Rocket racers..

Obviously a far cry from making a real rocket racer but this is why I like FL so much. I´ve been working on my own my space doo-hickey mod for quite a while now. It´s quite a lot of fun although I am still absolutely miserable at using Milkshape or 3DMax. And, to people called Peter, I´ve known for a while that you´ve been hobbying with SAMs for quite some time. Stands to reason you´d want to move on to piloted versions at some point. <img src=smilies/icon_smile_tongue.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

Hmm.... That looks like good inspiration for a 3d model I am going to make <img src=smilies/icon_smile_big.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

pah! &lt;shakes fist&gt; i´ll show you lot.. you´ll all be begging for a trip in the Taw VII Rocket Plane. People from Manhattan can watch. On telly. i´ll have you know that the Tawakalnistan Aerospace Industries Mk XXIV <i>*al-Haddji* </i> Surface-to-Air Interceptor missile reached 3,500feet with a 1lb payload, and the partially-completed Al-Haddji 2 (which I may rename the <i>al-Madina </i>) is designed to reach 5000feet with a 2lb payload. On paper I´ve got rockets, unguided and guided, that will reach far higher with much greater loads but, sadly, I´m not allowed to fire them, as it would be an uncontrolled aerostat in controlled airspace, and also there are strict limits on aquiring and storing combustible fuels. seriously, i am going to design a rocket-plane. I haven´t got the resources to build one, but I´ll find someone who´s got the kit and the tools, I´ll supply the plans. In fact, I roughed it out this afternoon. A scale model will suffice to determine if I´m talking out my @rse or not. Edited by - .Tawakalna on 10/4/2005 9:44:50 AM

Seems to me the issue is more a matter of how not to turn the pilot into a smushed up bug in the cockpit than it is to figure out the aerodynamics and thrust. Although what fuel? Liquid or solid? Kerosene is cheap but its weight may be an issue. Hmmmmm. I think I´ll just get a telescope and search for unusual light displays in the far horizons from Takwanaland. <img src=smilies/icon_smile_tongue.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

a trip on the taw VII rocket plane..........hmm...................what happened to the Taw I, the taw II ,the taw III etc i think i´ll pass if u dont mind <img src=smilies/icon_smile_big.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

they were prototypes that blazed my way to the stars. fuel - solid fuel for me, matey, make it meself and store it safely. makes a hell of a mess though. liquid fuel is just too complex and dangerous for mucking about with at home. problem is that solid fuel won´t give me much of a lengthy burn, but it´ll serve to prove the engineering. some body with more money and resources can convert it to liquid fuel later on (quite feasible, I´m leaving that option open in the airframe)

Anyone else thinking of the spectrum interceptors from Captain Scarlet after looking at the pictures? I suspect this would only last until there´s an accident, it becomes obvious that even a minor cock-up is easily fatal and enthusiasm just drops out of it.

Very Nice Taw, very nice indeed, I wonder what Missus Taw thinks of the Hobby youve chosen, but anyway, if youd need someone to design your rocket fuel, ill spring right out of retirement...

ask her yourself! <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> she doesn´t bother as long as I don´t blow the house up. well, the Taw VII Rocket Plane moves ahead in design. I see why all those concept designs are canard/delta wing/winglets now. My intial idea wouldnt have worked as racer because it was intended for straight and level boost-flight, wheras these things will have to turn, which at high wing loading, which deltas handle very well. a canard-delta configuration with winglets also obviates the need for a tailplane/rudder and of course they´ll be built largely of composites such as carbon-fibre, but wood would do just as well. the rocket motor and the flying aren´t the hard part, in principle. its the taking off and landing thats tricky. straight-up or along a runway? ground take-off or air-towed like a glider? wheeled landing or skids? wheels are heavy and complex. manual controls, hydraulics or computer-controlled? I can cobble together hydraulics but fly-by-wire is a bit flash.

Assuming your racer will reach truly rocket speeds, I don´t think you´re going to manage without computer control and electric actuation. Pneumatic or hyrdaulic on doesn´t seem to me to offer the kind of fine tuned responsiveness that a system controlled by computer and electric servo motors and such can do. I don´t think it is flash, I think it will be a necessity.

I read in the metro that they will only be flying at 220mph roughly... I assume they will be highly manouvreable, but mid air collisions? I cannot imagine that many racing around a &quot;track&quot; in the air and overtaking, simply due to the risks involved. Would it actually be allowed?

surpisingly I don´t think it needs compuetr control or electical activation of control surfaces. Japanese Okhas, Me 163s and other German rocket plane designs had no such luxuries, many test rocket aircraft since have been similarly sparsely equipped. The rocket engine itself is remarkably unsophisticated. as long as the airframe is light and strong and aerodynamically stable, in principle its not a big deal. be a bit scary to fly though, rather more of a challenge than micro-lighting! Mike:- theyre separated by GPSS auto-nav which will alert in case there´s damger of collision. Edited by - .Tawakalna on 10/5/2005 6:57:34 AM

<font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade> i´ll have you know that the Tawakalnistan Aerospace Industries Mk XXIV *al-Haddji* Surface-to-Air Interceptor missile reached 3,500feet with a 1lb payload, and the partially-completed Al-Haddji 2 (which I may rename the al-Madina ) is designed to reach 5000feet with a 2lb payload. <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> About 10 years ago I made a reportage about people who build and start &quot;toy-rockets&quot; as a hobby (I worked as a radio-journalist). I was impressed. The smallest fully functional rocket (with parachute) was very much looking like a pencil. But this small object could fly almost 100m high. The biggest rocket I have seen was about the size of Taw´s MKXXV. For contests (longest flight, highest flight, most precise landing of the little parachute-pilot (!!) etc.) they needed an understanding with the ground and air control.