Zombie

Who says felines can't do big things?
I just completed overseeing the construction of a zombie nuclear weapon prototype.  It's a scale 1:100 model of this ICZBM,  Saturday I will be launching it in hopes that my design is stable the weathering angle is not too large.
    I worry about the weathering angle, the angle between vertical and the line tangent to the trajectory, because I had planned on firing this scale model off with a larger motor.  Since I was planning on using a J motor at some point, I added about 15oz to the nosecone for ballast.  This brings the center of gravity towards the nosecone, so that the center of pressure will be far aft of the center of gravity.  I do this for stability's sake.
    I planned on this, but had to order the motor that seemed most suited for an initial feline high powered rocketry certification flight.  This motor is an H125 class motor, meaning it has an average thrust of 125 newtons and a total impulse in the H class.  For a comparison, the J motor has 4 times the total impulse (Force * Time) of the H motor and has an average thrust of about 500 newtons.  This difference accounts for my concerns about the weathering angle.
    Stability is related to many different components in a high powered rocket, one of which being the difference between the center of pressure and the center of gravity.  I had this taken care of, but neglected to account for the rocket possible being under the stable velocity at take-off.  The guide rail is somewhere between 36-70 inches long and provides a guided trajectory while the rocket achieves a stable velocity.  If there is not enough initial thrust to accelerate the rocket to this stable velocity, it can leave the launch rail unstable.  This causes the rocket to tilt, thus increasing the weathering angle.
    The simulations that I ran on the computer seemed to be okay for the H125 motor, so long as the winds were not too strong or turbulent.  I plan on trying to secure an H400 Vmax for this launch as I am much more comfortable launching if the average thrust, though shorter duration, is higher at the beginning.  This would cause the rocket to reach the stable velocity well before it leaves the guide rail.
    I leave you with the specifications of this rocket.

It is all fiberglass.  52.5 inches long. Recovery: 30" Nylon Parachute.  38mm diameter motor (Cesaroni 2-grain).  The scale model is painted to represent the full scale aesthetics.

Enjoy (:~