The Last Straw


 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...


This is going to be a short one.

When I first heard the expression "Launch Lug", I didn't know what they were talking about. It seemed to me that "Lug" was like "Lug Nut"...something that held your wheel on your car.

When I figured it out, I thought "stand off" would be more appropriate term for the thing.  But then, I didn't name them.

So when building my first few low power rockets, it occurred to me that the "launch lug" was nothing but a soda straw, like the ones we used to have as kids to drink out of our pop-bottles.  More recently, they were plastic straws that were packaged on the side of the juice boxes for the younger generation.

But then I built a few larger mid-power rockets, and noticed that the 'launch lugs' were somewhat larger than before.  And I guess that made sense, because I had noticed that there were a variety of rod sizes at club rocket launches.  And there was almost always at least one that was big and fat.

Now I knew why.

It occurred to me that some of these big fat 'launch lugs' were nothing more than an oversized straw. But then I saw the packaging for a mid-power ignitor, in a brown cardboard tube, and made a mental note of it.  It was almost the same as the 'launch lugs' on the side of the rocket.

Recently, this has come in very handy for me, as I had to replace two off the side of a Majestic rocket that has sheared off the launch lugs.  And fortunately for me, as I cleaned up after a club launch, I pocketed the empty, spent packaging from someone else's ignitor instead of throwing it away in the trash.

With a little epoxy, I was able to glue two 'new' launch lugs on the side, and now that rocket is ready to go again.

But I wanted to share something else that I discovered just last week.

When swinging by my favorite local convenience store/grill counter (SHEETZ)  for a quick bite to eat, I grabbed a fountain drink (since it was included in the package price) and snagged a straw.

But it was the last straw in the rack, and I wondered what I had grabbed. There were NO other straws.

The Sheetz straws are always packaged inside a slip cover for sanitation and cleanliness.  And so it was that this straw was also in a paper wrapper.  I peeled it off and realized there was something different...this wasn't the usual red plastic straw that I have come to expect at Sheetz.

Instead, it was a paper straw, with a diameter that was slightly smaller than the traditional McD's shake straw, but perfectly round and rigid.  I assumed that it was a drink straw and inserted it into my drink, and took a pull on it. 

It felt funny on my lips, but worked just fine.  I concluded that this was a new type of paper straw. And then I noticed that my ruby red fruit punch drink had stained the inside of the straw, but not soaked through the whole thing.  It worked, but wasn't going to last.

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that this is intentional.  The straw is designed to be biodegradable, and so, given enough hours exposure to moisture, I think it will collapse and fall apart.

I haven't tried this yet, but I'm pretty sure that what will happen.

Immediately, I began to envision this as a new launch lug design.

Certainly, the 1/4" opening would work on most launch rods.  The paper/cardboard straw will accept wood glue or CA only too well, and is a natural for adhesion.  (The older red plastic ones were crapy for this, snapping or flaking off with the slightest  torque.)

And so, when I went back again a  week later, I looked and found ALL the racks of straws were these new paper items. And I grabbed four to stuff into my range box.

I'm not sure when I'm going to use them, but then I didn't know that about the larger cardboard tube from the ignitor that I had snagged either.

One thing is pretty certain though.... if exposed to enough moisture, these straw/launch lugs will flatten.  So I'm planning on painting them and sealing them away from moisture until I'm sure.

This has been the Thrifty Rocketeer with...."The Last Straw!"


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