Gotta' be a way to make this fly

[BEC]

I grabbed one of these on a 40% off deal at Amazon and it’s been put away for a gift for young grandkids. But….after having looked at it a bit, I’m tempted to grab another and go for it. My first thought is a cluster of three Q-Jet C12-4s in the body, mounted inside a BT-60 “stuffer tube” that would house the recovery system as well. I probably would not bother with the pods just to save the additional complication. But still….

Clearly it would no longer be usable as a toy if converted to fly, but it doesn’t look impossible to do by any stretch.

Added: the deal is gone. Now 20% off….

 

[Daddyisabar]

View attachment 515173

Where is the Blue Origin logo? That would certainly get you more scale points. The Top Men would love it!

 

[brockrwood]

5:1 based on the rated average thrust. 3:1 based on the initial peak thrust. So an E12, rated average thrust of 12 N, is "allowed" to lift a rocket weighing 2.4 N (mass of 245 g).

Initial thrust is harder to define, but peak thrust is close enough if that peak occurs quickly after ignition. I've heard it said that "quickly enough" means 0.2 seconds. @kalsow says 0.3 is good enough, and I'm not arguing. And the length of the launch rod matters a whole lot.
Yeah, that. And make sure the simulation is set up with the right rod length.

Wow, this thing must be dry ice!


I propose for your consideration a completely different approach: use that whole rocket as a nose "cone", sitting on top of a 24 mm or 38 mm, 18" tall booster.

• It's weight works in your favor for stability, I'd wager by far more than the fins work against you.
• If you want the original toy part to be stable on its own, adding nose weight is not a problem since you can stick as high a thrust F of G motor in the booster as you need.
• Air starting a motor (or motors) in the toy part, if you want to, would be made easier because
  1. You've already got plenty of speed for the fins to work.
  2. It's safely away from people and things when they light.
  3. There can be plenty of room inside the booster for electronics.

For the record, my longest launch rod is 4 feet long. I have a 1/4” one and a 3/16” one. Just simple steel rods from Lowes.

 

[lakeroadster]

It would be COOL to fly the twisted fuselage jet liner that is the logo for Airplane.

 

[Daddyisabar]

View attachment 515897

Space for plenty of canted tractor motors and four widely spaced wing power pods! 3D print that nose cone. Truly an RSO Dream Boat!

 

[brockrwood]

View attachment 515897

The interweb says that the external shots of the aircraft used in the movie, Airplane, show a Boeing 707. The internal shots were a Convair 880 or 990.

Hmm. Airplane (the movie) came out in 1980. Were there a lot of 707's still flying in 1980?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080339/goofs

 

[jqavins]

But would it look good as a nose cone on a traditional 4FNC rocket? Looks are the most important aspect for your run of the mill, oddroc scum.

Well, the booster could use some dressing up, but yes, that would look awesome as the top of a stack.

Were there a lot of 707's still flying in 1980?

The 707 was in production until 1978 accordong to tne stat block, but the delivery summary further down shows 80 delivered in 1979 or later, the last one being in 1994 (14 were delivered in 1991). Given the useful lifespan of a jetliner, one must believe that there were lots of them in use in 1980. A small number are still in use today.

 

[Pem Tech]

Far Out..

Groovy

 

[Pem Tech]

Second Jive Dude : Hey, knock yo'self a pro, Slick. That gray matter backlot perform us down; I take TCBin', man!

[Subtitle: Don't be so naïve, Arthur. Each of us faces a clear moral chaise]

First Jive Dude : Hey, you know what they say. See a broad to get dat booty ac'ion...

First Jive Dude , Second Jive Dude : ...lay her down, or smack 'em, yak 'em!

[Subtitle: Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise]

First Jive Dude : Cold got to be! Y'know?

[Subtitle: How true!]

 

[brockrwood]

 

[mjennings]

Just looked at the one my kids have had for years. The plastic is pretty thick, lots of ribs that are for taking kids beating on it. If you can get it apart and treat it like a PMC build you might be able to remove a good amount of weight.

 

[brockrwood]

Just looked at the one my kids have had for years. The plastic is pretty thick, lots of ribs that are for taking kids beating on it. If you can get it apart and treat it like a PMC build you might be able to remove a good amount of weight.

PMC? So sorry for my ignorance!

 

[BEC]

"Plastic Model Conversion"

https://www.nar.org/contest-flying/...manship-competition/plastic-model-conversion/

 

[Grog6]

Airplane is on now, lol

 

[mjennings]

PMC? So sorry for my ignorance!

No worries. PMC is plastic model conversion. Not something I've attempted myself but I believe there are some old threads by @Micromeister and others on the process. Basically you build a plastic model around a motor mount, and modify for recovery. But as plastic models are not optimized for flight, lots of strategic material removal is done.