Your Interests and Why??

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My primary area of interest is getting a rocket with a downward-pointed camera as high as possible. Up to now that has been near-minimum diameter 54mm rockets, as I haven’t found a way to get the camera lens completely inside the airframe and still get a downward-facing shot. As I progress to 75mm and larger diameter airframes I may have enough room to get the lens completely inside the airframe and still get a downward-facing shot.
 
Let me start with the "why" part.

I am a lousy model-builder. I have very little patience. I don't like to paint or sand. My fingers are short and stubby, and I have swollen knuckles from nearly 53 years of diabetes. I don't have the normal amount of feeling in my hands, either.

For these reasons, LPR and scale have no appeal for me. Detailed work is just not my thing.

I also am not very creative. I try to design things, but I always end up basically copying someone else's design if I try. I'm just not that "idea guy." So designing oddrocks, jet fighters, gliders, etc. is also not my thing. I'm just not creative.

That leaves me with building kits. LPR and even MPR kits were fun for me at first, as I learned how rockets work. They were inexpensive, and errors weren't very costly. Lose one? Oh, well. No biggie.

But as I got into club launching and saw big rockets, I knew immediately that that was my thing. Big rockets, big motors. Loud motors. And DD is an absolute must.

So here is what I like. I like to build big kits (see my avatar) that take a long time to build. If I can avoid paint, great! I love prepping the charges, testing the altimeters, wiring things up. I love buying bigger and bigger motor hardware, and bigger and bigger reloads.

I love having to work hard to get my birds transported to the launch site. I love having people stop at my work area and ask questions and volunteer to help. I make friends that way.

I love riding out to the away cells in a truck or trailer, needing a crew to get my rocket on the pad, climbing the tower and turning on my electronics. I love hearing the roar of the motor, that thrill of joy if my rocket flies straight up on its maiden flight. If it goes out of site, I love going on a "treasure hunt" for it, following my GPS tracker to see where it landed.

I love it when people clap and congratulate me on a successful flight, and then volunteer to go with me to recover it. And I love doing the same thing for other people.

That's my story.
Sounds pretty awesome!!
 
I haven’t found a way to get the camera lens completely inside the airframe and still get a downward-facing shot.
Have you thought about having the camera inside with a mirror under a shroud? Or is it the shroud you're trying to het rid of?

Have yoi tried placing the camera next to the MMT between the CRs? You won't get much to seak of before burnout, and I don't know if smoke would swirl up into the lens; it's just a thought.
 
I like model rockets through class D. My current fleet has 3 multi-stage, a cluster, and a rocket that will take an E. I have broken down a bought a Zooch
Saturn V. I plan on carefully following the builds on the forum and hope that it will turn out decent. I vicariously enjoy the big ones at our monthly Tripoli launches.
 
Have you thought about having the camera inside with a mirror under a shroud? Or is it the shroud you're trying to het rid of?

Have yoi tried placing the camera next to the MMT between the CRs? You won't get much to seak of before burnout, and I don't know if smoke would swirl up into the lens; it's just a thought.
Correct, trying to get rid of the shroud. Don’t have a motor mount as I am flying MD 54, but perhaps I should explore non-MD rockets more. For me it’s about splitting the difference between altitude and a good shot. its Really easy to get a good shot with a mobius in an external shroud but I’ve done a lot of those flights.
 
Correct, trying to get rid of the shroud. Don’t have a motor mount as I am flying MD 54, but perhaps I should explore non-MD rockets more. For me it’s about splitting the difference between altitude and a good shot. its Really easy to get a good shot with a mobius in an external shroud but I’ve done a lot of those flights.
How about a tractor style, with camera at the end? Something like this
https://store.heavenlyhobbies.com/01-023-0008.html
https://ep.yimg.com/ay/yhst-78009401073713/washigei-reconnaissance-vehicle-model-rocket-kit-1.gif
 
I enjoy playing with the various electronics for tracking and telemetry.

I am branching into flight control, and am almost done ground testing an automatic trim system and plan to be flight testing in the next few months.
 
Correct, trying to get rid of the shroud. Don’t have a motor mount as I am flying MD 54, but perhaps I should explore non-MD rockets more. For me it’s about splitting the difference between altitude and a good shot. its Really easy to get a good shot with a mobius in an external shroud but I’ve done a lot of those flights.
After a few minutes thought, I think that to ge a straight down view from a min diameter rocket with no externals you're going to need an invisible motor. (Wonder Woman would be proud.)
 
After a few minutes thought, I think that to ge a straight down view from a min diameter rocket with no externals you're going to need an invisible motor. (Wonder Woman would be proud.)
I want something like the opposite of @jkovac: three or four cameras mounted in shrouds all pointing backwards, with some software to stitch the resulting videos into a single image that shows the rocket in the center. That'd be kewl.
 
I want something like the opposite of @jkovac: three or four cameras mounted in shrouds all pointing backwards, with some software to stitch the resulting videos into a single image that shows the rocket in the center. That'd be kewl.

So, a panoramic view from a couple thousand feet.
 
After a few minutes thought, I think that to ge a straight down view from a min diameter rocket with no externals you're going to need an invisible motor. (Wonder Woman would be proud.)
Yes, straight down would be impossible, I think. I should have said downward. I’ve seen a lot of videos where the camera was completely inside the airframe and shooting through a plexiglass or whatever circular window. In those the camera is usually pointing directly at the horizon, and I don’t care much for that shot.

I wonder if it is possible in a bigger airframe, and with an elongated window, to get the camera pointed down enough that it can still capture a downward shot while being completely inside the airframe.

The closest I have come to splitting the difference so far is the shrouds and carriers that Liquid Frye sold. I hope he starts making them again. I’d buy 75 and 98 mm versions of those for sure if they were available.
 
I'm quite certain you can find such on Thiniverse and either print them or find someone to do it for you.

Also, I was thinking of the slanted camera in a larger airframe if you hadn't said "straight down". Sorry for taking you too literally; it's a problem of mine. I was also thinking that, with that as a start, a mirror to get straight down might allow a much smaller shroud than holding the camera; I haven't done the geometry to be sure, and it depends a lot on five dimensions I don't have.
 
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