Model rocket Recovery Methods

Model and high-power rockets are designed to be safely recovered and flown repeatedly. The most common recovery methods are parachute and streamer. The parachute is usually blown out when the engine's recoil creates pressure and pops off the nose cone. The parachute is attached to the nose cone, making it pull the parachute out, and make a soft landing.

 

Tumble recovery

The simplest approach, and one only appropriate for small rockets or rockets with a large cross-sectional area, is to have the rocket tumble back to earth. Any rocket which will enter a stable, ballistic trajectory as it falls is not safe to use with tumble recovery.

 

Nose-blow recovery

Another very simple recovery technique, used in very early models in the 1950s and occasionally in modern examples, in nose-blow recovery the ejection charge of the motor ejects the nose cone of the rocket (usually attached by a shock cord made of rubber, Kevlar string or another type of cord) from the body tube, destroying the rocket's aerodynamic profile, causing highly-increased drag, and reducing the rocket's airspeed to a safe rate for landing. Nose-blow recovery is generally only suitable for very light rockets.

 

Parachute/Streamer

The approach used most often in small model rockets. It uses the ejection charge of the motor (see below) to deploy, or push out, the parachute or streamer. Air resistance slows the rocket's fall, ending (hopefully) in a smooth, controlled and gentle landing.

 

Glide recovery

In glide recovery, the ejection charge either deploys an airfoil (wing) or separates a glider from the motor. If properly trimmed, the rocket/glider will enter a spiral glide and return safely. In some cases, radio-controlled rocket gliders are flown back to the earth by a pilot in much the way as R/C model airplanes are flown.

Some rockets (typically long thin rockets) are the proper proportions to safely glide to Earth tail-first. These are termed 'backsliders'.

 

Helicopter recovery

The ejection charge, through one of several methods, deploys helicopter-style blades and the rocket auto-rotates back to earth. The helicopter recovery happens when the engines recoil creates pressure, making the nose cone pop out. There are rubber bands connected to the nosecone and 4 blades. The rubber bands pull the blades out, and let them copter down.

 

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