Lakeroadster's Hot Air Balloon Rocket

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Whichever way the spinner is spinning, the rest of the rocket will spin the other way. It’s creative, but I’m not seeing a nice stable flight. The mass (and speed) of the spinner matters a lot.

And the smoke will form a corkscrew.

That said, I think you have your own personal field with not a cat in sight for miles and in that case I don’t know the rules so m’eh.
 
how/when do you spin it up?

When it's on the pad.​
  • Launch controller safety pin removed,
  • Igniter clips connected,
  • Grasp the balloon top with one hand,
  • Pull the gyro string that's hanging out of the balloon, with the other hand,
  • Jog to controller,
  • Insert safety pin,
  • Range clear,
  • Sky clear,
  • 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
  • Launch
.... gyro spins for 2 min 30 seconds​
.... flight time is 16.4 seconds on a D12, 23.9 seconds on an E12​
 
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..... for future (what are they talking about) history
who tied that cool popper fly?

an expert, before I got messed up I did pretty good but my son, when he was in high school, was trying decorative salmon flies. I will put up a picture after I take one. one.

hobie1dog Avatar Fishing Fly 2022-09-09.jpg
 
Whichever way the spinner is spinning, the rest of the rocket will spin the other way.
Thanks for the reply. If you could help me to understand your concerns, it would be appreciated.​
You've mentioned the spinning concerns a number of times, but I am curious why it concerns you?​
If you spin a gyro up, and set it down, the cage does spin. But in comparison to the disk rpm, it's negligible. The gyro cage is attached to the rocket, so the force it takes to spin the rocket / gyro cage sub-ass'y means that rotation will be dampened dramatically.​
So what if the rocket does spin some? I don't see that as being a detriment.​

It’s creative, but I’m not seeing a nice stable flight. The mass (and speed) of the spinner matters a lot.
That's the challenge. No simulation, just an idea, put to the test.​

And the smoke will form a corkscrew.
Maybe, but, that's a neat visual.​

That said, I think you have your own personal field with not a cat in sight for miles and in that case I don’t know the rules so m’eh.
The various furry woodland predators tend to help minimize the cat population here. In regard to the rules, I strictly follow NAR specifications, unless I'm overlooking something? The launch field far exceeds the distance that this LPR rocket could possibly travel, in any direction.​
 
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Whichever way the spinner is spinning, the rest of the rocket will spin the other way.
Since it's a string-pull gyro, not motorized, then the rocket will spin in the SAME direction as the spinner.

Probably not a big deal as long as the Cg is located right along the central axis.
 
The problem is the Fins; the corrective force now acts to precess the gyro. :) You will need fins, the accelleration of the engine makes the bearing the gyro is spinning on, drag, which will make it precess in a random direction.
I used an electric motor with a weight, to do a guided rc rocket when I was young, Too young to know that directing a rocket into a brick wall that didn't belong to me was a really bad idea. :) By speeding up/slowing the motor, I could guide the rocket after a fashion. It wasn't pretty, but it was good enough to get me grounded for a month.
 
The problem is the Fins; the corrective force now acts to precess the gyro. :) You will need fins, the accelleration of the engine makes the bearing the gyro is spinning on, drag, which will make it precess in a random direction.
I used an electric motor with a weight, to do a guided rc rocket when I was young, Too young to know that directing a rocket into a brick wall that didn't belong to me was a really bad idea. :) By speeding up/slowing the motor, I could guide the rocket after a fashion. It wasn't pretty, but it was good enough to get me grounded for a month.

So you're thinking the thrust of the motor will increase the drag on the gyro bearings to the point that the gyro will no longer spin?
 
No, but it will add enough friction that the rocket swerves. edit: obviously, it depends on the bearings. I used a jewel out of a large clock. It still rotated ~60 degrees as it came off the pad. You just had to deal with which way it went, and guide from there. All the control I had was speed up/down, using a walkie talkie, lol. It was two opposing directions, and hit the building. :) After a few tries.
 
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The magnitude of the swerve depends on bearings. My first effort just flopped around on the ground. That was with the 'stock' bearings it came with.
I love to learn new things. From this effort I learned to be more circumspect about where I tested things, lol. Probably not what the adults were going for.
 
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