anapogeetoofar Posted January 21, 2011 Posted January 21, 2011 While browsing Wolters site pondering whether or not I should order the "extreme whistle" tooling, I noticed that the description of his end burner tooling says that whistle can be used. I thought, "no, this cant be true!", but when I looked around, it appears that people do in fact make nozzled end burning whistle rockets. I would just love to try one of these out, but I'm not going to order two sets of tooling at once (I can have somebody make tooling for me for free, but I like to support vendors when possible) . So, does anyone have any info on these things? Things like: is the whistle hot and catalyzed, what diameter nozzle throat (size of spindle) for, say: a 1 lb rocket. I could guess, with some confidence that 1/4 inch and un-catalyzed whistle would work, but I don't like the sound of "guess" and "whistle mix" in the same sentence, sounds a lot like "guess" and "loaded gun". Any help would be appreciated. Oh, and if anybody has any experience with the "extreme whistle" tooling, it would be nice if you could give your opinion on that.
Mumbles Posted January 22, 2011 Posted January 22, 2011 From what Steve LaDuke has told me, he uses fairly hot whistle (76:23:1) with a fairly traditional end burning tooling where the nozzle is approximately 1/4" the tube diameter. I get the impression that you lose a lot of the sound, but who knows. I know he also uses mixes of BP and whistle in both his hybrid rockets and endburners.
WSM Posted January 22, 2011 Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) From what Steve LaDuke has told me, he uses fairly hot whistle (76:23:1) with a fairly traditional end burning tooling where the nozzle is approximately 1/4" the tube diameter. I get the impression that you lose a lot of the sound, but who knows. I know he also uses mixes of BP and whistle in both his hybrid rockets and endburners. Steve LaDuke's end burn whistle rockets and hybrid (whistle/BP) don't whistle much at all (if I remember correctly), BUT they take off like military ordnance and reach amazing heights in very short order! Very cool stuff to watch... WSM Edited January 22, 2011 by WSM
dagabu Posted January 24, 2011 Posted January 24, 2011 No, the Hybrid do not whistle, that can 'chirp' off the line but no whistle. I prefer it that way and Hybrid is my favorite fuel of all time!
Juiceh Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 Interesting thread! I have yet to start making whistle rockets, I'm still absorbing all the info I can while I build my press. I had thought that clay nozzles were never used with whistle rockets. So, I thought when I saw the same info on Wolters site about their BP end burner kit being able to be used with whistle that they meant nozzleless endburners. From what Steve LaDuke has told me, he uses fairly hot whistle (76:23:1) with a fairly traditional end burning tooling where the nozzle is approximately 1/4" the tube diameter.Is the Vaseline omitted or did you just leave that out because its a given? How does one fuse a clay nozzled whistle rocket? The nozzless ones are sensitive to how they are fused, so I imagine you can't just jam a fuse into the nozzle opening and be good to go. Oh, and if anybody has any experience with the "extreme whistle" tooling, it would be nice if you could give your opinion on that.I have their 1lb extreme whistle kit.... so far, it looks nice!
ausgoty Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 I was sceptical too, so I built a 12mm whistle end burner yesterday and it went like a little beauty! 12 mm tube pressed with whistle and a plug at each end. HAND twist a 3 mm drill through one end (if you don't have tooling) until it just hit the grain. Insert fuse and push in some paper to hold it in place. They make an awsome noise, no whistle but a lovely whoosh that doesn't seem to stop. Good stuff indeed!
jimbo Posted February 20, 2011 Posted February 20, 2011 here's my first go at a 1lb whistle rocket I made the other day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBUUVyPj6pM just got to put a payload on it now.
pyrothrust Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 can some one tell me. I have 24mm ID tubes. what does that equate to size wise in Pounds. I know it refers to lead ball etc. and also with 24mm ID what sort of tube length are you using and the amount of lift that can be lifted. Regards
californiapyro Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 24 mm is around 1 inch, which would be 3 LB. IIRC the standard length is 6 inches, and as for lift it really varies. Ive heard of people lifting 8 inch ball shells on them but have no evidence of this. id say with whistle you can easily lift a 6 inch ball shell.
guntoteninfadel Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 here's my first go at a 1lb whistle rocket I made the other day http://www.youtube.c...h?v=hBUUVyPj6pM just got to put a payload on it now. HOLY cow, went like gangbusters! Succesfull attempt I would say.
Mumbles Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 The standard length really depends on what kind of rockets you're making. For a BP core burner and hybrid spindle, a 24mm ID rocket would be about 240mm long (10x ID). For an end burner (and probably whistle and strobe), it'd be 168mm (7x ID). The only way to really figure out lifting capacity is to do tests yourself. Everyone's fuel and methods are a little different, which can change performance. This is especially true if you're not using commercial tooling as well. Homemade tooling or hand drilled nozzles/cores really throw all the standards and expectations out the window.
dagabu Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 While the standards may call for tubes of a certain length, I have found that a tube needs to be the length of the spindle plus 2 IDs at a minimum for delay and fusing. With my 3# Universal Hybrid Tooling set, I have 6" of spindle plus 2 inches of space open above, giving me 8" total length. I use 1.5 ID for delay above the spindle for delay. -dag
pyrothrust Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 Many thanks , Great answers , using a 70/30 Potassium Benzoate mix what is an average spindle length, and also the diameter of the spindle base and the top diameter. mine apperar to be going well but I have noway of comparing them.... Many thanks
dagabu Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 Many thanks , Great answers , using a 70/30 Potassium Benzoate mix what is an average spindle length, and also the diameter of the spindle base and the top diameter. mine apperar to be going well but I have noway of comparing them.... Many thanks There are no averages on whistle, the fuel is too new to have reached that status. PM me and I will email you a list of spindle lengths offline. -dag
guntoteninfadel Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 okay guys, educate a newbie..... is whistle the same stuff thats in the commercial rockets and chasers that make the noise? I realize it is a wonderful rocket propellant but I thought we were just sort of repurposing it as rocket fuel instead of just a quasi fuel/noise maker. And there is the great probablity that I am completely wrong........... anyways, gimme sum edumacation, sos I wont be so ignernt! thanks
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