that
was
AWESOME
DUDE!!!
Alright dude, that has be the second greatest thing I’ve ever seen, heard, and eaten.
You’ve got skills 
Great Video. What’s with the goat in the windowsill? 
Thanks for the great replies guys! Glad you enjoyed it.
Here’s some more info that hopefully answers some of the questions…
The engines are your typical model rocket engines. As Roman noted I made 3 attempts in total. The first 2 with D engines and I bailed on both. I think it was more mental than physical though. I really wasn’t sure what to expect and I think I tried to overcompensate too much for the anticipated thrust. Incidentally, I did wear a helmet and elbow pads on those first 2 attempts, just in case the BC wheel shot out and left me flat on my back.
The successful run was done with an E engine. Pretty much the same amount of thrust as the Ds but they last longer. Those are the most powerful engines of that kind as far as I know. I still haven’t tried with 2 or 4 engines. We ran out of igniters. I’ll probably try 2 engines sometime this week and I can’t wait to give 4 a go.
As Roman also noted I was holding the firing mechanism in my right hand with a wire running down to the right plate to control when the engine fired. Hopefully he has some success making the wireless firing mechanism which would be cool. The next step is to be able fire each engine independently.
As far as the goats go, yes the one is ‘hanging a little heavy’ and the other one loves standing on ledge chewing on the window frame.
It was a tonne of fun and Our Dad really got into it too, which was cool.
Any other questions just let me know!
J
incredible, yet nowhere near the caliber required to get a Darwin Award (that’s a good thing!) if you want to step it up, you might consider some of the more powerful rocket motors that are easily available. and try firing them on an uphill and when they’re done, then turn and coast back down the hill. surely you’ve got a whole new sport there!
That was awesome! And we surely would LOVE to see a video of you once you’ve mastered 2 (or even 4) engines!
About the sizes, as far as I know the various E’s are the largest generally available but the real fanatics use F, G, H and beyond (not in California though). Here is a page with lots of info. The K size is 2.13" in diameter by 15.87" long - these are way more than you would want for this project!
Good luck!
—Nathan
…yet
Wile E. Coyote is interested. Just slap an ACME label on it.
surely it can’t be too long before someone tries that on a 36"BC wheel, where that K rocket could be just the ticket?
that’s nuts. good job.
Sweet, thanks for the info Nathan. I wasn’t aware of the larger engines. I’ll definitely have to look into those…
J
My son (who loved your video) is in a Rocketry class here in 8th grade and tells me his teacher uses up to size ‘O’. That must be truly huge. I think 4 big Es will be pretty impressive for you and if that gets too easy, go up to F or G.
Here’s a site selling F engines. 7.8 second burn time seems awesome. Here’re two sites that sell up to G size: site 1 and site2 but they don’t look as good as the burn times are much shorter. Here’s an interesting article about rocket engines and 2003 anti-terrorism legislation (US) to reduce the legal maximum size: article. It claims that around the mid-G level is as high as is legal these days. But all this is talking about is a magic 62.5g of propellant. Anyway, by registering, getting fingerprinted and paying $25, you can get a license for the bigger ones.
Good luck - looking forward to more videos!
Nathan
Oh man, a 7.8 second burn would be aweome. The Es I have only burn for 2.8.
I’m in Canada, so I’m sure some of the legislation is different. I noticed some of the stores only ship within the US too, but some quick googling revealed some Canadian sources. I also found another engine system which looks wicked, http://www.pro38.com/index.php, definitely some serious stuff going on there.
Thanks again for all the info!
J
Those Pro38 ones look interesting but do have short burn times. Reloadable is a great idea. The Pro150s are overkill for sure: 1200 pounds of thrust and “Originally designed to boost a 500 pound experimental cruise missile to flight speed”. WOW!
—Nathan
Fire Fire Fire! Sweet vid
Nice Work
Can’t wait to see more!
Adam
I have got to get me one of these!
“Shouldn’t somebody milk that goat?”
LOL! that’s the first thing that came to my mind when watching the video lol. I was like “Holy shit! That thing needs milking, whatever it is”