Flying Falcon Heavy

[SoheilEsy]

Failure is part of the process of success

[marzipandancer]

So ah... did you launch it?

[cscott]

So ah... did you launch it?

Not yet -- the weather got cold and I didn't manage to get to a convenient large-enough field...

[whitelancer64]

I modified the engine mount in the center booster to make it into a two stage rocket.  The second stage shoots down a phenolic tube so it doesn't fry the lower half of the rocket to a crisp.  Some holes in the tube prevent the Krushnic effect.  The first stage motor mount is recovered with a mylar streamer.

Accessible set screws ensure the second stage motor doesn't eject itself rather than the parachute.

Do you have any more details / pictures about how you made this two-stage assembly? I'd like to build a "Falcon Heavy" sometime and that seems like it would solve the problem of how to ensure the side boosters separate from the center core.

[GWH]

So ah... did you launch it?

Not yet -- the weather got cold and I didn't manage to get to a convenient large-enough field...

Any updates?

My son and I flew our F9 1.1 today. Launch pad rod was short and it had a lot of horizontal flight and then too long of a delay on the charge but recovered fine albiet tangled. Really tempted to try building a heavy!

Edit: Fixed photo orientation.

[cscott]

I think I finally found a large enough field, going to check it out next week.

I built a flying "Pad Abort Dragon", and a "mini falcon heavy" (with 1/2A motors) and launched them a few weeks ago.  They all ended up horizontal, though.  I needed to pay more attention to balance; the dragon shape is hard to swing test and the mini falcon was too small to do so!  I'll try to get some photos & video up, though.

[joncz]

So ah... did you launch it?

Not yet -- the weather got cold and I didn't manage to get to a convenient large-enough field...

Any updates?

My son and I flew our F9 1.1 today. Launch pad rod was short and it had a lot of horizontal flight and then too long of a delay on the charge but recovered fine albiet tangled. Really tempted to try building a heavy!

That was an intense amount of horizontal flight!

Exit, stage left!

[whitelancer64]

I think I finally found a large enough field, going to check it out next week.

I built a flying "Pad Abort Dragon", and a "mini falcon heavy" (with 1/2A motors) and launched them a few weeks ago.  They all ended up horizontal, though.  I needed to pay more attention to balance; the dragon shape is hard to swing test and the mini falcon was too small to do so!  I'll try to get some photos & video up, though.

I'd be interested in seeing your Pad-abort dragon!! Four motors around the sides of something I imagine you had to build from scratch?

[cscott]

A central motor buried in the trunk, rigged so it ejects the capsule from the trunk at apogee.  Printed on my 3d printer.  I'll try to get it posted on thingiverse.