Min speed off rail to be stable?

[maddmaxx11]

What would be a minimum speed in ft/sec or mph off the end of the rail for a stable rocket(2+ calibers etc.) to be safe?

 

[Egoldee]

30 ft/s is minimum to be safe.
But I think most people prefer closer to 50 ft/s myself included.

 

[Banzai88]

There was another thread recently that hashed it out (yet again). No real consensus, since there are a few atmospheric conditions that vary day to day and launch site to launch site, but the range of 40-50FPS is usually where most folks target.

 

[SolarYellow]

It will depend on the characteristics of the specific rocket, as well as atmospheric conditions.

Open Rocket outputs data for the whole simulation. You can see what the effective stability factor is from the point you clear the rod to ejection. If I'm pushing the 1.0 caliber boundary with a design, I'll look at what the stability is at the point it clears the rod and how much time and distance it takes to get to 1.0. I might bump up the primary-reported value a little to get closer or equal to 1.0 at the point it clears the rod.

 

[rharshberger]

Banzai88 pretty well summed it up....but for some people who like pain here is a link to the recent thread.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/off-the-rail-velocity-poll.175241/page-3