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  #1  
Old 08-21-2022, 04:56 PM
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HenryMac HenryMac is offline
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Default The Cygnus Probe Ship - 29MM Powered

Spurred on by a couple of threads where this rocket was being discussed I decided to take a stab at building on of these.

The Cygnus Probe Ship is from the Disney movie "The Black Hole". Estes Industries was slated to release a model of it, but it got cancelled at the last minute before any of them were sold.

I basically drew the rocket up in CAD and then built it out of body tubes and pine components that I turned on my wood lathe.

This rocket is probably the most challenging rocket I have designed / built since getting back into rocketry in 2018.

The Open Rocket Model shows it to be marginally stable, but only if the base drag hack is used. And there is debate as to if the hack should be used at all for this design.

I did a swing test, and the rocket tested as stable. But the flights were only stable during the thrust portion of the flight. Once the thrust stopped and the coasting phase begins the rocket goes AoA until the chute deploys.

What I've learned from building and flying this is it's basically not a stable design as represented in the movie. And the only way to make it a stable design is to stretch the upper tube length. But then, it doesn't look like the ship in the movie, so what's the point in doing that.

Nonetheless, it was a fun project, and looks cool on the shelf.

Photo's below are screen shots I grabbed while watching the movie and a couple of the Estes model rocket that was never released to the public.

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  #2  
Old 08-21-2022, 05:09 PM
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HenryMac HenryMac is offline
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Default Build Photos of The Cygnus Probe Ship

Here are some build photo's and a swing test video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwXp99tSfPo
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Old 08-21-2022, 05:25 PM
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HenryMac HenryMac is offline
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Default

Flight photo's are shown below.

1st Flight
Stable under thrust, AoA during coast phase. F52-5C 29mm motor used.
Ejection charge fired a couple hundred feet altitude above ground.
The Kevlar shock chord snapped, and the nose cone and parachute floated to the ground and the fuselage tumble recovered.
The motor spit out the back and was lost. One of the outrigger masts was also lost.

Summary: A hot mess, but easily repairable.

2nd Flight
Stable under thrust, AoA during coast phase. F42T-4 29mm motor used.
Chute deployed only approx. 20 feet before ground hit.
All components stayed intact during recovery.
One leg cracked at ground hit.
The body tube and the shock chord were both on fire when recovered, but not to the point od damaging the rocket.

Summary: A hot mess, but easily repairable.

I repaired the rocket, but don't plan to fly it again unless I modify it with a longer upper body tube. That modification should make the rocket stable. See the Open Rocket simulations below.
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Last edited by HenryMac : 08-22-2022 at 07:32 PM.
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