L.G.M. Invasion!

Paul Rudin (RocketGeekInFl on TRF)
Posted a picture of his Little Green Man

"Launched my daughters this weekend. 
This was actually one of the straightest flying rockets of the day. 
Real crowd pleaser!!!"

Scott Heider's Little Green Man

A blog comment and pics from Scott Heider:

"Since you requested pics, I thought that I'd share a few of my just finished Little Green Man. I built mine stock per the instructions. 
Thanks for creating such a fun kit!" 










Every space man needs his Ray Gun!

Great work Scott! Thanks for sharing!
Let me know how it flys!

SPUDNIK Flight Testing

I launched the SPUDNIK twice yesterday morning, both times with a A10-3t engine. Both flights were stable to about 100 feet but there was corkscrewing.

The Odd'l Rockets Sputnik (with the 3" foam ball) flys vertical  without any "coning" or corkscrewing.

The problem is trying to drill out a straight 1/2" hole for the engine mount tube. If the line of thrust is off by a degree or two the rocket won't fly perfectly vertical.
Add the uneven surfaces along the top and it probably won't fly without some spiraling.
Drag and weight are other considerations. On both flights the model was nose down and ejected the engine at half the altitude.
I know - MORE POWER! A larger engine (B6-2 or C6-3) would get it higher in the air but still doesn't solve the mount hole reaming and deflection from the uneven top surfaces.

The inset picture shows the micro clips connected to the igniter. If you have a Sputnik rocket, be sure the clips have no chance of getting caught up on the legs!

The Spudnik won't become a kit. There just isn't a way to ream out a straight hole for the engine mount tube.
This isn't a loss by any means. I'm only out a few dollars for the potato and two engines. You'd be surprised how many models are built, flown and not released.
I might fly it at a club launch but wouldn't want to release it for sale with the stability concerns.

SPUDNIK!

Here's one I'm looking forward to testing!
Gary Minton emailed the suggestion for a Spudnik. I wish I had come up with the idea!

I had ordered a few "stress ball" potatoes. They were too heavy to fly!
Gary found these spuds, I ordered them from China.

After 30 minutes of drilling and gluing here's the finished prototype.

It'll soon fly with an A10-3t engine. 

Keep your fingers crossed!

Bunnell, FL, N.E.F.A.R. Launch

The Little Green Man had it's thirteenth flight at the NEFAR monthly launch on October 11.

There was a slow turn during boost with an Estes C6-5 to about 650 feet. The 12" Odd'l parachute brought it down with no damage.

This guy is popular, cameras always come out when he flys.

More LGM and Pigasus kits!

jonrocket.com   and
apogeerockets.com

now have more Little Green Men and Pigasus kits in stock!
Both vendors also carry the new Flame Resistant Shock Cord.

Pigasus on NAR Facebook Page

Here's Beth Johnson's PIGASUS
posted on the NAR's Facebook page.


Great work Beth!
Thanks for posting the picture.

. . . I Say Potahtoe

Gary Minton spent more time looking for a better potato than I did. Here's what he found - 

First, I had a sample stress-ball potato sent out. It's too heavy and I can't drill out for an engine mount tube like I do for the Sputnik kit.
These new spuds weigh only 18 grams each, half of what the stress ball potato did.
That leads me to believe these might be Styrofoam.

An order has been made for the first six. They've got to coming from China. The delivery estimate date is Thursday, October 23, 2014 - Monday, November 10, 2014!

Another typical day of research at the Odd'l Rockets workshop.