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Old 01-20-2023, 09:55 AM
MrTwisty MrTwisty is offline
Intermediate Rocketeer
 
Join Date: Jan 2023
Posts: 74
Default (Rocket) Lawn Darts

Like the title says. Lawn darts.....now with rockets!
(I'm guessing this is the right area to post, if not feel free to kick me over to the right one).

Pretty much everybody reading this has had an ejection charge or parachute failure and watched a brand new rocket lawn dart.
Well, I thought "that was a fun game as a kid, and I love rockets so why not?"

First off, let me explain that we're on 25 acres and most is forest. After our forest is the neighbors forests so we consider this a safe event with proper supervision and wind conditions.

Playing field is a clearing a little smaller than a football field.
"Target board" is a collection of 100'-150' garden hoses laid out in circles like skee-ball.
For the rockets we settled on Estes "3 bandits", separated by colors.
Nose cones are glued on and weighted- (1) neutral, (1) +6g, (1) +12g.
Retainer rings are not used so motors eject to lighten the load for "landing".
Engines are 1/2A3-4T's.
Launch rods are angled to +/- 10 degrees.
Each player has their own launch base/controller.

We get a nice arc over the field and rockets have started their descent when the ejection charge blows- which propels the rockets almost violently towards the ground. They bury the nose 2-3 inches into the soft soil.
The bandits are fairly resilient. The only majot damage so far was from an overshoot (by me) and of course it was a bullseye into the trunk of an 80 foot pine.

It gets a little pricey with 3-6 people playing and is rather hectic trying to keep up with reloads- we should have a designated loader but of course everyobe wants to play too. Some of the bandits will hold the motor in place by friction but others need a strip of tape to fatten them up.

Still working on the point system and I've thought about a launcher that resets after each launch, possibly even remote controls using bicycle brake levers/cables to hold it at an angle for launch.
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Last edited by MrTwisty : 01-20-2023 at 06:15 PM.
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  #2  
Old 01-20-2023, 10:40 AM
ghrocketman's Avatar
ghrocketman ghrocketman is offline
President, MAYHEM AGITATORS, Inc.
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Nunya Bizznuss, Michigan
Posts: 13,418
Default

The bullseye SPLATT-O into the pine tree would be the flight I'd enjoy most.
Fun with junky rockets.
__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL
, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !

Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !
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