Jay,

You mentioned that Bruce Levison had to tweak the ring fin in your Tau Zero design file in ways that you, the rocket's designer, don't even understand, in order to get it right. Does that mean that you had to alter something in the actual design of the physical Tau Zero as a result? Or does it mean that the TZ's design file had to be altered to match the results you obtained with your physical model? Is this an area where the designer may need to do some tweaking of the program's calculations in order to bring them in line with real-world performance? If so, are there any particular guidelines for doing so?

Mark \\.

P. S. Jay - I prefer plasma cannons myself - they might be more wasteful of energy, but they get the job done a whole lot quicker! :D

Ok. I've added a new forum section called RockSim Asylum as requested. I placed it under Workbench vs creating a whole new parent forum. If I suddenly see an avalanche of users using/posting SpaceCAD files, I can add its own section at that time.

If you guys want me to change the description for this new section, please let me know.

"*What* kind of cannons are those?"
 

Mark,

Here's how the original exchange "went down" back in August 2006:


DeanHFox: Jay, I really like this design so far, but the sci-fi geek in me is screaming, "it needs fin-tip laser cannons!"

I'm thinking "launch lugs with dowels in them" ala the Canaroc Scorpion.

CenturiGuy: We could call it the Dean H Fox "Sci-Fi Geek" Ion Cannon Mod.

JRThro: But Dean asked for *laser* cannons. If you install *ion* cannons, you'll have to reroute the warp manifold at the very least.

DeanHFox: Hey, "Ion" cannons, "Laser" cannons, "Thermal-Phaser-Pulse-Tuned-Plasma" cannons, they're all the same when you're looking down the barrell of one!

BOY, those tip-cannons make that design sexier. If they make it to Semroc's "production" version, I'm glad to have contributed a little something. You even got the LENGTH I was thinking about right on the money!


So as my mom would say, "Pick your poison." :eek: ;) :D


Cheers,

JG and Semroc: Giving The People What They Want!

(Sounds Kinda Kink-ish, doesn't it?)

So what about those tube-fin designs? (Keeping this discussion focused laser-like on target.)

Mark \\. ("Johnny Thunder" :D )

Ringin' in the Tube Fins...
 

:chuckle: ;) :D


Mark,

You sent me back to some of my ancient (2005-06) RockSim files to see what I could figure out. Additionally, I've been researching Apogee's "Peak of Flight" Newsletters to see if I can understand Bruce's techniques. You can download issues 113 (fins on fins) and 117 (sidepods), which explain how he did it in RockSim 7.

I'll start a separate thread, now that Scott Hansen gave us our own separate asylum. :eek: :cool:

To quote Carl M. quoting Mike Myers as Middle-Aged Man, "I'm workin' on it!" :rolleyes:


Cheers,

Yeah, I think that I've get those somewhere...


Thanks!


Keep Drinkin' Buddy by your side (even though he needs to make frequent pit stops) and watch out for Independent Woman! :chuckle:

That's what DB said! :D

Mark \\.

Umm... Shouldn't this be stickied? This was the absolute last post in this sub-forum, and I'd think it should be the absolute first for new users. Then again, I don't use RocSim.

You might also find Bruce Levison on this forum to help you with your RockSim simulations. I am the #1 Certified Expert RockSim user, a title and avatar given to me several years ago by Tim Van Milligan at Apogee Rockets. Since I am "certified", I guess I belong in the RockSim Asylum.

Bruce Levison's Model Rocketry Bibliography:

"Teflon Rocketry: Use of New Inexpensive Teflon Materials in Rocketry," By Bruce S. Levison Sport Rocketry, 40 (1997), 38.

"The Tripod Mount" By Bruce S. Levison Sport Rocketry, 42 (1999), 20

"Ablative Blast Deflectors," By Bruce S. Levison Sport Rocketry, 42 (1999), 30.

"Swivel Device for Painting Model Rockets," By Bruce S. Levison Sport Rocketry, 44 (2001), 35.

“Simulating the Effects of Tube Fins with RockSim” by Bruce S. Levison http://web.archive.org/web/20120219...g_tube_fins.asp

“Predicting where your rocket will land using RockSim v4.0” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #024, 10/15/00 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...ewsletter24.pdf

“Simulating Ring Tail Fins in RockSim v4.0” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #027, 11/05/00 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...ewsletter27.pdf

“Simulating fins-on-fins in RockSim” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #113, 10/27/03 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter113.pdf

“Simulating Pop-Pod Boost Gliders In RockSim v7 #1” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #116, 12/05/03 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter116.pdf

“Simulating Pop-Pod Boost Gliders In RockSim v7 #2” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #117, 12/19/03 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter117.pdf

“Simulation of Side Pods in RockSim v7.0” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #119, 01/27/04 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter119.pdf

“Simulating Foam-filled parts in RockSim” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #122, 03/26/04 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter122.pdf

”CP's of Short and Fat Rockets in RockSim” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #154, 12/30/05 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter154.pdf

”Creating Short/Fat Rockets in RockSim, Pt. 2” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #158, 03/14/06 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter158.pdf

”Simulating UFO and Cube Rockets in RockSim” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #162, 06/15/06 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter162.pdf

“Advanced RockSim Technique: How to create a nested boat tail in a 2-stage rocket” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #172, 12/07/06 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter172.pdf

“Simulating Angular Airframe Tubes in RockSim v9 - Part 1” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter,Issue #296, 09/27/11 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter296.pdf

“Simulating Angular Airframe Tubes in RockSim v9 - Part 2” by Bruce S. Levison, Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #297, 10/11/11 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter297.pdf

"3D Printing Nosecones with RockSim" By Bruce Levison, Apogee Components' Peak of Flight Newsletter, Issue #476, 08/21/2018 https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter476.pdf

Other articles that I wrote but didn't get credit for:

"Simulating Strap-on Boosters in RockSim 7: Part 1" By Tim Van Milligan Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter,Issue #108, 08/04/03
https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter108.pdf

"Simulating Strap-on Boosters in RockSim 7: Part 2" By Tim Van Milligan Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter,Issue #109, 08/22/03
https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter109.pdf

"Simulating Strap-on Boosters in RockSim 7: Part 3" By Tim Van Milligan Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter,Issue #110, 09/12/03
https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter110.pdf

"Simulating Strap-on Boosters in RockSim 7: Part 4" By Tim Van Milligan Apogee’s Peak of Flight Newsletter,Issue #111, 09/30/03
https://www.apogeerockets.com/educa...wsletter111.pdf

Nice!

While not recognized by Tim, and not using RocSim, I've done stuff for Binder Design, eRockets/Semroc, and Aerotech/Quest.

Here's a sample that I'm especially proud of... Mike Fisher's Prototype of the Binder Design Velociraptor:



Someone on the forums labeled me as the "OpenRocket Chuck Norris". I dig that.