justanotherpyro Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I really like that idea too. It would be great to have a big bright white streamer that burns for 3-4 seconds longer than the other stars that kind of floats down but goes out before getting too close to the ground of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnstantkarma Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I just got some very nice NEPT for 1lb rockets so of course I rammed one as soon as I got home. Overall it was much better than my last one. It was great until it got really high than it stopped rising and just coasted horizontally with a smoke trail. What was going on there? I don't think you can see the later part on the video, the cameras crap and rockets seem impossible to keep in frame especially if you don't know whats going to happen like my friend here.1lb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyco_1322 Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 About all I see is clouds. Maybe your fuel is on the weak side, to heavy of a header, stick to short maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I've seen that effect before. Much easier to see at night with a delay tail. No idea what causes it, but it seems to float on the wind. As long as it isn't coming back down I wouldn't change anything. I had always thought it just got stuck on an air current. It always seemed to happen in the same place in the sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oskarchem Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Yeah, happens to me too some times, I guess one day I could get a hold of a pilotes jetstreem map and do some testes to see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnstantkarma Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Yeah I just test burnt one and launched another, the test burn looked completely normal, a nice long flame for about 5 seconds. When I launched one in the air it was great except near the end it stalled out again. Then the delay hit and the smoke changed but thats not important. I'm going to start putting weighted headers on these to make sure they can carry one of my shells, do I have to make my sticks longer because of the weight? They are 36" right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick2354 Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 1lb 2 "This thing wont hit us will it""No, probaly not" LMAO I was nearly hit by one of my rockets yesterday, it missed me by about a half a metre. My rockets are so inconsistent even though I have tooling, and use the same fuel. Does anyone know what is wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnstantkarma Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 How do you ram them? I always use 1/2 teaspoon increments and I hit it 10 times every time. If you don't do something like that than you should definitely try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSidewinder Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Consistency of grain compaction, when ramming, is always a variable. Sometimes a LARGE variable. Pressing reduces that variabililty to an ALMOST insignificant factor, assuming you have a good press. The best you can do is, as instantkarma said, to use the exact same steps, increment amounts, and "whacks". I'm convinced that ramming is an art. And one that I have yet to master. TS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionTekJackson Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Consistency of grain compaction, when ramming, is always a variable. Sometimes a LARGE variable. Pressing reduces that variabililty to an ALMOST insignificant factor, assuming you have a good press. The best you can do is, as instantkarma said, to use the exact same steps, increment amounts, and "whacks". I'm convinced that ramming is an art. And one that I have yet to master. TS You have no idea how true that is... My rockets used to be just as bad man, but I didn't have an exact incriment size, just "that looks right" *dump* no more of that, plus you really need to get a feel for the ramming, I can kinda tell when it didn't compress quite well enough, when that happens I pull up the rammer and reposition it and ram it another 10 or so times. I always pull my rockets out before putting in the delay comp so I can see through the core. It should ideally have a glassy surface, a couple blemishes usually don't cause a problem, if you think one might be bad, make note of the blemish, and launch it anyway, this will help you narrow down what exactly to look for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnstantkarma Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Tek Jackson just mentioned the glassy surface of the core and I want to say that is my favorite part of a newly rammed rocket and I didn't know anyone else checked that. I don't take mine off the core in the middle but when I'm done I run a paper clip wire and I can tell how smooth it is. When I get a nice smooth core I know I did a good job. Oh and someone has to know this, do you need a longer stick if your rocket is carrying a payload? It kind of seems like it because the extra weight would make it unstable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionTekJackson Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Tek Jackson just mentioned the glassy surface of the core and I want to say that is my favorite part of a newly rammed rocket and I didn't know anyone else checked that. I don't take mine off the core in the middle but when I'm done I run a paper clip wire and I can tell how smooth it is. When I get a nice smooth core I know I did a good job. Oh and someone has to know this, do you need a longer stick if your rocket is carrying a payload? It kind of seems like it because the extra weight would make it unstable.There are a few factors that affect this, 1. how hot is your propellant? The hotter the less the balance method seems to come into play, yet on the same token too slow and it won't lift a balanced stick properly. 2. how heavy is your payload, generally if you're lifting a small payload balancing works fine, but if its heavy balancing is simply impractical. I don't remember who said it but a good rule for a well made rocket is the stick should be at least if not just over 4 times the length of the motor+payload. Unfortunately there is no definate formula for this that I've come across. I'm sure if you're a math genious you could figure it out, but... I'm certainly not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnstantkarma Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Oh then I should be fine, I have 1lb rockets with a 150 or so gram payload which is the most one of my 3" shells weigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WonderBoy Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Here's a 1lb rocket i made. Sorry for my poor cameramanship http://www.apcforum.net/files/BProcketwhistledelay.mpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSidewinder Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Hey, if the rocket performed well (and it looked like it did), so what about the fuzzy video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyco_1322 Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Stick length is good at 4 times the motor+header length. So if your motor is 5in long and with a small shell it comes to be about 7in long than make your stick about 21in long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanotherpyro Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Stick length is good at 4 times the motor+header length. So if your motor is 5in long and with a small shell it comes to be about 7in long than make your stick about 21in long. That is fairly ambiguous. Do you mean that if the motor and header is say 5" that the stick needs to be of length so as to make the total rocket 4 times the motor + header length. I.E. header + motor = 5" 5"x4=20" so the stick needs to be 15". Or is the stick supposed to be 4 times the length of the motor+header length? I.E. motor + header =5" 5"x4=20" so the stick needs to be 20"? I always thought it was the latter so did you have a typo and mean to say the stick should be 28" long? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplmac Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I built some shells today and fired them off tonight. The go getter shell flowerpotted on me so it was a go getter mine and half of them blew blind, the garbage mine was just a bunch of leftover stars from different batches that I wanted to get rid of, and the C4 glitter on hollow cores was my own concoction. I'm really not a shell builder and these were sadly the three more successful shells of the six I built and shot today. 4" Red Go Getter Flowerpot 3" Junk Mine 4" C4 glitter on hollow cores Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSidewinder Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I thought the mine looked great. May have been a garbage mix but it was pretty. The glitter on the shell was nice and sparkly, Successful concoction, I'd say. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FREAKYDUTCHMEN Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I'm really not a shell builder and these were sadly the three more successful shells of the six I built and shot today. How about the shells on your 3" whistle rockets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplmac Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Those are usually 8" Lidu chrysanthemums. I am building the 12" shell for the next big rocket though, it's either going to be loaded with a bunch of 2.5" glitter crossettes or a bunch of 2.5" TT comets. I've built a fair amount of mines but definitely less than 25 shells counting the six I built the other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogy Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I saw a really nice 6" shell yesterday (on Youtube)... I don't know if it was anyone's from here, but I'd imagine someone else have don't this before... I believe the shell had 1" crosettes that went from a veline red to a glitter tailed C6 when it split. Here's a failure... 1 lb. KNO3 rocket (63:27:10) with a narrow\short core... With a relatively small flash header, that took quite a divot.http://youtube.com/watch?v=PZMIXSskF3I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplmac Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 That was almost an expensive mistake if it weren't for the nimble sidestep your trampoline gave that rocket. Pretty good, sugar rockets I have not messed with yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogy Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 That was my hillbilly neighbor's trampoline... I'm glad the divot was in the ground, not the elastic of the trampoline... That would be an expensive mistake indeed. I don't make large rockets often, so I'm not really experienced in drilling efficient cores; Also, I really haven't used Sugar fuels, other than in my beginning pyrotechnics, so that lowers my experience level to pretty bad standing for this rockets setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GalFisk Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 I've only made sugar rockets as of yet, and they do need a long core to fly well. I've usually drilled the core all the way through, but made the rockets shorter than BP rockets, maybe 7*diameter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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