possibly at this size, possibly a little smaller, perhaps around 4ft long for shorter 38mm motors.

I wanted to try and guage interest in such a kit first... see if many folks would be interested in one?

A couple of pics are included... this has been described by a few people as the most 'evil looking rocket ever made'... I'll let you decide for yourselves


you can mail me at: [email protected]


Cheers!


Ben

 

[benjarvis]

Here's another pic...

 

[benjarvis]

and another...

 

[benjarvis]

and finally... in flight. This was the Pro-38 'J' powered test flight. No altimeter was carried but eyeballing put apogee at around 2000ft.

 

[eugenefl]

Ben, it's a mighty slick looking rocket! If rockets were to evolve, I would say that this one looks like it came out of a "black projects" lab! Very stealth! It's one of the most unique designs I've ever seen. Best of luck with marketing it and landing a vendor's support.

 

[Rocket Flier VB]

Oh yea, I want one !!!!

 

[lalligood]

That design is *SICK*.

And I love it

It's hard to tell exactly in the pics but it's designed to fly off a rail only, right? And am I correct in seeing that the forward rail button appears to be on a tall standoff?

 

[Ryan S.]

wow that thing is awesome, I like how the motor is recessed in the body. Did you turn it out of foam?


Very very cool

 

[BlueNinja]

I like it, but I think a 29mm version would be cool too.

 

[shockwaveriderz]

ahhh I don't want to bust anybodies bubbles here, but Centuri had a "ducted fan" kinda rocket back in the 70's....

It was called The Point....of course it is slightly different from this 2004 version in the ducted fan part is towards the front and not the back....

https://www.dars.org/jimz/kc-13.htm

and then of course Shadow Aero more recently had a SPrint ABM"
https://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews/oop/sdw_sprint_abm.html

of course it was a true conical rocket with no ducting as far as I can tell

"what goes around comes back again and again"

I recently was looking at this Point and old Model Rocketry magazine article about the stability of Conical rockets when I had a similar idea to use small body tubes at the base of a conical rocket as inlets to help guide it....
https://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/rockets/ModelRocketry/Model_Rocketry_v02n01_10-69.pdf

But your model does look really cool......I personally think it would sell in smaller versions....good luck

 

[Missileman]

That thing is WICKED!!!
OK I want one.
Where do I sign?

 

[rocwizard]

Very cool Ben! that thing has upscale written all over it!

Mark me down for one too

 

[Chilly]

I'd be interested in one, depending on the price. Would it fly on 29mm H motors too?

 

[Ryan S.]

thats true shockwave, but none of those compare to this thing.

 

[Steward]

They are all cool...but I have to agree it's like comparing apples and oranges...great job...!!!

 

[daveyfire]

Ben -- that's way cool, I'd buy one. Oh, and I expect to see a giant hybrid-powered version at BALLS this year

 

[KermieD]

If the estimated price point is good, I'm in too, for the 38mm version too. Very nice and don't be discouraged by the Centuri thing. How many companies come up with a 3 or 4 FNC rocket and put new decals on it and call it a new model? This thing is great!

 

[Stewart32]

yes....evil is a good description, great looking unique bird....How much?

 

[benjarvis]

Originally posted by lalligood
That design is *SICK*.

And I love it

It's hard to tell exactly in the pics but it's designed to fly off a rail only, right? And am I correct in seeing that the forward rail button appears to be on a tall standoff?

The prototype has rail buttons... yes, the top button is affixed to the end of an aerofoiled, swept standoff. The initial plan was to have a ring of four small fins at that point and stick the railbutton on the end of one of them, but it is so small that it doesn't make much of an aerodynamic difference to the rocket's flight as-is.

Initially I had hoped to make a custom launcher with four rods that go up through the ducts... but both the issues of productionisation of something that custom, and the fact that the cone is so shallow that it turns out the ducts aren't long enough for a rod to go through straight, I gave up and opted for a standard rail launch of the thing for now.


In response to notes about the originality of the design... yep, I've seen other cone rockets, the sprint ABM was actually one of the inspirations for this design and has always been one of my favourite missiles... and yes, there have also been other ducted rockets... a close friend once made one called 'Duct a'l orange' which flew quite well...

This is however the only aft-ducted cone I've ever seen... and I sure don't see anything even half as unique in the HPR kit market at the mo


Thanks all for your interest... I will post back and update you all as/when/if anything develops on the manufacture of this as a kit.


Best wishes


Ben

 

[DynaSoar]

It's hard to see. It moves too fast just sitting there. Kit? Sure. I'd even pay for just the plans. That thing could be in a movie. It just screams "black ops".

 

[wyldbill]

Nice bit of work. Seems like some sort of rear ejection scheme could work here as well, making the lines even cleaner.

-bill

 

[benjarvis]

Originally posted by wyldbill
Nice bit of work. Seems like some sort of rear ejection scheme could work here as well, making the lines even cleaner.

-bill

That's how the 2-stage recovery on the next one will work ;-)



Ben

 

[wyldbill]

MOST excellent!

 

[lalligood]

This thread has been awfully quiet for a while now. One of my rocket buddies always asks me "Have you heard anything new about that black cone HPR?"

"No. I need to look at that next time I'm on TRF..." And then I promptly forget. Until now.

Even if it were to never formalize as a complete kit, just the plans would be awesome!
Thanks.

 

[shrox]

Geez, I have one like that!

shrox

 

[sandman]

I wanted to revive this thread.

I saw this model when I went to England 2 years ago and I gotta say I can't get this design out of my head.

benjarvis, are you still out there?

I'd like to reproduce this design with a 24mm motor mount.

 

[melsman]

... and here I am, reading it like it's a new post! Must pay attention to the post dates.

Duct a l'orange - That's funny, right there. I love some of these inventive names. One could have tons of fun naming a "ducted" rocket

- For a rocket that CATO's - Roast Duct
- For an unstable ducted rocket - Wild Duct
- A rocket with an Asian paint scheme ... wait for it - Peking Duct

etc.

Ashley

 

[robshe01]

and for the after party.......

Cold Duct

you knew it was coming.

 

[GaryT]

Very Interesting, is it or can it be made DD? whats its weight? How bout a 54mm Version? I'd be interested in looking at it further anyway. Thanks! & Good Luck.

PS Talk to Scott over at BSD?

 

[ttabbal]

I want one too. I might even attempt a scratch build along those lines just for kicks. If someone sells a kit for 38mm or 54mm I'd be all over it.