Name That Rocket

[Jacob Hudson]

Launched it twice on a really windy day. Both did well stability wise with an altitude in the 500' range on Estes D12s. First launch got the shroud lines a bit tangled which was probably a blessing considering the wind. Switched to a 96" x 2" mylar streamer for the 2nd launch and still had to trec a bit for a successful recovery.

Since this thread has come back to life for a bit I might as well throw it open for ideas again. Finances have necessitated scrounging through the bit's and pieces boxes and I've got enough on hand for 2 or 3 builds. I only have the OR picture studio rendition of the 1st one (enough construction is done for me to start priming tomorrow) so it'll have to do for now.
View attachment 488310

I know thats true of jellied toast...

 

[KenECoyote]

Since this thread has come back to life for a bit I might as well throw it open for ideas again. Finances have necessitated scrounging through the bit's and pieces boxes and I've got enough on hand for 2 or 3 builds. I only have the OR picture studio rendition of the 1st one (enough construction is done for me to start priming tomorrow) so it'll have to do for now.
View attachment 488310

Potato Masher!

 

[Old School Doug]

So....I got a little ahead of myself. I neglected to fully explore the stability probability of the initial design before opening it up for a possible name. After much noodling I came to the conclusion that the amount of forward weight needed to achieve stability just wasn't practical. Going back to square one and doing ALL the needed calculations this time around, the new version is slightly longer and uses a 4" ring instead of a 2.6" and the length is reduced from 3.375" to 2". May seem a little bland but I'm still working with whatever extra parts are on hand.

 

[jqavins]

Yeah, my mind sim says that looks a lot better.

 

[BABAR]

I was just sitting here thinking about flying plungers and was doodling..........and then it hit me. I've done something like this already. It's a 2.6" BT 54" long and weighs 19 ounces. The bell on the bottom is half of an 8" hollow styrafoam ball. I call it Half Moon. I is rocket #108. Now I'll go back to thinking about plungers.View attachment 488465

Good thing about plungers, if they land on smooth concrete they can really stick the landing.

 

[teepot]

My question on a flying plunger is. Do I fly an actual plunger or a stylized plunger, a super plunger. I can go either way. I have given this some thought.

 

[BABAR]

My question on a flying plunger is. Do I fly an actual plunger or a stylized plunger, a super plunger. I can go either way. I have given this some thought.

Breaking it down (or unclogging it), I don’t think you can fly a complete “real” plunger, as that would involve the stick and wouldn’t have room for recovery gear.

so I think the closest thing would be using a real rubber plunger head with a proportional cardboard and/or fiberglass tube as the handle and a hemispherical nose cone. Problem with this is proportionality. The real rubber plunger piece can give you enough drag for stability, especially if you add nose weight, but recovery space is gonna be tight.

old trick I used in grade school projects, never tried it in a rocket, was to inflate a balloon, use newspaper strips soaked in flour/water to make paper mache

(brief search came up with a recipe, I can’t vouch for it)

https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/no-cook-paper-mache-paste-recipe-1253087
cover the ballon with at least two layers, hang by nozzle and allow to dry completely. Once dry pop and remove the balloon.

I am wondering if you could use fiberglass cloth either in top of or instead of the newspaper. I don’t mess with fiberglass, don’t need it for low power and since I build indoors while watching TV with my wife, epoxy and other smelly/toxic fume generators aren’t an option for me.

instead of a ballon, might be able to do the same thing on top surface of a Vaseline coated plunger to get curves right.

in any case, this may give you the look you want without the weight you don’t.

you can always use the @Daddyisabar solution and put tractors up front, but I think it would degrade the aesthetics.

if you do build it, you absolutely have to fly it on a Skidmark motor.

 

[teepot]

On a real plunger I thought tumble recovery or replacing the stick with a body tube and half a plastic ball for the nose cone. I am concerned about the space for a chute. Those thoughts lead me to a stylized plunger using a 12" bowl for the plunger bell and a large enough body tube for a chute. I was thinking an H115DM if it's light enough.

 

[jqavins]

I was thinking that a real rubber plunger at the tail would be out of the question because it puts a lot of mass at the wrong end of the rocket, a scale tube wouldn't leave leave room for a parachute nearly big enough for such a heavy thing, might not leave enough room for the amount of nose weight you'd need to counter the tail weight, and wouldn't be big enough to take a motor that will get that whole thing off the ground. In short, the weight of the rubber bottom and various consequences thereof.

So, an upscale with a light-weight bottom. An actual scale might work with a light plunger head, such as the papier mache solution, but I'd want an upscale in order to have room for a good size parachute. Typical plunger handles are, I think, 1.2 inches in diameter (the same as smaller broom handles, even with the same thread) so BT-52 is just about perfect. Even papier mache isn't light, nose weight will be needed, and I'd want a bigger chute. So I'd upscale.

 

[Long_Gone]

Rod from the Gods!!!!

 

[Dave Pritts]

ZUULL!

 

[Old School Doug]

Gold Digger

Thanks for the idea Kevin. I've decided to rename a build I just completed yesterday from Gold Dust to Gold Digger. It's hard to tell from the picture unless you really enlarge it but there is a very light over-spray of metallic gold over the entire rocket.

 

[KevinT]

Awesome!

 

[Old School Doug]

Well the build is done. Now comes the hard part (for me at least), choosing the name. I've boiled it down to three, 2 from all the great suggestions here.....ZUULL or Fence Post. And 1 suggested by a friend....Fire Ring.

 

[kzimmerman]

Nail.

 

[Scotty Dog]

Nail.

Brad

 

[jqavins]

Oh, Janet.

 

[KevinT]

Nailed IT!

 

[Old School Doug]

Oh, Janet.

"It's just a jump to the left"

 

[RocketRev]

Brad

Uh........ getting kind of personal aren't we? LOL!

How about "Take the Plunge"

Brad

 

[Old School Doug]

Kevin might get a two-fer. So far I think Nailed It might just be the one.!!

 

[KevinT]

Glad you liked it