EMRR's Plans: Popsicle Monocopter (13mm)

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REV 2.4 - Fri Mar 19 00:12:29 2010

Plans
Art Applewhite Rockets
Popsicle Monocopter (13mm)

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SPECS:

0.5" x 7" - 0.5 oz

ROCKSIM FILE:

MISSING - please submit here

SpaceCAD FILE:

MISSING - please submit here

REC'D MOTORS:

1/2A3-2T, A3-4T, A10-PT, A10-3T

(by Matt Gillard

- 05/25/08) (PLANS) Popsicle Monocopter

Brief:
A great and cheap to build monocopter. Flies well on an A motor. I first found out about this rocket via The Rocketry Forum. Within a day of seeing the post, I had started to build the monocopter.

Construction:
Not much is needed to build the monocopter:

6 lollypop (popsicle) sticks (UK call popsicle sticks lollypop sticks)
2 3" x 5" index cards
18" of nylon cord--I used cotton thread.

Art's design is simple and excellent. The plans are very well laid out with lots of photos so it's nearly impossible to get it wrong. The only alteration I made was to use cotton thread instead of nylon. This was by no means an improvement--the nylon option is better. However, I did not have any nylon string on hand, but I did have some cotton thread!

I emailed Art about using epoxy instead of nylon, his reply was to use the nylon, as epoxy won't hold it together.

After my first shred, I soaked the cotton threads in glue and also put several wraps around the support and mount, mainly as a backup. I will be building another monocopter exactly to Art's description.

Finishing:
After the first few flights (and repairs), I gave it a quick spray with a spray can, which is not needed but it makes it look a bit neater.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
It flies well on a 1/2A but a full A gives much better flights.

My first flight resulted in the mount ripping itself clean from the monocopter. Because I was in a rush to fly the monocopter and I did not read Art's instructions fully, I used too much rod.

Rest of the flights (after repairs) were all good. Altitudes of about 40-60ft were achieved.

One interesting flight had the monocopter hovering at head height--I reckon it was a motor failure.

The best thing about this rocket is the noise it makes, a nice thumping beat.

Recovery:
Depending on how high it gets, the monocopter usually rotates back down, and close to the pad. I did have one go off at an angle and hit a wall, but it was undamaged.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
This is a great design, and I've now been bitten by the monocopter bug. My own design (18mm motor) is slowly being built. This is a great introduction to monocopters. Looking at Art's website, it looks like there are some bigger brothers getting ready for a spin too.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

GUEST's OPINION:
10/08 - "After a half-dozen flights of the Coconut Pop, I still have not seen any evidence at all of the centrifugally-induced lateral burn-through of the motor mount and motor casing that is widely reported to occur with monocopters. The hand-made motor tube for this particular model is very short (it is basically just a narrow band fitting around the center of the motor), so any fire that was thrown out laterally during the motor burn may not have been able to reach far enough forward to affect the mount. My motors also fit very tightly into the mount that I made, and none of them have ever moved forward in the mount during their flights. But I have also never seen any sideways burn damage on my motors' casings, either, so perhaps the short burn profile of the 13mm motors that I used may have also kept this problem from developing?" (M.K.)

SPECIFIC ROCKET TIP:
"" (x.x.)

Date	Name	Motor	Ejection/ Altitude	Wind	Notes
04-20-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU A10-3	None - CATO	5-10 mph winds	- Used too much launch rod. did not read the instructions! motor mount support ripped itself off the monocopter,easy repair.
04-23-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU A10-3	Just Past (1-2sec)	Calm	- straight lift, 40 foot, landed about 10 meters from pad.
04-23-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU A10-3	Just Past (1-2sec)	Calm	- another good flight
04-25-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU 1/2A3-2	Just Past (1-2sec)	Calm	- good flight, low alt, on a half A motor, about 20 foot
04-25-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU A10-3	Just Past (1-2sec)	Calm	- came of pad arched, found a near by wall whilst still spinning. no real damage, although some spliting of the motor omunt support card. nylon thread holding up well.
04-28-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU A10-3	Just Before	Calm	- Really strange but nice flight. The A motor fired but there was hardly any thrust, more like a MMX motor. monocopter lifted to about 6 foot, hovered for a second and then fell. still nice to see everything close up.
05-01-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU A10-3	Just Past (1-2sec)	0-5 mph winds	- straight lift, a good 60 foot.
05-31-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU A10-3	Just Past (1-2sec)	Calm	- perfect straight lift, 70 foot, rotated on the way down - best flight yet.
12-01-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU A10-3	None - Tumble	0-5 mph winds	- great flight, flown at dusk, so the flames make it a good sight
12-01-2008	Matt Gillard	Est SU A10-3	None - Tumble	0-5 mph winds	- great flight
05-24-2008	Brian Guzek	Est SU A3-4	Very Late	0-5 mph winds	- Beautiful flight... right up to the point where the engine pod separated from the rest of the monocopter just before burnout (almost simultaneously.) Both parts recovered and reassembled.
05-25-2008	Brian Guzek	Est SU A3-4	Very Late	0-5 mph winds	- Buzzed up nicely until the wing separated. Both parts recovered and reassembled.
05-25-2008	Brian Guzek	Est SU A3-4	Very Late	0-5 mph winds	- Field repaired wing separated again. Will repair at home.
05-26-2008	Brian Guzek	Est SU A3-4	None - Tumble	10+ mph winds	- Very windy, but nice flat spin. Good flight.
06-02-2008	Brian Guzek	Est SU A3-4	None - Tumble	Calm	- Good flight.
04-19-2008	Josh Joung	Est SU A3-4	Just Past (1-2sec)	Calm	- Slow ascent to about 30 feet. Loud and aggressive sounding buzzing sound during burn. Hit some tree branches during descent, but no dammage occured.
04-19-2008	Josh Joung	Est SU A3-4	Just Past (1-2sec)	Calm	- Slow ascent to about 25 feet. Loud buzzing was present during thrust. Descent was by tumble.
04-19-2008	Josh Joung	Est SU A3-4	Just Past (1-2sec)	Calm	- Slow ascent to about 25 feet. Buzzing was present during burn. Descent via autogyration.
04-20-2008	Josh Joung	Est SU A3-4	None - Tumble	0-5 mph winds	- Normal flight until about 15 feet up. Wing ripped off from the centrifugal force and landed about 20 feet away. Monocopter was flung to about 30-40 feet away. It's repaired and ready to fly.
05-04-2008	Josh Joung	Est SU A3-4	None - Tumble	0-5 mph winds	- Flew higher than before, to about 40-50 feet. Flew over house, but was recovered on other side.
06-08-2008	Josh Joung	Est SU A3-4	None - Tumble	Calm	- The wing ripped off of the assembly near the end of the burn and it is now on my roof. Will make another monocopter. Status: Not Repairable
05-05-2008	Mark Kulka	Est SU A10-P	None - Tumble (100 ft)	0-5 mph winds	Coconut Pop - Maiden Flight - took off with a bang, spinning very rapidly straight up to apogee. Hovered for a second while continuing to spin. Did not tumble but spun back down helicopter-like to landing 15 ft. from pad. Neat-o.
05-05-2008	Mark Kulka	Est SU A3-4	Very Late (150 ft)	0-5 mph winds	Coconut Pop - Second flight. Rapid takeoff with loud buzz. Climbed rapidly straight up to about 150 ft. (est.). Hovered for a second and spun down trailing tracking smoke. Ejection charge fired on ground - too long delay.
05-05-2008	Mark Kulka	Est SU 1/2A3-4	Very Late (50 ft)	0-5 mph winds	Coconut Pop - Fast but short buzzing flight. Spun rapidly straight up to apogee and immediately spun down, trailing tracking smoke. Ejection charge fired on ground - delay too long. Landed 5 ft. from pad.
05-05-2008	Mark Kulka	Est SU 1/4A3-3	Very Late (10 ft)	0-5 mph winds	Coconut Pop - Not a recommended motor. Slower spin than previous flights. Short climb to apogee, then immediately tumbled (not spun) to ground. Fired ejection charge on ground. Motor too weak for this bird.
05-05-2008	Mark Kulka	Est SU A10-P	None - Glider (160 ft)	0-5 mph winds	Coconut Pop - Very fast, buzzy boost. Climbed higher than previous flight with this motor (caught by wind?) and flew over house. Hovered as before at apogee and then spun down. Great motor for this model. As before, no damage.
05-05-2008	Mark Kulka	Est SU A3-4	Just Past (1-2sec) (175 ft)	0-5 mph winds	Coconut Pop - Another fast, straight boost, buzzing all the way. Highest flight of day. Seemed to just hang there at apogee, spinning & hovering, then sailed over house top onto roof. Recovered. Eject. at ~50 ft. Great motor.
09-19-2009	Mark Kulka	Est SU A3-4	None - Tumble	Gusty	Event: September Showdown Coconut Pop - Another great flight. Spun up surprisingly high and straight despite wind. For once it tumbled, rather than spun back down to the ground, possibly due to wind gusts. Still looks pristine after 7 flights. This is one great design!