Commercially available are FG nosecones that come with aluminum tips. In
my opinion, if done correctly, metal used for nose weight isn't any more
inherently dangerous than other aspects of our hobby.
-Mike
On Jan 30, 2017 2:16 PM, "R Dierking" <applerocketry@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
People should use sand, cat litter (here come the jokes unwanted at this
time), or how about water? How about sugar? Not metal. Pretty simple
really.
Things that once the nose is broken will quickly dissipate momentum and
become small enough to reduce impact damage.
How about a land shark rocket that comes apart? Again, someone gets hit
with a rocket and unfortunately hurt. Would it be OK to say the nose was
filed with bb’s?
Also, if a rocket is destroyed and there’s no damage, something like sand
is not trash on the site. I have an experience that helped me consider
this subject. However, I’m not providing specific cases. No specific
cases where someone was injured by a rocket that CATO’d either btw. So,
glad I’m not talking about safe launch distances. Or, does someone have to
be injured first?
*From: *David Smith <davew6dps@xxxxxxxxx>
*Sent: *Monday, January 30, 2017 2:04 PM
*To: *roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject: *[roc-chat] Re: Prohibiting Metal for Nose Weight
Richard,
One of the main reasons for avoiding metal structural partd is so the
rocket is not conductive in the event of contact with electrical lines.
As for the hazzards of using BBs or hardware for ballast, I don't see where
an alternative is better. Mass is mass, metallic, ceramic, or otherwise.
Do you have any examples where metal ballast caused damage or injuries that
woukd not have bee. the case with non-metal ballast of the same weight?
David Smith
Nar 78668, TRA 15803
Amateur Extra: W6DPS
On Jan 30, 2017 1:50 PM, "R Dierking" <applerocketry@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Next time the NAR and TRA safety rules are revised, there should be
something about what kind of nose weight should be used or how about
shouldn’t be used.
Don’t the codes already say something about minimizing the use of metal?
Why add it? There’s no good reason why metal has to be used; there are
other things that would work fine.
And, just to get ahead of the one response that’s going to ask if a rocket
with other types of weight could hurt someone just as bad. Yes, I realize
that. But, again, if you think through the various failure scenarios,
metal (bolts, lead shot, bb’s, what ever…) is a poor choice for nose weight.
What other things could be used? Things that would be even better for
both safety and performance.
Richard Dierking
