30 replies to this topic

[lew]

I`ve never seen Any sticks other than the piddley little ones, even the 2 foot sticks on £2.50 rockets or the packs, nothing ever.

and feel free to speculate wildly ( I have) and one of my ideas was that maybe the reports on some of them shatter/splinter the stick or something???

here`s another one, look at the TV of pictures in the middle east when they fire off these large calibre guns into the air, 1000`s of rounds of solid metal go up, now that has Gotta Hurt! when it comes back down.

and yet you never hear of any such instance?

I saw the mythbusters where they tested the falling bullet myth, and even largish calibre rifle rounds had just about enough kinetic energy to break the skin. You would have to be very unlucky for one to kill you.

[digger]

mmm Where do they come down (I know this an old thread, but what the hey).

I have a little experience with rockets. I sent up a volley of 50 or so rockets, pretty large ones (3 inch ball headings) a couple of years ago. I was greeted by an extremely annoyed neighbor from a few streets away as every stick had come down like a javelin and bounced off his conservatory. There was no damage done, but he thought we had a personal vendetta against him and we were aiming at him on purpose!

Edited by digger, 12 August 2009 - 01:53 PM.

[dogsbody]

I must have launched 30 or 40 last year (and at least that many the year before) and a lot of stick came down in the crowd (damn wind) didnt recyce any though!)

[dr thrust]

mmm Where do they come down (I know this an old thread, but what the hey).

I have a little experience with rockets. I sent up a volley of 50 or so rockets, pretty large ones (3 inch ball headings) a couple of years ago. I was greeted by an extremely annoyed neighbor from a few streets away as every stick had come down like a javelin and bounced off his conservatory. There was no damage done, but he thought we had a personal vendetta against him and we were aiming at him on purpose!

lol great story, how did the guy know it was you? having had "similar" problems but with more carnage im trying to down size my nozzle less motors to 15mm dia in an attempt to reduce weight therefore reduceing "stick rain"

Edited by chris m, 12 August 2009 - 10:00 PM.

[David]

Talk about a phoenix thread!

I once fired up a large rocket (Bright Star's "Atomic Meltdown" and I heard the stick landing, and looked down to see it was about a foot away from my shoes! I've seen some "spear" the ground, although, of course, that is just mud/grass.


When I've fired rockets in fields, I've usually found the sticks afterwards, and they can be spread over quite a wide area. I'm cautious about using rockets for shows, for exactly this reason.

What is more of a mystery is how few of the "pen lids" I've managed to find after firing a "pen lid" cake.

[Potassium chlorate]

On big, commercial rockets the burst actually often is powerful enough to break the stick. I have found many such after I've fired them.

But I'd like to ask you experts: how long and thick should a stick be in relation to the dimensions, payload, fuel etc of the rocket? In an older thread I saw one person claiming very exact dimensions, while another claimed that for bigger rockets it didn't matter very much, but the most important thing was that the stick was sqaure and not round.

So, what do you have to say to enlighten me on the subject?

[dr thrust]

hi,, vic posted these sizes on another stick thread

½” ID 20”x1/4”
¾” ID 32”x5/16”
1” ID 38”x3/8”
1¼” ID 60”x1/2”
with rockets being pre metric system the stick thickness goes up in multiples of one sixteenth of an inch as motor id increases, as a general rule of thumb , and i believe the stick should be six times the motor length.
there's a good discussion on the matter on the apc forum.
i agree with the "balance the finished rocket on your finger with a slightly longer stick" method and trim the length of the stick to suit the header your using to get a nice balance it works great for me, but when your playing with 3lb motors its going to be a meaty stick!
if your not a fan of long sticks, reduce the stick length by half and make a twin stick motor

Edited by dr thrust, 04 February 2011 - 07:55 PM.

[Potassium chlorate]

Thank you!

[dr thrust]

no problem, but there is another way........?
well being a rocket nerd ,lol, ive picked up a few strange friends on the way.
my youtube friend arrow rocket has an interesting angle on the problem of rocket stabilization , check out his multiple motor rockets as well

[rocketpro]

I have fired a number of salute rockets in daylight and I have never seen the spear like stick that BrightStar describes.

Any really decent salute rocket seems to totally destroy the rocket head, and even if the stick was pointed, in my experience they almost always fall horizontally as there is no weight to guide them.

I agree with you there. A stick minus any attachments and sharpened one end would make the blunt end heavier, so it would fall that end first, or nearing horizontal.

[Deano 1]

no problem, but there is another way........?
well being a rocket nerd ,lol, ive picked up a few strange friends on the way.
my youtube friend arrow rocket has an interesting angle on the problem of rocket stabilization , check out his multiple motor rockets as well

Very interesting dr thrust but did your STRANGE you tube friend have to wear the NASA "blouson" LOL

[Deano 1]

I mainly use 17.5mm id own rolled tubes with a standard starburst size head, and unless I use stars thats heavier than normal, ie granite, my sticks are all the sevens, 7mm x 7mm x 700mm.

[Peret]

Very interesting dr thrust but did your STRANGE you tube friend have to wear the NASA "blouson" LOL

It's a bit nerdy, but no more strange really than wearing a sports team's colors. At least he has competence in a related field. There will be a lot of people wearing Steelers and Packers blousons this weekend who are so unfit they can hardly carry their own weight, let alone run up the field after a ball. (now pass me the beer and Doritos)

[crystal palace fireworks]

no problem, but there is another way........?
well being a rocket nerd ,lol, ive picked up a few strange friends on the way.
my youtube friend arrow rocket has an interesting angle on the problem of rocket stabilization , check out his multiple motor rockets as well

Love your friends ideas, especially what looks like a dart feather attached to the end of the rocket stick, mind you the NASA outfit did make me chuckle!

[Vic]

Love your friends ideas, especially what looks like a dart feather attached to the end of the rocket stick, mind you the NASA outfit did make me chuckle!

From memory I may be wrong though, but I think in his day job he is working for NASA.