Brief:
Funnel Vision was designed as part o' an effort t' create a cluster rocket givin' fully stable flight in t' event o' partial ignition failure. It was built as a finless design inspired by David Roy's "Drag Demon" as described in his July 2001 Sport Rocketry article. Ya scallywag! T' rest o' t' rocket is identical t' t' 2BZ cluster design that I presented on this website last year.

Construction:

Funnel Vision is built usin' t' followin' components:

1. 18" 38mm Estes Body tube
2. 3 x 4" sections o' 18mm Estes motor tubes with motor stops and Estes motor hooks assembled in t' usual way
3. One black Estes 38mm ogive nose cone, me bucko, ballasted with split-shot fishin' sinkers and 5 min. Begad! Arrr! epoxy t' a final weight o' 50g.
4. One 3.75" (4" nominal) plastic funnel
5. 15" nylon Top Flight chute with 8' o' para cord with a size small Keelhaul®©™ protector pad as recovery system

Assembly is about as simple as it gets, especially for a cluster rocket. Begad! Ahoy! Blimey! T' plastic funnel is carefully cut down t' about 2" in depth, until t' body tube almost slides through it. Use sandpaper t' complete t' fittin' process, me bucko, so t' body tube snugly slides in, then epoxy it in place, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, flush with t' bottom o' t' body tube, me bucko, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, takin' care t' insure perfect vertical alignment (I kept t' assembly vertical, shiver me timbers, and aligned with a window frame as t' tack glue job dried, arrr, then turned it over and gobbed on some more epoxy t' hold t' funnel in place). Aye aye! T' three 18mm Estes motor tubes are assembled and then epoxied together in triangular array. Avast! Aye aye! Blimey! When dry, they are slathered with epoxy and slid into t' aft end o' t' body tube. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! Be sure t' plug all spaces betwixt t' motor tubes and t' hull with bits o' tissue and gobs o' epoxy -- t' insure ejection charge pressurization. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! That's it -- Funnel Vision is done. I attached t' recovery system with a knot anchored through t' body tube 3" from t' top, shiver me timbers, and covered with a split BIC pen cap. Well, blow me down! See photos before/after launch, and aft close-up.

Flight:
T' best motors are Estes C6-5, which will give a great boost ("E18-power") t' 7-800' or more, and a pretty decent flight even if one motor fails t' light ("D12-power"). Avast! C6-7 works fine too, as long as all three motors light. Begad! Ya scallywag! For cluster ignition I use 14" double ended alligator clip test wires from Radio Shack, with 1" o' t' middle stripped o' insulation -- by attachin' t' bare middle section o' one o' these t' each end o' another, 4 motors can be ignited from one set o' 12 volt launch pad leads (you need two o' these set ups). Or, if I'm lazy and its a slow launch day, I just borrow t' two neighborin' launch clips on our club rack. Avast! Its important for cluster models t' test continuity on all motors before firing. Aye aye! T' 15" recovery system is perfect, shiver me timbers, and anyway -- hey, ya bilge rat, me bucko, ya bilge rat, its finless, ya bilge rat, so no fins t' break off. Blimey! Avast! For 2 calibre stability, matey, matey, CG should be 12.25" from t' tip, or 10.5" from t' base o' t' funnel. Avast! Begad! I hand-solved t' Barrowman equations for CP determination usin' just nose cone, body and a transition section consistin' o' t' "funnel-fin". Research continues.

Summary:
PROs: As near as I can tell, ya bilge rat, this be t' only finless cluster model I've heard of, except for t' scale renditions o' t' Russian N-1 moon rocket by Andy Woerner and others. It be t' easiest t' build, for sure, me bucko, and appears fully stable flyin' with 2 o' 3 C6-5s lit. No worry about losin' a fin. Avast! Cheap access t' E18 power. Aye aye! Different and looks cool.

CONs: For its size, it needs a fair amount o' nose weight t' accommodate t' forward CP o' t' finless design. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! I'm thinkin' o' scalin' it up 2x t' fly on single G69 Pro38 power usin' a 3" mailin' tube hull and 8" funnel "fin."