X-Wing Rocket Launches, Disintegrates

An anonymous reader writes "Remember the 21-foot X-Wing with four rocket engines? It launched yesterday from Plaster City and here's the video showing what many thought inevitable: total destruction in mid-air. From the post: "I can only say two things. The first is: absolutely amazing. And the second: poor Porkins." "

A shame, but it happens.

[nincehelser]

But shreds are not uncommon in high power rocketry.

I'm sure they'll learn from the failure and build another one until they get it right.

That's pretty much the whole point of the hobby. If you don't have the occasional spectacular failure, you're probably not innovating enough.

Re:I'm not surprised

[teslar]

I've often been amazed how bad the aerodynamics of Science Fiction are. The X wing is a pretty good example, with those huge laser weapons on the ends of the wings that guarantee flutter problems in the wings. I also find it hilarious that the leading edges of the wings are flat.

I would have thought that, for obvious reasons, aerodynamics are not a big issue when designing a spacecraft...

Re:Yoda says....

[Aladrin]

I don't think any of them actually expected it to get very far before it died. They were launching it straight up, unguided... That means it either disintegrates, or comes back down on top of them... I'd have been praying for the disintegration, personally.

Still, it 'flew' far enough that it was fun to watch. At least it didn't die 2 feet off the ground, like it could have.

Yes, it's terrible when fiction is fictional.

[Glytch]

The overall design of the x-wing serves one purpose: to look cool in a movie. Don't overanalyze. Accept it for what it is.

Re:Yoda says....

[Dun Malg]

I don't think any of them actually expected it to get very far before it died. They were launching it straight up, unguided... That means it either disintegrates, or comes back down on top of them... I'd have been praying for the disintegration, personally.

Then again, they were optimistic enough to install a parachute recovery system...

Lucky ...

[Assassin bug]

for the crowd that the oversized trash can went up!

Re:Yoda says....

[cant_get_a_good_nick]

How's that go?

"In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there always is."

I thought of this quote when I read the first story on how it "flew" in simulation. The real world can throw an infinite state machine at you, have you modeled it completely?

Re:clearer vid of the launch

[OmniGeek]

Seems pretty clear from your (excellent quality) video that one of the wings (near left side from camera POV) bent outward, forcing the bird to arc toward the camera and ripping the rest of it apart.

It appears that had the airframe survived, the rocket motors would have boosted it to a respectable altitude, based on how far it got.

I'm shocked to see people standing so close to the launch point that they had to run from the falling debris; this bespeaks an insane lack of safety-consciousness by the operators (especially given their expressed doubts as to its surviving the launch.) They're fortunate no one was maimed.

With a much stronger wing-root design, they would probably have had a successful flight. The RC model sailplane design approach of a foam wing core, fiberglass cloth skin, and carbon-fiber wing spars might be used to good effect in such a design (lighter weight, more rigid wing). Having the rocket motors on the swings DOES add stress to that region, but that shouldn't be a show-stopper; the stress from drag on the wing (and from any flutter instability) is the major design issue there.

Neat project, for all its problems. I wonder if they'll try again?