This is a downscale of Larry Brand's "Bottle Bat 3.0" design that can be found here on RocketReviews.com.
Due to the fact that plastic soft drink bottles have been resized and no longer fit inside standard rocket airframe tubing, a standard BTH-80 nose cone was substituted.
This one is called "Big Pink" for obvious reasons. It has 29mm motor tube and all up minus motor/case it weighs about 16 ounces or about 17 ounces if a 1/8" quick link is used to attach the chute. The fairing on the airframe conceals the knotted shock cord anchor. Standard milspec 550 para cord was used on this rocket. The tube fins are constructed with half doublers for strength to prevent "dreaded tube fin flutter". Five minute epoxy was used throughout the build.
Like most tube fin rockets, it's very wind resistant and climbs straight up. Due to the inherent high drag of tube fins, this one won't even reach 2000' on an H128. This is okay if you like to see the WHOLE flight including deployment. Keep this low altitude performance in mind when selecting recovery delays.
Minimum motor choice should be F52.
| Flight Date: | 2011-04-02 |
| Rocket Name: | Bottle Bat 2.6 (Tube Fin) |
| Flyer's Name: | K Sonesen |
| Motors: | G76-7 |
| Expected Altitude: | 1,350.00 Feet |
| Wind Speed: | 7.00 mph |
| Launch Site: | LUNAR - Snow Ranch |
| Actual Altitude: | 1,419.00 Feet |
All up weight (motor and Altimeter One) was 22.40oz. The boost was very quick and "Big Pink" got out of Dodge in a hurry. Apogee deployment and a sudden upper altitude wind shear carried the rocket away from the creek but it landed about well up on the steep slope of the hill at the east end of the flight line. I stood on the road looking up at it working up for a long difficult climb until one of the junior rocketeers ran up and fetched it for me. I gave him $5 for his kindness.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Aerotech G76G-7 |
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