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. Avast, me proud beauty! It was built as a finless design inspired by David Roy's "Drag Demon" as described in his July 2001 Sport Rocketry article. 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, matey, ballasted with split-shot fishin' sinkers and 5 min. Blimey! 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, shiver me timbers, me hearties, especially for a cluster rocket. Arrr! Aye aye! T' plastic funnel is carefully cut down t' about 2" in depth, matey, until t' body tube almost slides through it. Arrr! Use sandpaper t' complete t' fittin' process, so t' body tube snugly slides in, arrr, then epoxy it in place, flush with t' bottom o' t' body tube, matey, takin' care t' insure perfect vertical alignment (I kept t' assembly vertical, and aligned with a window frame as t' tack glue job dried, then turned it over and gobbed on some more epoxy t' hold t' funnel in place). Blimey! Begad! T' three 18mm Estes motor tubes are assembled and then epoxied together in triangular array. Ya scallywag! When dry, me bucko, ya bilge rat, they are slathered with epoxy and slid into t' aft end o' t' body tube. Avast! 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. That's it -- Funnel Vision is done. Aye aye! Arrr! I attached t' recovery system with a knot anchored through t' body tube 3" from t' top, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and covered with a split BIC pen cap. Arrr! See photos before/after launch, ya bilge rat, me bucko, me bucko, 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, arrr, matey, and a pretty decent flight even if one motor fails t' light ("D12-power"). Ahoy! Blimey! C6-7 works fine too, as long as all three motors light. 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, ya bilge rat, 4 motors can be ignited from one set o' 12 volt launch pad leads (you need two o' these set ups). Arrr! Blimey! Or, arrr, if I'm lazy and its a slow launch day, I just borrow t' two neighborin' launch clips on our club rack. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! Its important for cluster models t' test continuity on all motors before firing. Begad! Blimey! T' 15" recovery system is perfect, and anyway -- hey, its finless, ya bilge rat, so no fins t' break off. Aye aye! Blimey! For 2 calibre stability, shiver me timbers, CG should be 12.25" from t' tip, me hearties, or 10.5" from t' base o' t' funnel. Ahoy! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I hand-solved t' Barrowman equations for CP determination usin' just nose cone, body and a transition section consistin' o' t' "funnel-fin". Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Research continues.

Summary:
PROs: As near as I can tell, 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. Begad! Ya scallywag! It be t' easiest t' build, for sure, shiver me timbers, and appears fully stable flyin' with 2 o' 3 C6-5s lit. Blimey! No worry about losin' a fin. Aye aye! Cheap access t' E18 power. Ahoy! Begad! Different and looks cool.

CONs: For its size, shiver me timbers, it needs a fair amount o' nose weight t' accommodate t' forward CP o' t' finless design. Avast! Ahoy! 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."