visibility of silver rockets?

[waltr]

I'm beginning to believe that if there's trees visible anywhere you look, you need a 140db beeper, as the rocket will end up there

And a 40 foot lineman's pole to retrieve it.

 

[lakeroadster]

If you're flying a motor that is smokey during burn and coast... and you use a highly visible recovery device... the color of the rocket really isn't that much of an issue. Thoughts?

 

[Off Grid Gecko]

I'm beginning to believe that if there's trees visible anywhere you look, you need a 140db beeper, as the rocket will end up there

I have okay luck, bout 50/50, lol. It's all LPR stuff when I launch at my house an anymore just stick a piece of piano wire in the ground over a dirt patch for a launcher. This new one that I'm developing is designed for small fields on 1/2A or 1/4A motors but it's also min diameter so it scoots. Just doing a lot of testing as I would like to turn it into a kit for grade-school projects.

Think I had 5-6 flights on it before it took off into the forest. The scare tape in this case is the recovery system and it works quite well on such a tiny rocket. I took the tape with me yesterday for my L2 cert as I was thinking about tying a couple pieces to my recovery system. Ended up not doing that but it really is very nice stuff for as cheap as it is.

 

[Alan15578]

If you're flying a motor that is smokey during burn and coast... and you use a highly visible recovery device... the color of the rocket really isn't that much of an issue. Thoughts?

That is true, but after the shock cord breaks, you still want to find your rocket in the weeds.

 

[Big-Bob]

I paint all my rockets gloss white and flourescent orange, and use brightly colored chutes. Since I have to launch in the AZ desert, I take a couple of sections of 6' PVC pipe and a coupler, and a fitting with a hook on it to retrieve them if they come down in a tall mesquite bush. I also often use a locator device because I have lost a couple of rockets. If there is little to no wind, I don't use one, due to the weight. I always use an altimeter, because my goal is trying to reach the highest altitude possible with engines no bigger than a D.

 

[bcook7135]

Fluorescent Orange Arreaux

 

[4regt4]

Fluorescent Orange Arreaux
View attachment 538352

Is the upper part paint, vinyl wrap, or ???

Hans.

 

[bcook7135]

It is something isn’t it? It is an amazing paint called Black, Rust-Oleum American Accents 2X Ultra Cover Ultimate High Gloss. Got it at Walmart. It is the highest gloss paint I have ever used. And it adheres to plastic very well.

 

[techrat]

I purchased some bird-scare tape recently for my mini-rocket project. It is VERY thin and fairly tough so long as a tear doesn't start. I burned a hole in it to thread the little kevlar on seemed to hold on okay. Rocket caught a gust of wind and I still lost it in the woods though, hahaha. So I have to make a few more of those now.

The shiny stuff reminds me that somewhere in a closet I have highly reflective tape I had bought for my Motorcycle to be more visible at night. I should try some of that on the rockets and see what happens.

 

[SkyRocket]

Fluorescent Orange Arreaux

That is a great looking rocket!

And I think it's the best combo for visibility: black is visible against the light sky and orange is highly visible on the ground. And so shiny to reflect sunlight and flash in the sky.

What kind of orange paint did you use?

 

[hobie1dog]

Should be easy to see this one I painted the week after losing my prized PML MR-1

 

[bcook7135]

That is a great looking rocket!

And I think it's the best combo for visibility: black is visible against the light sky and orange is highly visible on the ground. And so shiny to reflect sunlight and flash in the sky.

What kind of orange paint did you use?

Thanks!
I used Rustoleum Fluorescent then over that with Krylon clear gloss

 

[Joekeyo]

It seems to me that when tracking a rocket in the sky you never see what color it is, you basically see a shadow against the brighter sky. I have also occasionally seen bright reflections from glossy rockets. I don't know if this was because the rocket was silver or maybe it just had a shiny paint job.

I was thinking about doing a study to figure out the altitude when a rocket changes from colored to a silhouette.

 

[HonestJohn]

I was thinking about doing a study to figure out the altitude when a rocket changes from colored to a silhouette.

That would be an interesting study. I can say that once it's past a couple hundred feet I'm no longer focused on the silhouette and I'm tracking the smoke trail. Of course I'm referring to LP stuff, and my eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be.

 

[lakeroadster]

That is true, but after the shock cord breaks, you still want to find your rocket in the weeds.

If the topic being discussed includes anomalies, that changes the discussion quite a bit.