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Old 03-05-2009, 01:11 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
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Default Recovering ejected rocket motor cases on the flying field

Quote:
Originally Posted by Royatl
Within reason, they are somewhat biodegradable, but being tightly wound, they can last for some time.

So, one of the reasons that we don't really like ejecting motor casings is that if we don't find them, someone else will, and may not like it, depending on how they find it. Many different scenarios there.

The other one is that a falling casing is pretty dense and can hurt when it hits someone. It is bad enough when, say, a reload casing gets ejected unintentionally. I've been whacked in the head by a mini casing. A standard casing would've been just at the edge of my ability to tolerate it.


I like quite a few classic and new model rockets that eject their motors. A simple solution (shown in the instructions of the Centuri Hummingbird boost-glider kit, see: http://astrocam.aea6.k12.ia.us/man4.jpg and http://astrocam.aea6.k12.ia.us/hummingbird.html) is to tape a length of cotton string to a streamer, tape the other end of the string inside the motor case using a square of masking tape (or glue it in place using a square piece of card stock), push a small amount of flameproof wadding down into the front end of the motor (or wrap the rolled-up streamer in one square of flameproof wadding), and then push the streamer down into the front end of the motor.

A roll of 7/8", 1", or 1-1/16" wide fluorescent orange plastic flagging tape contains enough material for scores of motor case recovery streamers. Prior to a launch session, one could prepare all of the streamer-equipped motors at home beforehand. These ejected motors could be left on the flying field during the launch session and be picked up afterwards, and their streamers could then be removed and reused for the next flying session. (An ejected motor lying on the ground with its streamer could even be used as a spot-landing "target marker" for a subsequently-launched model in a streamer, parachute, or glide recovery spot-landing contest!)
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Last edited by blackshire : 03-08-2009 at 11:54 PM. Reason: This ol' hoss done forgot somethin'.
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