UFO

[SkyFire]

Saw this posted on the forum sometime back;

 

[kuririn]

Looks like an Art Applewhite Delta saucer.

 

[Kelly]

Looks like an Art Applewhite Delta saucer.

Yep, I have one just like it in 18mm. Great backyard flyer.

 

[teepot]

Now I have to go find some lamp shades to try and make something similar.

 

[BABAR]

Now I have to go find some lamp shades to try and make something similar.

You must be fun at parties!

 

[Dotini]

I have made and flown a semi-scale model of a UFO seen over Africa in the 50's/60's, reported to be 70 meters in length. Note image 3rd from left on second row below.

The Animist, 8.5" in length and 0.62 oz, flies exceptionally well, but lacks an acceptable recovery system. More advanced versions are now in production.

I take it that the three circumferential bands are symbolic of universal consciousness and life. In homage to this African tribal philosophy I have named it the Animist.

 

[BABAR]

I have made and flown a semi-scale model of a UFO seen over Africa in the 50's/60's, reported to be 70 meters in length. Note image 3rd from left on second row below.

View attachment 455495

The Animist, 8.5" in length and 0.9 oz, flies exceptionally well, but lacks an acceptable recovery system. More advanced versions are now in production.

I take it that the three circumferential bands are symbolic of universal consciousness and unity. In homage to this African tribal philosophy I have named it the Animist.

love the rocket? Why the probs with recovery? Put some windows in the rings, eject (and completely separate) the nose with its own streamer, and you have perfect horizontal spin for the rear half.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/bail-out-bill-and-the-horizontal-spin-recovery-rocket.147210/

 

[Dotini]

Amazing! I have bookmarked that for further study. I have a philosophical problem with parachutes, and doing without streamers would be nice, too. I admire all the variations of tumble/spin recovery.

The prototype I made was really for stability research. I was afraid to drill out the tiny BT5 balsa transition for ejection passage into the payload section. I'm doing that now on my new, bigger model with beefier transition.

 

[BABAR]

You may like these.

nice for small fields

http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/eirp_40.htm
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-new-rockets/estes-85260-wacky-wiggler-model-rocket-kit
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/viagara-segmented-rocket.149664/
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/rebuilt-viagara-better-flight.151946/

 

[Dotini]

You may like these.

nice for small fields

http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/eirp_40.htm
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-new-rockets/estes-85260-wacky-wiggler-model-rocket-kit
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/viagara-segmented-rocket.149664/
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/rebuilt-viagara-better-flight.151946/

I like these very much. By necessity my involvement in model rocketry is restricted to smaller fields, so I'm looking to expand my fleet in the direction of models which don't drift or wander about in the wind on the way down.

Do you have any additional photos of the ring section available to post on your Bail Out Bill and the Horizontal Spin Recovery rocket? I'd very much like to try building something along those lines!! With people like you, my dreams are coming true about the value of this forum.

 

[neil_w]

For small field flying I am obligated to recommend the Estes Quinstar. Fun to build, fun to fly, lands 10' from the pad. Build it with a 24mm mount, which is a super-easy mod in this rocket (mainly, just leave out the motor mount, and install the hook onto the core BT50.)

https://estesrockets.com/product/007241-quinstar/

 

[BABAR]

I like these very much. By necessity my involvement in model rocketry is restricted to smaller fields, so I'm looking to expand my fleet in the direction of models which don't drift or wander about in the wind on the way down.

Do you have any additional photos of the ring section available to post on your Bail Out Bill and the Horizontal Spin Recovery rocket? I'd very much like to try building something along those lines!! With people like you, my dreams are coming true about the value of this forum.

You have seen these, but pic 3 shows it best

Think of a water wheel.

use any number of fins, although I think 4 is the best balance between strength and practicality.

lots of sources for rings. Large Body tubes are the lightest, but cardboard “cans” like those with Pringles or Almonds work well.

attach like any ring fin. After attachment (or before, if you can figure out placement) cut “windows” in the ring. Pick a direction, clockwise or counter, direction doesn’t matter but consistency for the specific rocket does. Put all the windows just clockwise of each fin. I have no tested numbers to use, I would say the area should be at least 1/4 of the total ring area for each fin to fin segment.

importantly, this does NOT get you out of “chute or streamer land”, at least with my designs you MUST jettison the nose weight, so that does require at least a streamer and it also means you have two things to track, the body AND the nose. I’d put a 2 inch x 2 foot orange or yellow crepe paper streamer on the nose, and if flying by myself concentrate on keeping track of the body on descent. It’s amazing how hard it can be to track with no chute or streamer on it. I figure I can probably find the nose with a a big bright streamer waving in the lightest breeze. YMMV.

other options for small fields include the Apogee Texas Twister or upscale Twinkle Toes, the latter is a work in progress.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/twinkle-toes-march-4-launch.165141/
https://www.apogeerockets.com/Rocket-Kits/Skill-Level-3-Model-Rocket-Kits/Texas-Twister

 

[DeWain]

I think that the one on the chart just to the right of Dotini's is actually a hot dog that went flying through the air after its owner slipped on some mustard and ketchup. Two rows below that is a bicycle seat that went flying through the air after the rider face planted.

 

[Dotini]

Here are a few more of my "UFO" style odd rocs:


From left, Blender, Mega-Vortico, and Birdie.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

I like these very much. By necessity my involvement in model rocketry is restricted to smaller fields, so I'm looking to expand my fleet in the direction of models which don't drift or wander about in the wind on the way down.

Small cone rockets (aka "Party Hat") do well in small fields, as do spool rockets. Looking at the UFO chart above, and going with the "hat" theme, I can see a "Derby" (hemisphere on top with a ring "rim") and a "Sun Hat" (flattened hemisphere with wide "brim".

 

[KenECoyote]

Yep, I have one just like it in 18mm. Great backyard flyer.

Me too! I think I might even have the one in the pic in my treasure chest somewhere.

18mm:

It also has angled vanes at the bottom for spin in descent


Here's also a Rocketarium one I custom modded for more "UFOness" (it even had colored blinking lights in the cockpit at one point):

 

[Devin Batten]

I love oddrocs. I have the 18, 24, and 29mm deltas and the 29mm priority stealth. And A dollar tree bucket that are my go to for easy recovery or night launches. Along with a yet to be flown Cool Spool.

 

[kuririn]

Allright! It's show us your saucers time.
Chee huuuu! (That's local lingo for yee haww).

Nano Rocketry Nano Saucers


Quest Micromaxx brick. er, saucer


Fliskits Triple Threat


Quest Planet Probe



Semroc Jupiter B


And back to the Art Applewhite Delta Saucer



And IMHO, not all round oddrocs are saucers.
Just sayin'.
Laters.

 

[KenECoyote]

OMG I just had an idea for a crazy cool UFO saucer rocket...hinged flaps on top that are closed on boost and would open at an angle on descent causing it to spin recover... I'll also add lights and maybe whistles.

I wish I had enough time to build all the ideas in my head...

 

[teepot]

Here is a couple of mine. The first one has flown a few times. The second one has not. The second one has opposed motor mounts so that it will spin. I will have to make bigger payload bays for larger chutes to fly it. Someday.

 

[Rocketjunkie]

I built a saucer so I could fly my N800 at Orangeburg. I get 1100 feet with it in the 40" saucer. In development, I also made 24 and 54 mm versions.
54 mm

98 mm

98 mm at night

 

[Adam3836]

I built a saucer so I could fly my N800 at Orangeburg. I get 1100 feet with it in the 40" saucer. In development, I also made 24 and 54 mm versions.
54 mm

98 mm

98 mm at night

Wow !!! Pretty cool

 

[Dotini]

I've been fascinated with UFOs since the 50's. UFOs - or UAPs - as the NY Times, US Navy and Pentagon now like to call them, come in a bewildering variety of designs. I have constructed but not flown a semi-scale model of the state-crossing Phoenix '97 UFO, sometimes described as a black two mile wide vee with amber lights on the bottom. The black triangle UFO with lights on the corners and center seen worldwide since the early 80's might be another fun problem to model semi-scale. The US Navy is now reporting "black cube inside a clear sphere" objects pestering operations in the Atlantic and beyond in 2014/15, encountered by at least 60 airmen.