Gyskelion-- Helicopter Rocket

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Aces! That's very cool. I like it a lot. Your own design? The videos are excellent as well. You couldn't have had a better recovery for filming. I really appreciate that kind of ingenuity and creativity. Again, great job.
 
It is interesting. I have seen bits and pieces of most of those elements before but never put together like that.

To me, the big problem is automatic disqualification in competition for spitting the motor. That's allowed in the rules for sport flying but a DQ in competition.
 
Hummm. . .Where have I seen that rocket before???

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But seriously folks.

I have always liked boost gliders and heli-rockets such as this.
Living; as I do, in Oklahoma these types of rockets aren’t very practical.
The usual average wind speed in these parts has a tendency to blow then asunder.
 
That makes two rocket flying radiologists that I know about. Very nice indeed.
 
WOW, not ANOTHER rocket I want to build :D :neener:

That is a awesome design and video.
One question...Did you use nose weight, and how much???

Also love the other vid where you explain everything. Can you give more specs. like lengths of fins and rocket?
 
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No nose weight needed (the 1/8" balsa supplies a LOT of weight up front just by itself)


Parts:
Poster Paper nose-pyramid (not really a cone)
Duct tape and dental floss hinges (light, incredibly strong, not difficult to do but you do need a sewing needle)
1/8 inch balsa (need the stiffness)

Rotor Fins are 18 inches long. Front 2 inches are used to make a "hub" Angle of attack is 15 degrees.
Fin parts are 7 inches long,-- 2 inches wide) they stick out perpendicular to the rotors. They are actually attached at a 45 degree "joint"
Rotor stops are double ply 1/16 inch balsa, one piece cut with the grain, the second across the grain. When these are attached, they are very strong in any direction of stress. The are set to position the rotors at a 15 degree dihedral nose-down.
On the tips of the rotor stops are short segments of coffee stirrer straw, 1/2 diameter. This makes a "trough" to hold the pull strings away from the body of the rocket.
4 triangles are cut out of plastic "hotel key cards" (could use card stock. Cannot use balsa as needs to be strong in all directions) These are 3 7/8 on each edge, to fit just INSIDE the fins.
Two of these attach the motor mount, a 1 1/2 inch BT-20 segment, plugged at the nose end to force rear ejection. One triangle each is placed on the other two fins, they are "staggered" below the opening of the motor mount tube. Small balsa strips are used to "brace" the triangles against the fins. The central holes are just big enough to pass the BT-20.
Pull strings made of kevlar (just cuz I have a huge spindle of it) are attached to the front of the balsa hub at the base of the nose-pyramid . These run about 1/2 way down the length of the body. Small dental floss loops are attached about 1 inch up from the tail end of the rotors to hold the rubber bands. Tiny S-hooks made of paper clip wire are used to attach the rubber bands to the pull strings. These are easily released when the rocket is stored.

Two other models you might get a kick out of:

https://www.rocketreviews.com/umm-me-uranus-explorer-2-scratch-by-tom-markel.html

https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=9824
 
WOW thanks for a detailed report, Now the only thing I don't quite understand is the rotor hub assembly... Is it a triangle nose cone with a few inches of of balsa to make the hub,than the hinges with body/rotors attached?
 
The hub is just made of extensions of the balsa rotor fins, same thickness, same width. I don't have the rocket with me at the moment, I think it is about 1 1/2 inches long. I do a dental floss "wrap" around the hub just above the hinge joint that really (I think) strengthens it.

Oh yeah, the hinge joint is cut at about 15 degrees. When you build this, make sure you think about which way the rocket descends, Nose First, so you put the fins on facing the right direction. I've messed this up before, still works, but looks weird with the fins rotating in FRONT of the rotors.

The Nose-Pyramid is cut with isosceles triangles (had to look up THAT spelling). It is cut out of poster board as one piece, the base is just over 2 inches so it fits over the hub, the angles are about 25 degrees. There is a one to one and a half inch "flange" or overhang at the base end that covers the hub. A slit is cut in each flange that allows the nose to fit over the pull string attachments.

Thus the nose is REALLY light. The one thing I don't like about the design is because it comes in nose first, the nose tip "taps" against the ground. Tends to blunt the tip after a few flights. Not a big deal.

I'm currently working on the Whopper Flopper Chopper, which has folded blades, a central blade about 35 inches long, and outer blade about 33 inches, should come out to about 69 inch long blades. Counting the 15 degree dihedral, will come out to a rotor cone diameter of about 10 feet. This one, because it launches on E engines, can't spit the motor (I guess I could, but while I can get by with getting hit in the head with a C engine spit out at 200 or 300 feet, something tells me I'd be pushing it with an E:no:) The dihedral on that will be reversed, and this will drop tail (and motor mount) first.
 
Tom,

Thanks for posting all of this over here too.

As most people know, I am a rocket powered glider fanatic, but I also have done quite a bit with nonstandard sport copters as well. That is why I really like your current iteration; it appears you have 'hashed' this out over time.
 
Hummm. . .Where have I seen that rocket before???

thumbnail.aspx



But seriously folks.

I have always liked boost gliders and heli-rockets such as this.
Living; as I do, in Oklahoma these types of rockets aren’t very practical.
The usual average wind speed in these parts has a tendency to blow then asunder.


Love Krull!
 
Great design. I had been wondering why there weren't rockets that used motor retention as a hold-back mechanism. I've used it/seen it in non-copter rockets. BTW, you don't have to return the motor to the wilds from whence it came- you could tape a kevlar thread on to hold the motor on a leash.
 
The Estes Gyroc used motor retention, along with tiny tabs on the flaps, as hold-back:

1621046504795.png
 
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