Largest L/P Cluster

[Bowhunter]

What is the largest low power cluster youve seen or have?

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by Bowhunter
What is the largest low power cluster youve seen or have?

I think the biggest commercially available LPR cluster rocket you can purchase would be the Semroc Hydra VII which has a 7-motor cluster mount.

As for a rocketry record, the "Maxi-D" flown at LRDS 22 (where Discovery's "Rocket Challenge" was filmed) had somewhere in the neighborhood of 325 D-motors.

 

[Donaldsrockets]

Originally posted by eugenefl

As for a rocketry record, the "Maxi-D" flown at LRDS 22 (where Discovery's "Rocket Challenge" was filmed) had somewhere in the neighborhood of 325 D-motors.

Yeah I saw that, I believe it had 316 Estes D11-P motors in it. I belive only half of them lit via flash pan ignition and it crashed and received major damage.

BTW, I wasn't at LDRS 22, I just saw it on the Discovery Channel.

I also read somewhere that they said that it would have been equivelant to an M3333 had they all lit.

 

[rabidsheeep]

he also had a previous one that was a successful launch i think

 

[hokkyokusei]

I've made scratch built rockets that had:
3 x 13mm
3 x 18mm
4 x 18mm
5 x 18mm
6 x 24mm
1 x 24mm & 8 x 13mm
1 x 40mm & 11 x 10mm (odd motor sizes, I know!)

Phoenix rocketry's Mighty Kat has 7 x 18mm & 1 x 24mm mount.

I like clusters

 

[lalligood]

OTOH, the physically largest LPR cluster kit available is the FlisKits Richter Recker. It's can be flown on 3 D12-5s (while managing to stay under the 1 pound limit so FAA notification is required) or 3 E9-6s. It stands over 7 and a half feet tall, recovers under 2 chutes, and separates in the middle (also making it easier to transport!) Excellent kit.

 

[marvSRG]

For me, see my avatar and more info is under Fragile: Handle With Care section in the "Joint Projects" link on www.geocities.com/mcrocketprojects. And yeah, the biggest cluster I know of is the Drake-Lee M3333 D motor cluster @ LDRS 22, but that was unsuccessful as previously mentioned. The mini version of that flew on the same amount of A10's or A3's at an Argonia Airfest launch in later 90's. AFAIK, that was successful...the info for that was on last years LDRS site in the explanation of the M3333 Maxie D project.

 

[adrian]

Originally posted by lalligood
OTOH, the physically largest LPR cluster kit available is the FlisKits Richter Recker.

No it isn't. Look what German company Das Modell has to offer - scroll down the page, find the V-2, observe that it goes up on 10 D's and 4 C's. (The text is in German, but "10 x D7-3" and "4 x C6-3" does not need translating. ;D)

The biggest pure LPR cluster I've personally seen was Blackbird 1. Powered by a total of 32 BP motors of various types, none larger than a D, half of them in quad-cluster strap-on boosters. Unfortunately, what was in the main body didn't have enough ejection power to kick out the nose cone, so it went up fast and came down fast.

My own personal biggest is Titanic, with a D12-5 and two C6-5's in the sustainer, and two C6-0 strap-on boosters. And provision for another four boosters, although I've never tried flying it with the full load. Yet...

 

[jflis]

bummer...

 

[Micromeister]

Depends on weather your flying under the 1lb 454g Model Rocket 113g propellant limits or LMR 125g propellant limit with a 1500 total lift off weight.
I've done 8 MM-1 motors, 8 C6 motors
but the max for D12's is 5 with 24.93g of propellant each. C6 you can go to 10

 

[Donaldsrockets]

Originally posted by jflis
bummer...

It's ok Jim.

Add another 3-4 feet to the Richter Recker.

Ok since it's obviously NOT the largest cluster, I do believe it may be the most popular one though.

 

[nomopbo]

Check out "Darth Maul's Revenge" at the bottom of this page!
https://vatsaas.org/rtv/cinema/cinema.aspx

A 36 motor cluster -- one G55, six F24's, six E9's, and 23 C6's. This is equivalent to a J391 with 735Ns of impulse. Incredibly, all thirty-six motors lit and powered the rocket to 1849 feet.

Great video too!

 

[nomopbo]

Oh and a cool picture to boot!

 

[Micromeister]

All that! 36 motors and you only got 1849 feet?
Shoot 6 - C6's got this bird 2185 feet and didn't toast the model
Guess there really is a limit in weight to thrust trade-offs