What is your unique build for 2020/2021?

[DrewW]

Is anyone working on something, or even just making plans, to attempt something you don’t see every day?

 

[Bruiser]

Hmmn, well I don't know about the "something you don't see everyday" part but I am almost to the paint part of my own design 29mm Black Brant Vb that is based on Estes pro parts, 2.5 inch tubes and 45 inches tall.


I am deciding on my big build for 2021 and I think it maybe a 3 inch Patriot but I am also thinking of a sport scale Peregrine missile or an upscaled Arapahoe. They are all 29mm, 3 inch rockets made with pro series parts.







-Bob

 

[DrewW]

Myself I'm working on a Thales Starstreak as seen below



But I have plans for this ugly thing (a Rheintochter R I Missile) in late 2021

 

[Bruiser]

Whew! Talk about taking on a project. How do you make something like the ugly thing stable with all those fins?

-Bob

 

[GalantVR41062]

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/1-4-scale-viking-7-sounding-rocket.156896/
I am still working on my 1/4 scale Viking 7 sounding rocket.

I am down to the final construction steps, then finish up work.

Covid19 restrictions at out local launch limited attendance to registered fliers only. So I lost ambition to finish and fly the rocket for 2020. It will be good to use the cold months here to get it finished.

 

[DrewW]

Deleted link will repost

 

[DrewW]

Whew! Talk about taking on a project. How do you make something like the ugly thing stable with all those fins?

-Bob

Great question, I’ll have to get creative with internal mass arrangements. I think I’ll model it in OR this weekend and see where things fall to start.

 

[RocketScott]

I’m getting back up to speed after being out of rocketry for the past 15 years

I ordered the two smallest Thor kits from SBRocketry’s black Friday sale. I’ve always loved that design and figured a couple small rockets would be good to ease back into it

After those I have a Binder Design California Kid kit that Mike Fisher sent me as a thank you for finding his altimeter in the Oregon sagebrush way back when

Need to rebuild a few small rockets. I have a 4” upscale Super Big Bertha that is missing her little sister. Stripped the fins off at black rock. The parts have been in a box all this time

 

[Dipstick]

Most unique to me will be an upscale of the Estes Corkscrew. I'm going with a 3" 54mm motor mount. Looking forward to longburn flights with it.

 

[SDramstad]

I'm planning a half scale Jayhawk. 7.5 inch airframe.

 

[Devin Batten]

Actually starting on my 38mm MD Hi-Flier upscale. Lifes been rough since I first came up with the idea and its settling down to the point its feasible.

 

[teepot]

Here is something you don't see every day. Has flown successfully. It's 66 inches long, 56 ounces. On a 4" body tube and 8" styrofoam head. Has a 29mm x 15" motor mount. I call it The Tarantula.

 

[DaHabes]

If I get to it, my unique build would be a Polaris A3 using engine-driven gas-dynamic (induction) stabilization, aka, finless. Would likely start small (13mm engine size). If that works as it should, then scale up to 18, 24 and/or 29mm motors.

 

[Mugs914]

I have a few projects to finish up first, but I have built several low power scale models of the Sprint ABM in the past. I'm planning on getting back in the Sprint business again...

Sprint missile...


The ones I did back when (over twenty years ago) ranged from 13mm to 24mm motors and were between 5" and 36" tall. The only one I still have is a boilerplate model about 15" tall for 18mm motors. It's pretty rough these days, but is still a good flyer.


I'm going to start with another 18mm version (I still have the patterns), but I really would like to do a large scale for high power.

 

[Bowman]

I have a few projects to finish up first, but I have built several low power scale models of the Sprint ABM in the past. I'm planning on getting back in the Sprint business again...

Sprint missile...
View attachment 440172

The ones I did back when (over twenty years ago) ranged from 13mm to 24mm motors and were between 5" and 36" tall. The only one I still have is a boilerplate model about 15" tall for 18mm motors. It's pretty rough these days, but is still a good flyer.
View attachment 440170

I'm going to start with another 18mm version (I still have the patterns), but I really would like to do a large scale for high power.

If you can get that look and acheive that perfect exhaust plume that will be awesome!

 

[Michael Wilson]

I have a few projects to finish up first, but I have built several low power scale models of the Sprint ABM in the past. I'm planning on getting back in the Sprint business again...

Sprint missile...
View attachment 440172

The ones I did back when (over twenty years ago) ranged from 13mm to 24mm motors and were between 5" and 36" tall. The only one I still have is a boilerplate model about 15" tall for 18mm motors. It's pretty rough these days, but is still a good flyer.
View attachment 440170

I'm going to start with another 18mm version (I still have the patterns), but I really would like to do a large scale for high power.

Make a larger version and put it on a J1799 for realistic acceleration too

 

[Walter Longburn]

I'm planning a 54mm to 54mm minimum diameter 2 stage.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I haven’t built anything in 2020, but I’ve ordered some hot wire foam cutting tools, and I’m looking forward to some unique sci-fi style projects in 2021.

 

[Mugs914]

Make a larger version and put it on a J1799 for realistic acceleration too

Well, that is kind of the plan...

My current OR plan is for a 5" version, about 32" LOA, with a 32mm mount. With an H669 it gets off the pad at133g. If I recall, the real one only went off at 110g.

I suppose I'd lose mission points for that....

Being a high-drag shape, apogee is only 1525 feet, Vmax says Mach .93.

If I could get ahold of an H999 it gets off the pad at 173g., Vmax Mach 1.13, apogee 1722ft.

Hmmm, A teleport launch with a Mach one flight all under 2k feet. That'd be pretty fun...
...if it survived.

 

[Bowman]

If only it were legal to launch at that low angle the effect would be sweet.
Tough recovery experience though.

 

[Bowman]

Not truly "Unique" since it is so old but I have the remnants of an Estes Venus Probe.
I think I won it for some contest and initially thought it was stupid so it sat in the box for a long time.

Maybe 8-10 years ago I was bored and built it then flew it.
I was impressed that it actually worked as designed (except for the MMT modification I made).
I think second or third flight I had on of those Estes "E" motors blow through (CATO) the forward bulkhead on boost and torch most of the rocket. Same thing happened to my kit-bashed Mercury Redstone. That fared better but the landing was poor and it broke the escape tower.
I think I still have the Venus Probe lander in the basement.
I might "fix" that over the winter.

 

[Nytrunner]

Myself I'm working on a Thales Starstreak as seen below

Looking forward to seing that one! It'll be a real challenge to stage without electronics for the airstart

But I have plans for this ugly thing (a Rheintochter R I Missile) in late 2021

Calling @hcmbanjo Unless I'm mistaken (again) he entered it for Scale competition and is acquainted with the stability challenges of that airframe

If I get to it, my unique build would be a Polaris A3 using engine-driven gas-dynamic (induction) stabilization, aka, finless. Would likely start small (13mm engine size). If that works as it should, then scale up to 18, 24 and/or 29mm motors.

A sincere good luck with the scaling. My BT-60 18mm Great Big Inductor (GBI) worked pretty well (except on a D10 composite), but the BT-80 24mm version has not faired as well. I'm thinking the increasing mass and moments of inertia overwhelm the motor induction, and it remains to be seen if composite motors are even suitable for GDS

 

[Nytrunner]

I'm not much of a scale builder, but I do have an estes Masters Series Mercury Atlas that is getting closer to the front of the build queue, plus the Skylab that jsut arrived got added to the list.

Additionally I've got a relative-scale 2.6" PAC-3 and 3" PAC-3 MSE to match my L1 4" PAC-2. I'll be using BlueTube and Canvas phenolic respectively to try out those materials

 

[axonterminal]

I'm cooking up a 1:9'ish scale Iranian Zolfaghar. 2.6" diameter, 44.6" length with a 29mm mount. She will dwarf the 30" Fakour-90 (Iranian Phoenix). Unfortunately, it was on the losing end of a D10-3 cato. Lovely sight however.

 

[CoachSteve]

I just finished this low/mid power one last week - haven't seen too many builds like this :
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/full-balsa-rocket.162756/
Full Balsa rocket

 

[Funkworks]

Is anyone working on something, or even just making plans, to attempt something you don’t see every day?

I'm not but the little blue folks are making an updated version of theirs:

They're hoping the nose cone to be done by the end of the year. I've been reporting on their progress in the "Scratch Built" sub-forum not too far from here.

 

[PeterAlway]

Not building things, but drawing them:

 

[PeterAlway]

And another little art project:

 

[DrewW]

Whew! Talk about taking on a project. How do you make something like the ugly thing stable with all those fins?

-Bob

I roughed in a OR simulation for it last night at full scale and needed a steel nose cone tip and 20kg of additional nose weight to get it stable with no engines. Total sim weight 110kg.

Need to scale down to something more practical and will likely need to work off the mid body motors only, foregoing the primary motors at aft. That is, unless I can find some alternative solutions.

 

[Mugs914]

If you can get that look and acheive that perfect exhaust plume that will be awesome!

The BP versions had a HUGE exhaust plume (for BP) due to the recessed motor! It wasn't that dense of course, but it was every bit as big as the base of the rocket. Sounded weird too... I think the mid/high power versions would be pretty spectacular on White Lightning propellant!

If only it were legal to launch at that low angle the effect would be sweet.
Tough recovery experience though.

The operational Sprints were launched vertically from a silo. They were basically blown out of the silo by a gas charge and ignited the first stage as it exited the tube. It would then make an abrupt turn in the direction required and accelerate to Mach ten or so in the low atmosphere. Awesome beast...

(Yes, it has occurred to me to launch one from a tube... One step at a time!)

This vid has some cool footage: