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Old 02-19-2015, 10:43 PM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Default Kookaburra sounding rocket

Hello All,

This is Part 1 of a two-part posting. Here is scale data on the Kookaburra Mk. 1, Mk. 2, and Mk. 3 sounding rockets (the Kookaburra was the first all-Australian sounding rocket [earlier Australian sounding rockets used all--or some--British-made rocket motors]). I was inspired by 'astroboy' on the Australian Rocketry Forum, who built a beautiful half-scale model of the Kookaburra Mk. 3 (see: http://www.ausrocketry.com/forum/vi...er=asc&start=15 - I have also attached his two Kookaburra Mk. 3 model photographs and his Kookaburra Mk. 3 drawing [see: http://www.ausrocketry.com/forum/vi...kets+Scale+Data ] below). And:

The similarities between the three Marks would enable the Kookaburra Mk. 1, Mk. 2, and Mk. 3 to be depicted in the same drawing if desired, as they differed only in first stage length, payload section length (both were "stretched" for the Kookaburra Mk. 3), and in a slight first stage nozzle shape change in the Kookaburra Mk. 3 (which was first incorporated into the Kookaburra Mk. 2's Lupus 2 first stage motor; its nozzle was slightly wider at the exit plane). The Kookaburra Mk. 2 was externally identical to the Kookaburra Mk. 1 (except for the Kookaburra Mk. 2's Lupus 2 first stage motor's nozzle improvement). The Kookaburra Mk. 1, Mk. 2, and Mk. 3 would make great vented gap-staged scale models (with first stage streamer or parachute recovery, if desired) for black powder motors (electronic staging could also be used, of course). Here is what I found:

The Kookaburra was built before Australia went metric, and the metric figures given for certain parts' dimensions are almost identical to (converted) round inch-based figures. To begin with, the Kookaburra Mk. 1's Lupus 1A first stage rocket motor was 5" in diameter, while the Musca second stage motor was 3.5" in diameter (all Kookaburra variants used the same Musca second stage motor, according to Kerrie Dougherty's Australian sounding rockets paper (which is attached; it's a PDF). Most Australian sounding rockets were named after Australian birds, while their rocket motors were named after constellations in the southern hemisphere sky. Now:

This page on the Museum Victoria site (see: http://museumvictoria.com.au/collec...-two-stage-1975 ) has a photograph (also attached below) of their Kookaburra Mk. 1, which is 3,535 mm long (139.17323 inches, or 11.597769 feet) when assembled. Its first stage fin span is 425 mm, which is 16.732283 inches (it's very close to 16.75 inches). Its nose cone is described on the above-listed site as being a 7.5° cone (I think they meant a 7.5° *half-angle* cone, because twice that is 15°, which looks like the angle subtended by the nose cone in 'astroboy's' Kookaburra Mk. 3 drawing [please see attached]; this looks similar to the 14° conical nose cone of the WAC Corporal and some Skylark rounds). The decor scheme is described on the above-linked site thus: "The body of each stage is painted cream/white, with black stenciled lettering, black fins and nozzle and a 7.5° tapered polished metal alloy nose. The lower stage is also fitted with a tapered polished metal tip which fits inside the conical nozzle of the upper stage." Each stage also has a green band painted around it, closer to the front end. Also:

These pages (see: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/col...ase/?irn=143516 and http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/col...ase/?irn=143514 ) from the Powerhouse Museum's website show sectioned Lupus and Musca rocket motors, respectively (these photographs are also attached in Part 2; the Lupus photograph shows the green band around its front end quite well, which--knowing the motor is 5" in diameter--would enable the green band's width and its distance from the front end of the motor to be determined. Here is another Kookaburra photograph (which is also attached in Part 2; see: http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/kookabura.htm [from Gunter's Space Page: http://space.skyrocket.de/index.html ]). In addition:

Kerrie Dougherty's (attached) paper, "Upper atmospheric research at Woomera: the Australian-built sounding rockets," provided the fin and payload section dimensions, as well as the overall lengths of the motors and of the Kookaburra vehicles. On pages 9 and 10, she gave the Kookaburra Mk. 1's length as 138" (which is in close agreement with the 139.17323" [converted from 3,535 mm] length figure given on the above-linked Museum Victoria site). She listed its payload compartment's length as 52 cm (20.472441", which is very close to 20.5"). The Lupus first stage was 173 cm long (she wrote 17.3 cm, which is *really* short... :-) ). 173 cm converts to 68.110236 inches (5.675853 feet), which is very close to 5-2/3 feet. As well:

She described the Kookaburra's first stage fins as being 15 cm X 15 cm square, which is almost certainly 6" X 6" square. She gave a length for the Musca second stage of 177 cm (she wrote 17.7 cm), which is 69.685039" or 5.8070866 feet. The second stage fins were 11.5 cm X 15 cm (I think that's 4.5" X 6")--the conversion is 4.5275591" X 5.9055118". Plus:

The Lupus 2 motor (used in the Kookaburra Mk. 2 sounding rocket, whose Musca second stage was the same as in the Mk. 1 [and in the Mk. 3, too]) was the same length as the Lupus 1A motor; its more powerful propellant and improved nozzle shape produced a 21.5% increase in total impulse over the Lupus 1A motor. Plus:

The Kookaburra Mk. 3 used a Lupus 3 first stage motor, which was "stretched" to 196 cm (77.165354" or 6.4304462 feet) in length and had further internal improvements (in its mass ratio and its propellant grain shape). This, along with a slightly longer (57 cm [22.440945" or 1.8700787 feet]) payload compartment, increased the overall vehicle length by 37 cm (14.566929" or 1.2139108 feet). These Kookaburra Mk. 3 dimensions (which I'm sure are "overly accurate," in the significant figures sense) can be checked against 'astroboy's' ground-truth (directly measured) dimensions for the Kookaburra Mk. 3; he measured a Kookaburra Mk. 3 round on display at the Woomera Museum, and he also took many photographs of it (his drawing is based on these measurements and photographs).

I hope this information will be helpful.
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Last edited by blackshire : 02-20-2015 at 12:09 AM.
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Old 02-19-2015, 10:54 PM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Here is Part 2 of the Kookaburra sounding rockets posting. Attached below are three photographs (a Lupus first stage motor, a Musca second stage motor, and a view of a Kookaburra in its launcher at the Woomera Range in Australia). The Lupus was also used in other Australian sounding rockets, such as the Cockatoo (in which it served as the second stage). Most Australian sounding rockets were named after Australian birds, while their rocket motors were named after constellations in the southern hemisphere sky. Also:

These pages (see: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/col...ase/?irn=143516 and http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/col...ase/?irn=143514 ) from the Powerhouse Museum's website show sectioned Lupus and Musca rocket motors, respectively (these photographs are also attached below); the Lupus photograph shows the green band around its front end quite well, which--knowing that this motor is 5" in diameter--would enable the green band's width and its distance from the front end of the motor to be determined. In addition, here is a Kookaburra photograph (which is also attached below, see: http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/kookabura.htm [from Gunter's Space Page: http://space.skyrocket.de/index.html ]).
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Last edited by blackshire : 02-19-2015 at 11:11 PM.
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Old 02-20-2015, 01:25 AM
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Sounds pretty KOOKY to me.
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Old 02-20-2015, 01:35 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
Sounds pretty KOOKY to me.
Topknot (the name of an Australian pigeon) would have been a strange name... (The first stage of the earlier two-stage variants of the British Skylark sounding rocket [many Skylarks flew at Woomera, as well as elsewhere] used a rocket motor called the Cuckoo.) Other Australian sounding rockets had such avian names as Cockatoo, Lorikeet, and Corella. Their earlier ones were called Long Tom, Aeolus, HAD (High Altitude Density), HAT (High Altitude Temperature), and Aero-High, and a series of hypersonic test vehicles (using surplus rocket motors) was given the name Jabiru (and Aero-Mach, for the later ones).
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http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
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Last edited by blackshire : 02-20-2015 at 03:42 AM.
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