I'm offended! No one loves the Satellite Killer?

[TomSmith58]

I did a search and apparently few people appreciate the coolness of this rocket. I'm offended I tell you! Did I tell you I'm offended?

I bought on from eRockets and shoved it to the front of the build pile. Started on it today.

I also did my usual. I scanned the laser cut parts and will measure the rest. I will CAD it up. Overkill for an of the shelf kit.

I plan to do an upscale, but nothing like Punk Rocket Science. No 9 ft span monster for me. I'm thinking some decent God-fearing 29mm or such like. I want to be able to take it to BLM land and legally launch it.

I'll detail my kit exploits here and later, two years from now ( super busy you know ) I'll put the upscale on the Mid-powered part of the forum.

 

[TomSmith58]

Here is what I have scanned so far.

Here is a five fin guide. It is a pdf. I don't know if it will come out properly on the forum. I may have to e-mail it to whoever wants it.

View attachment Fin Guide.pdf

Here are the decals in pdf format
View attachment decals.pdf

 

[rharshberger]

Got a scan of the fins with a ruler for scale? The other pdf's work good. What tube are used for the ring, outer tubes, I am assuming the motor mount is a BT-20. Thanks for sharing.

 

[GlenP]

Just when I thought the Alien Scoutship Flying Saucer was the coolest model rocket ever, they released the Satellite Killer. Lost mine to an unfortunate ground accident (stepped on it) back in the day. But, recently got the SEMROC kit from eRockets, they substitute waterslide decals for the original metallic peel-and-stickers, which were really cool looking. I tried using a metallic rattle-can spray paint to compensate. I posted a pic of it with a cardstock interpretation of the Red Eye in the Centuri Gallery. This was one of my favorites when it came out.


Satellites and Asteroids beware.


War in SPACE!

 

[TomSmith58]

I didn't realize the old decals were metallic. I'll see about making my upscale version that way

 

[GlenP]

I think an upscale would need to have stronger support fins, maybe add another dowel to the top leading edge. Those large solar panels on the end of those thin supports just look like they might be prone to flutter if you upscale them and push them faster during boost. Depends on your construction materials I guess.

 

[TomSmith58]

Nothing wrong with 3/16 to 1/4 plywood. That would certainly be stiff.

I'm wondering what would happen if I put domes on the end of the five cylinders. They look like the want to be propellant tanks to me. The solar panels are draggy. Would putting end domes on the tanks put the drag through the roof? I could do a test case on an unscaled version of the Satellite Killer.

 

[GlenP]

The chute blocks one of them, you could test with one additional blocked tube, then add one at a time to see how it flies, not sure how it would fly with all five covered, that is a lot of base drag and might introduce Krushnic effect in reducing the thrust also, maybe?

 

[GlenP]

You could approximate the shape of a round tank dome with two flat fins at 90 deg to give the profile view, and still allow air to flow through the tubes...

 

[mwtoelle]

Nothing wrong with 3/16 to 1/4 plywood. That would certainly be stiff.

The solar panels are draggy.

I would probably use reinforced fiberglass instead of the plywood. There are many cool LPR design that do not scale up very well because of the increased aerodynamic loads that occur when scaling up the size of the rocket and the motor. Remember that drag goes up with square of velocity.

 

[K'Tesh]

Dang... In looking over this kit, and those fins, I've come to the determination that there is no really good way to sim it using OR... yet. Maybe with the next release, I'll give it a try.

 

[new2hpr]

Very cool! Remember, just because you're upscaling doesn't mean that you have to upscale the velocity along with it. There are plenty of low thrust, long burn HPR motors. Just keep the weight down and watch that stability!
-Ken

 

[grapetang]

It's a really cool design! I love how unconventional it is, and had both the Satellite Killer & Red Eye in my youth but never built them. Sadly, they're both lost now.
Can you tackle the PunkRocketScience upscale version afterwards?

 

[terryg]

Arizona Rocketry Teams upscale:

https://fotos.nahcpj.com/jd_satkiller2014/2016_springfest

 

[MALBAR 70]

I too had the Centuri Satellite Killer when I was a kid, sadly it was destroyed before it ever flew.
I was thrilled when Semroc released the Satellite Killer and bought one immediately.
Here it is, sans radar dish.

 

[GlenP]

That upscale appears to have a stiffener dowel on the top of the fins, and hard to see in the pictures but looks like they use several guy wires, not sure what they are made of, kind of like on the old Barnstormer biplanes, that is a good idea to keep the fins and solar panels stable. Too bad they did not use rear-eject, it seems that the main chute got tangled up.

 

[TomSmith58]

That is much more of an upscale than I am thinking of. I think a G motor is big enough. Seeing the damage from that big one gets me thinking. It would be easy to put stiffeners that stabilizes the fins and prevented that sort of collapse. I'll look more closely at he photos to try and see the guy wires. I might try fiberglass rod diagonals in plane with the bottom of the fins.

 

[les]

I do like a good Satellite Killer - finished this one last night

At some point I may build another and do it correctly