I'm offering this design to NASA for their manned mission to Mars.

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Senior Space Cadet

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I'm sure they will jump on it.
I took this photo at an industrial park where I've done thousands of hill repeats, cycling, hiking, and running, over the years.
After taking the photo, I put on a backpack and hiked up and down a short, steep hill, repeatedly (What fun!).
While doing this, it occurred to me that I could not only save this design, I could save this rocket.
The object of this rocket was never to set an altitude record, and it won't. It was to make a lot of flame and smoke. That might be out, mostly.
If I forget about putting engines in the external pods, and instead, get long point nosecones to put on the bottom, so that they are, essentially, teardrop shaped, it would look pretty cool and not have a ridiculous amount of drag, only an excessive amount. I'd probably have to put on different fins and I might shorten the main tube. The main tube is 24mm. If I used a 24mm motor, it would still make quite a bit of flame.
Maybe I should have given it a coat of paint for the photo, but I think you get the idea.
 

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The video seems to be of something completely different, but considering how many people are designing model rockets, and have been doing so for a long time, I'd be very, very surprised if no one had come up with a rocket similar to mine. But you have to admit, for someone that has been doing it about two weeks, it's pretty outside the box.
In this case, outside the box didn't really work, so I'm going back inside the box for a while.
 
The video seems to be of something completely different, but considering how many people are designing model rockets, and have been doing so for a long time, I'd be very, very surprised if no one had come up with a rocket similar to mine. But you have to admit, for someone that has been doing it about two weeks, it's pretty outside the box.
In this case, outside the box didn't really work, so I'm going back inside the box for a while.

Go ahead and build it. It has huge fins, it should be stable. Potentially issues.
Is there a motor in the main section to deploy recovery? If not, are you ducting the forward tractor motors for rear eject?

You will need a “dangling” whip clip to light your forward cluster. “Dangling” means wires need to “fall away” so they don’t catch on you fins. Also need a 12 volt source and recommend “dipped” igniters for more reliable ignition. I would specifically NOT recommend this design as your FIRST cluster attempt.

It’s good to think outside the box. Sometimes people either new to Rocketry or returning from a hiatus don’t know why the walls of the box are there, and not infrequently find the “walls” are not as fixed as they seem.

Classically it was stated for years that the minimum number of fins on a rocket was three.

Take a look at this

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/summer-buildoff-roc-n-roll-flying-v-guitar.134436/page-5
2 fins

And this

https://www.rocketreviews.com/oddl-rockets-corkscrew.html
One fin.
 
I know it has fins but maybe read about the rocket pendulum fallacy if you think putting motors on the top is any different from motors on the bottom
 
"The object of this rocket was never to set an altitude record, and it won't. It was to make a lot of flame and smoke."

Ya know, while some rocketeers do appreciate a big black smoke trail as BYPRODUCT of the motor thrust (I think a motor called Smoky Sam as well as the newer QJets provide this), making a lot of smoke and making ANY significant flame should NEVER be the OBJECT of ANY model rocket. Lots of other cool goals, including making a weird looking rocket that still flies with a net straight trajectory and recovers safely, all good. Intentionally creating "a lot of flame and smoke" as your object... I don't know what hobby that fits into but it is NOT model rocketry. Exception perhaps for the pinwheel rockets in Asia, those are cool. They look incredibly dangerous and I think are 30 foot diameter and aren't something flown by any club in US, to my knowledge.

Get Stine's book, Handbook of Model Rocketry. Don't build ANY scratchers until you read the first few chapters. Some of your posts kind of have me worried. Maybe you are just teasing.
 
"The object of this rocket was never to set an altitude record, and it won't. It was to make a lot of flame and smoke."

Ya know, while some rocketeers do appreciate a big black smoke trail as BYPRODUCT of the motor thrust (I think a motor called Smoky Sam as well as the newer QJets provide this), making a lot of smoke and making ANY significant flame should NEVER be the OBJECT of ANY model rocket. Lots of other cool goals, including making a weird looking rocket that still flies with a net straight trajectory and recovers safely, all good. Intentionally creating "a lot of flame and smoke" as your object... I don't know what hobby that fits into but it is NOT model rocketry. Exception perhaps for the pinwheel rockets in Asia, those are cool. They look incredibly dangerous and I think are 30 foot diameter and aren't something flown by any club in US, to my knowledge.

Get Stine's book, Handbook of Model Rocketry. Don't build ANY scratchers until you read the first few chapters. Some of your posts kind of have me worried. Maybe you are just teasing.
Hmm, yet sparkies exist. If you see a big sparky motor, you know it's nothing but smoke, flame, and noise. That's the whole purpose of the motor and folks pay a big performance penalty for that privilege. Clearly they have safety issues in regards to starting ground fires but they are a part of the hobby and are certified to fly at both NAR and TRA launches.

Same with the Smokey Sam and similar motors from other vendors. They are motors made with the intent of producing a lot of smoke - it's not a byproduct, it's the intended design of the motor. Again, flyers take a performance hit to fly those motors just for the smoke effect.


Tony

here's an example of an Aerotech Metalstorm motor - nothing but smoke, flame, and noise:
sparky.jpg
 
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