My Beginning in Whistle Rocketry

[psyco_1322]

Can't wait to see how that comes out, scrappy.

 

A resent 4oz rocket I shot. It made this funny chuffing noise when it took off. It also seemed to take off slower than usual. Even though it looks fast, it was slower than normal and was quite evident in person. Usually I can't even see the rocket light up, the second the fuse hits fuel the rocket is cruising, this one had slightly slower take off.

 

http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/psyc...nt=S4024768.flv

[scrappy]

thanks stinger, for some reason i can't view your vid..

 

Wait no more psyco, here they are and there is no doubt about it ! the fully tapered core is a hands down winner " all around" it performed unbelievably better, it had a quicker more powerfull thrust, was louder and went longer ( it has more delay ) the biggest difference was with the cupric oxide, ( a far more exciting whistle, " if i had to describe them in mechanical terms i would say.... " they were going so hard, the valves were bouncing "" due to where i launch them it prohibits me from bringing them to a report,

the sequence of the vid is , red oxide, copper oxide (black), oxychloride 76:23 and dito 70:30, no longer will i turn out spindles slightly tapered,

all the perameters are identical because i still had comp left over from them all previously,

 

4 whistles

 

Btw, your 4oz whistle went great, that chuffing is also present in one or 2 of these, personaly i don't mind a bit of chuffing

 

ho yea, thanks for tuning up my rockets.

[Stinger]

Hey guys

 

I uploaded the video here

 

http://pyrobin.com/files/4oz%20whistle.mov

 

Have fun watching it

The rocket went almost 1000 feet high, because of the flash to report delay

 

Best regards

 

Stinger

[scrappy]

Here is my 1lb whistle rocket tooling I had turned by a mate of mine for free. The spindle is 2 ½" long and ¼" wide, I pressed a rocket last week and had the tube cut 6 ½" long I think it was to long the rocket burned for about 20 seconds and the last few seconds of the flight where spent traveling towards the ground. Anyway next one I'm pressing will be 5" long and I think ill catalyze it with oxychloride.

 

nice tooling ausfire, if i may throw in my 2 bobs worth, its obvious a conciderable amount of time was employed in its fabrication,

 

its not neccessary to have 2 rammers, on the primary rammer, instead of knurling the handle end it makes sence to machine it to fit your tube and use that end for pressing the delay and end plug ( multi rammer)

[ausfire]

nice tooling ausfire, if i may throw in my 2 bobs worth, its obvious a conciderable amount of time was employed in its fabrication,

 

its not neccessary to have 2 rammers, on the primary rammer, instead of knurling the handle end it makes sence to machine it to fit your tube and use that end for pressing the delay and end plug ( multi rammer)

 

Scrappy,

 

I have pressed endburners using a single solid rammer but I always find it to become quite awkward trying to get that long rammer to sit still in the tube when pressing the last increment along with the clay plug as apposed to the shorter rammer. My mate claims he only spent an hour or two making the tooling... doubt it somehow.

[FREAKYDUTCHMEN]

More rammers in different lengths is easier to work with, cause you don't have to adapt the height of your press.

[Stinger]

Damn, those are nice toolings!

 

I become a bit jealous though because working without a tooling is very annoying

and does not make you feel comfortable when sitting in the basement to press some rockets.

 

 

I also pressed a 16mm ID whistle rocket today using the common 76/23/1+3 formula, also some Ti powder has been added

 

Here are some pictures

 

 

 

The header contains 8 salutes, 7 with 2g KClO4/Al+Ti sponge with silver tail and one 3,6g KClO4/Al+Ti bottom shot weighing

96g all together

 

Do you guys think this rocket will bring the shell to a good height?

The motor has a 2-1/2" long core with 5mm diameter and the grain is 3-3/4" long

[yellowcard]

You should test the engine first, you don't want a header full of salutes to go flying low.

Just weigh out 100grams of sand, put it in a bag and tape it on the top of your rocket. If it flies high enough and doesn't cato or anything, you can safely put up that payload full of salutes (if you keep the motor design the same:) !

[psyco_1322]

Good to hear you're liking the results, scrappy.

 

Stinger,

That motor should fly that header no problem. It would probably fly a 3" ball shell fine also. It will only have about 7/8" of delay, which will be fine for shells. Remember that and equal amount of the delay is burned upwards as is from the core to the wall. That is all to say that your engines are stable and will fly. If not, ground shows are fun

[hondo]

In making my first whistle rocket, I cut my tubes to 3.5 inches long, ID is 0.750, I used my BP core burner tooling for pressing the fuel , attached the motor to a stick inserted the rocket stick into a piece of PVC tube and lit it, Very nice loud whistle but never left the launch tube, I dont know if it got stuck in the launch tube or the thrust was low, How much of an internal core do you need? Should they be made like core burner BP rockets and the core extends up into the fuel the majority of the length of the motor? I figured I would try that first before buying more tooling

[psyco_1322]

hondo,

Usually the tubes for 3/4" bp core burners are 7.5" long, and a good portion is used for the core. This tells me you have some homemade tooling with a relatively shorter core than standard. I would be certain that even the smallest core would have got your rocket going if it had good fuel. If you would care to share tooling dimensions and how your fuel it prepared, that would help diagnose your problems.

[hondo]

I purchased my tooling from skylighter, one set for end burners and one for core burners, so are you telling me my whistle rocket should be 7.5 inches long and I can use my core burning tooling for whistle rockets?

 

Hondo

[FrankRizzo]

No, whistle rocket tubes are shorter than BP motors. I use 4.5" tubes for my whistles. We're confused as to how you used your cored BP spindle to load a motor, when the tube is shorter than the spindle is long. Did you mean to say you used your end burner tooling?

[psyco_1322]

That would make more sense if you used the end burner tooling, then short nipple looking spindle. That rocket would probably have just set there then, just as you described.

 

You might expect a CATO when you get to using the actual core burner tooling, if not, it's going to be one hot whistle.

[hondo]

Yes I used my end burner tooling for my first whistle rocket

[Zmuro]

Hi.

 

I got my 23mmID tubes, now I just have to make the tooling. It's close to 3lb tooling so if anyone has any prints or measurements for spindle, core width and length, would he be so kind and post them here or PM me.

[Zmuro]

Whistle rocket made with 1lb pusher tooling 1lb whistle - Pusher core Edited June 29, 2009 by Zmuro

[Zmuro]

I have a question. Could I use HDPE pipe for whistle motor casing? I have a lot of 25mm ID HDPE tubes and I got an idea to use these tubes for motor casing. Is it god or bad idea?

[TrueBluePyro]

It should be safe if there was a CATO, lol, not sure I have never used it for a rocket tube before, but im guessing you would end up with a not so nice smelling plastic.

[Zmuro]

Hehe, I guess your right...I could start a fire with that.

[yellowcard]

I use thick 1'' pvc pipes for my meal rockets. No problem at all, these very strong casings make very powerfull rockets and they only melt a little bit if you make a short burning core burner. No problems with fires or whatsoever.

[Zmuro]

I use thick 1'' pvc pipes for my meal rockets. No problem at all, these very strong casings make very powerfull rockets and they only melt a little bit if you make a short burning core burner. No problems with fires or whatsoever.

So you think I could use 25mm ID HDPE tubes for whistle motor?

[dagabu]

Whistle rocket made with 1lb pusher tooling 1lb whistle - Pusher core

 

Saweet! Whats the salute? 70-30 flash?

[Zmuro]

Saweet! Whats the salute? 70-30 flash?

Hehe, yes it was about 15g of 70/30 FP.

[FrankRizzo]

Guys,

 

Don't use plastic pipe for rocket motors. Besides the safety considerations, that motor casing has to come down somewhere, and unfortunately that piece of plastic will not biodegrade for decades. Be environmentally friendly with your creations and make them with paper, paste, and string.