I think I remember reading he was in Saudi Arabia. And yes, definately against AMA rules. He did a write up on it, on his web site, but he's changed it since then, and I can't find it now.I wasn't recommending anyone doing it, but I do think its totally cool
Joe

Uum... With the kid on my second floor, we took one of those cheapo foam free flight gliders and made a hole large enough to fit the nose cone and insides on his Estes Bandit rocket (Which took C6-5 engines). We went to the Tatnuck Bookseller football and baseball field, hit it with the ignition... It got hung up on the tree near Walgreens. We visited the blue house's owner and asked them if we could retrieve the model from the tree in his property. We never figured out what went wrong, but because the rocket was in the rear, I had a feeling that we didn't balance it.

Wonder what would happen with an E-class engine and an 6-8lb trainer.

be careful of the exhaust pattern so that it does not hit the aircraft or you wil burn holes through it.

Keep posting those questions or doing this stuff and it woun't be long before we will have to register the planes with the alphabet soup Gov. agencies. In this paranoyed society is just an excuse for them to control us more.

Remember big brother is watching, (yeah right), everyone hurry grab your guns and lets run to Waco, TX, remember to bring your poison if you get thirsty!!!!!


Some of you guys crack me up!!!!


weskel


p.s. Remember to look over your sholder for the mysterious black government helicopters!!!! They are everywhere!

I guess if done right, this could be cool for gliders. lauch them up so you can glide them down.

Tape that sucker together and get it up in the air,then come back and tell what either
1- went right
2 - went wrong
3 - who got hurt
4 - whatche gonna do next ?,

*i'm game to light the fuze if you need a volunteer* ,
"hey dear,throw a umbrella on the bike"

Inventions and people are gonna be famous here soon. [X(]

As I said... its been done.

I planned it out a bit better... and I mounted the rocket to fire straight out the tail. (and had the on-board lighter.)

The low power test went well. Lit it off and had an anemicly powered model gain 150 ft altitude in nothing flat. (should have been a warning that the rocket thrust line was wrong for the bigger motor.)

The high power... did a figure-9... with the lower part of the 9 underground.

Others have done it and had better results.

What bugs me is that these rocket motors have an explosive parachute ejection charge at the end of the main burn. What's going to happen the the trianer when those charges explode?[X(]

True but the charges are designed to limit the amount of "fire" they put out unlike the other end. They need to eject a parachute made of very thin plasict or whatever the material is. Very unlikely to do any damage to monocote or similar covering.

Also at my age being a AMA qualified trainer I have relized that you can't do this without a permit to use rocket propellent on planes.

Just plain WRONG.

There is no such thing as an official "AMA qualified trainer" Nowhere will you find an AMA document to support your claim! (on either the qualified trainer OR the need or a permit!)

There are designated trainer or instructor pilots within some clubs. Some clubs have a qualification requirement to become an instructor... The AMA lists SUGGESTED qualifications for the Intro Pilot Program... There is no OFFICIAL AMA designation for a "qualified trainer"

Unless your state law requires you to get a permit to buy the rocket motors, there is no permit needed. But that's got nothing to do with AMA rules.

*********************

On my installation... I routed a section of model rocket tube to allow the ejection charge gasses to exit the fuselage. You can also put a balsa cap on the motor mounting tube... and rig the tube to lock the rocket motor in place more securely (can't allow it to eject or it does vilolate a detail of the AMA rules)

I think the AMA rule is when your at a club or approved flying field for there insurance to cover but if your in a place that isn't a flying field or on private property it's between you and your own insurance,or your parents insurance,if you have any, and not AMA.I could be wrong tho.

AMA insurance covers an AMA member anywhere he/she flys any type model that meets the AMA safety code regulations (which is darn near anything from a paper airplane to a 55 lb 1/3 scale Extra 300... IF you don't mount munitions on it.)

An AMA member is MORALLY bound to follow AMA rules even if not flying at an AMA chartered club facility. (how many people under 60 even know what "morrally bound" means?)

AMA insurance is "excess" meaning it starts where your other policies leave off. (there's huge, long discussions on this... elsewhere.) Some homeowner's policies specificly exclude model aviation activities from coverage... some specificly include coverage.

I don't see any big problem with the E motor on a trainer. I saw a rocket go awry last weekend at a sanctioned rocket launch. It only did $3,000 damage to the truck. Since it was a sanctioned/insured event the rocketeer was only responsible for the $1,000 deductable. Now - the fully AMA legal heli that was mowing dandilions at our local field today (and later mowing dirt.) - That scares me.

**********
typo

Yes... if the rocket experiment goes bad... it can go very bad. (which is one reason why I suggest tests with lower power rockets before the big one.)

An E-class rocket can do a whole heap of damage. A B or C engine is not going to do nearly as much damage (if it somehow manages to break free of the model) nor is it going to make as much difference to the controllability of the model. (note my experiment's results above...)

You will need to angle the thrust to push the nose of the trainer DOWN a little. (mine was straight, on a .40 size trainer, and overpowered full-down elevator with the larger rocket engine.) HOw much? well... when the smaller rocket engine results in the trainer not pitching up... then you probably need a little MORE angle with the larger rocket engine. (you can extrapolate a reasonable guess by going up in power a little at a time...)

A 0-0-0 Pattern design might do OK with a 0 thrust angle rocket boost... I might even try it...

**************

typos [&:] probly more that I didn't see.

I don't mean to get off the subject, BUT, Planes can do just as much damage as a helicopter. Granted I'm not talking about an EP Park Flyer, which can also do "some" damage. Some of the bigger scale planes could do even more damage than a helicopter. So if you're afraid of a helicopter, then be very afraid of planes too
OK Off my soap box, I just had to defend my favorite aircraft, helicopters.

Point well taken. There just weren't any planes on the runway in self destruct mode yesterday. (We did all of our plane crashing further from the flight line)

I've seen a heli flyer that was good enough to make mini crop circles in the weeds... there are not many who can get away with it.

I've never seen the point of hoverng inverted and going down to scrape the head button on the pavement. I've never seen the point of the 3D fixed wing practice of touching the tail in a hover either. ([:-]Oooo... we can TRY to break it!)


The problem is... the guys who see the experts doing such things and then try it too close in without adequate skill. Those are the accidents waiting to happen. Doing it 50 or 100 ft out... the "crazy chicken" (heli crash flopping on the ground) or the flying flapjack (out of control fixed wing with no tailfeathers) is much less likely to hit someone.

FHHubber: I totally agree.
davidinmi: I didn't mean to sound rude, sorry if I did. I just get a little touchy about helicopters Some guys who fly planes think they're (helicopters) so dangerous, but they never stop to think that their larger scale planes are just, if not more dangerous. As long as we're all safe..............

We had some awesome heli pilots flying yesterday. I was quite impressed with the show they put on. He was seriously clipping the tops of dandilions for several minutes. The event was fresh in my mind when I posted. I was attempting to use a little sarcasm to try and make the point that we all need to consider safety and property damage when we push the limits of what we are capable of. When we do push the limits I just hope that everyone will think out the liability and safety implications of what they are attempting before hand so we can all continue to enjoy this hobby.

If you handle the safety issues... the liability issues handle themselves. (no injury or damage... no liability.)

I agree guys. Safety is the most important thing. If we're all safe, everyone has tons of fun, whether its a plane, helicopter, or even a gyro

Using rocket motors for launching gliders as been around for a long time. I've been into rockets since I was a kid, and have done everything from little Estes rockets (A-E motors) to High Power rockets (H and up motors), and I've seen many people launch and fly different kinds of flying vehicles with rocket motors. Estes makes specific motors that are plugged at the end that have no ejection charge fo that very purpose. ALL Mid and high power motors can be assembled plugged or with an ejection charge. As long as the installation is done properly, there should be no safety issues. I just hope he uses CARDBOARD tubes for engine mounts and NOT PVC. That way, if (or when) the engine CATO's, the shrapnel will be paper and not plastic.

Here's a couple of pics of my largest rocket I've done.

Trust me, they are there! I fly one! We are watching [X(] hahahahahaha