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NYPOWER, it's been THE big launch for me for over 10 years now. Held in Geneseo, New York at the same site that hosted LDRS 23, NYPOWER enjoys a large mowed grass field carpeting a one mile by one mile recovery area. I did my L1 certification at NYPOWER back in 1996. At NYPOWER 2002, I did my L3 certification flight — I was honored to be the first to fly the newly certified Animal Motor Works M1850 Green Gorilla motor. Upon my return home from that launch, I was very excited to get the photographs I took up on the Web, anxious to show people the new green flame motor. One person was not amused, and went so far as to call me a 'knob' for flying an 'effects' motor. The rest is history ... the term 'knob' stuck, and 'knob motor' now refers to a motor with some visual appeal. My high power rockets have all been upscaled Estes rockets, but these rockets tend to have over-sized fins, tend to be over-stable, and as a result, tend to tip into the wind. I wanted to build something a little sleeker. Certainly not a high performance rocket ... but something a little more fun to fly, and something that would go a little higher than my rockets with their giant fins flapping in the wind as they fly. So I whipped up a simple "4FNC" rocket design, and chose a fin pattern with a relatively small span and large root. I always liked airstarts, so I decided to build this rocket with a central 75mm motor mount tube and four 38mm outboard motor mount tubes. Rocket construction was pretty straight forward. The tubes were phenolic cardboard ordered from Red Arrow Hobbies. Like I do with all of my larger rockets, I put a 2-inch wide band of KEVLAR® on the leading edge of both airframe tubes (a zipper-prevention method I like to use), then both airframe tubes were covered with a layer of 6oz. and 2oz. 'glass. The fins were cut from 3/8-inch birch ply, and left unglassed. I modified two Public Missiles centering rings by cutting the four outboard motor mount holes in them. Then the rocket was assembled with West System epoxy with milled 'glass additive. I'm not the most creative person in the world, so for quite some time this rocket had no name. I just referred to it as the "EX Rocket" ... because I had every intention of flying it on EX motors. On its first flight, when it was just wearing primer, it flew to 7200 feet on a Wimpy Red M motor, airstarting two green I motors, then again airstarting two more green I motors. Sounds pretty knobby, right? Soon after the launch, I thought ... this thing needs to fly on an M1850 Green Gorilla, and immediately thought of the name ... Knob's Revenge. In order to maximize the 'knobbiness' of the rocket, I decided to paint it my favorite color, purple. Some yellow flames on top would make it look cool, so I painted those on. A little yellow in the fins gave it a nice touch, but it was still missing something. I thought some yellow lettering with the rockets name would give it the final touch it needed. Around this same time, I was banned from a certain rocket forum for using the term "knob." Bingo, another creative inspiration was born! I contacted Dave Rose at Graphix & Stuff, he came up with the great font for the lettering, and I asked him if he could make a custom "Calvin" decal for me. I was thrilled with the result. At NYPower 2007, I was blessed with Mr. AMW himself, Paul Robinson, signing the rocket. "Knob on," Paul wrote, before signing his name. The rocket was then prepped with the core M1850 Green Gorilla motor and two I325 White Wolf motors. I was worried about it going too high with four outboards, so decided to just use the two I motors. An AED Electronics R-DAS would perform all electronic duties. It would light the I motor airstarts one second after liftoff was detected, it would separate the rocket at apogee, and then pop the main chute at 1100 feet. A PICO AA2 accelerometer was onboard as a backup recovery device. The flight performed as expected. The bright green flame made the rocket jump off the pad. A little over a second later the green flame turned white when the outboards lit. Perched on top of the nosecone was a powdered donut, as a small tribute to Alex McLaughlin, which fell off just before the outboards ignited. The rocket coasted to an apogee of 6800 feet, where the R-DAS fired the main ejection charge. A 50-foot strap held the two halves of the rocket together, as it fell to 1100 feet where the main charge fired. The Skyangle Cert III XXL main chute got pulled from its deployment bag, and the rocket made a gentle landing on the Geneseo field. Knob's Revenge is a fun rocket, for a number of reasons. But mostly it's just fun to fly, and I look forward to its next knobby flight! KEVLAR® is a registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company in the United States. For Rich's contribution of this article, he will receive a free one year subscription to LAUNCH Magazine or a free Rocketry Planet T-shirt. This sponsorship is made possible by our friends at MM Publishing, Inc., the producers of LAUNCH Magazine and Graphix & Stuff, producers of high quality hobby apparel and vinyl signage. Want your own free gifts? Read the program details page for complete information.
08-04-2007 02:16 PM
#1
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Certified Level Two
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 39
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Thought police be damned!
Yes, rocketry should be fun!  |
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08-04-2007 03:18 PM
#2
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Administrator
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2146
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Quote: Yes, rocketry should be fun! If we can't laugh at ourselves, at least we can laugh at other.  |
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08-04-2007 08:50 PM
#3
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New Member
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7
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Wonderful Tribute to Alex
Thank You Rich!!!
Dave & I both got a big grin from the donut.
Now we just need to come up with something to put on the rocket at Balls this year.
Peter E.
TeamNUMB |
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08-06-2007 11:27 PM
#4
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New Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3
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LMAO
Completely. Almost Shoot-Coke-Out-The-Nose funny.
For the record, I think Jeff should call the new propellants Sparkalicious, Yummy Red, and Fantabulous Blue. Much more knobby names.
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08-07-2007 08:54 AM
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Certified Frat Boy
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 100
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I totally screwed up my interview with the Rockets guys though.....I should have been sipping some tea during the interview. I thought about it a week too late! |
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08-07-2007 01:44 PM
#6
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Administrator
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2146
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Quote: I should have been sipping some tea during the interview. Aye, mate. And you should 'ave 'ad a bit of jam with your bloody scone as well! |
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08-08-2007 05:54 PM
#7
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Banned
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 198
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Quote: I totally screwed up my interview with the Rockets guys though.....I should have been sipping some tea during the interview. I thought about it a week too late!
Wait till you see what it looks like after I'm done with it. MooHAHAHA!
Chuck |
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08-08-2007 10:39 PM
#8
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self banned
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 14
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Quote: Wait till you see what it looks like after I'm done with it. MooHAHAHA!
Chuck
Pleeeeeease tell me it will be the raw unedited footage? |
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08-09-2007 08:05 PM
#9
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Banned
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 198
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Quote: Pleeeeeease tell me it will be the raw unedited footage?
Unedited? I was figuring to make him sound like studdering knob with nerdlike overtones. But raw may work. I haven't received the tapes yet, so I dont' know what thepossibilities are.
Perhaps I will need some stupid camera tricks.
Chuck |
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08-09-2007 11:19 PM
#10
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Certified Level Two
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 49
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Quote: Completely. Almost Shoot-Coke-Out-The-Nose funny.
For the record, I think Jeff should call the new propellants Sparkalicious, Yummy Red, and Fantabulous Blue. Much more knobby names.
and Loudly White! |
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08-10-2007 07:54 AM
#11
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I Felta Thi Frat Boy
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 200
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Quote: and Loudly White!
Question of the day.
You know what a womb is?
It's Derimiggio's HoJo taking off at NYPower. 
press the button......whooom.
So it should be called Womb White. |
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08-11-2007 09:54 PM
#12
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Banned
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 198
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