54mm Estes Big Daddy

I'd seen some posts for people asking for pics, so here's a pic of the Estes Big Daddy I built with a 54mm MMT.
It LOOKS bone stock, and I did use the Estes Nosecone, and Body tube, with NO modifications, other than epoxying about 3oz of lead and a kevlar leash into the tip of the nose. The fins are .125" G10, tacked with 30min. eposy to the MMT. The top centering ring just touches the bottom of the NC. It's been filled with 2-part foam from the top CR to the bottom, making it basically one piece. I used a 36" chute, and a 20ft Kevlar harness, all wrapped in a piece of nomex, and stuffed into the Nose, as the motor went up to within 1/2" of the top of the body tube. It's been flown twice with the 54/700Ns Kosdon casing...fist time on an I150-11, and then on a J340-10, with perfect recovery both times...one fillet had a slight crack in it.
This rocket has NO fiberglass (other than the G10 fins) NO carbon fiber, nothing besides 2-part foam.

Ron

Here's the pic of the bottom and MMT

Inside the airframe...notice the VERY short distance from the top of the airframe to the CR...just enough for the NC should to sit in...

And here's the inside of the Nosecone...

Oh...this was flown at the 2000 G. Harry Stine Memorial Launch in Rainbow Valley, Arizona on the 'I', and on the 'J' at Springfest 2001 at El Dorado Dry lake bed in Nevada.

I take it you're not using the 3/16" launch rod recommended by Estes, are you?

Lucky you got a BIG field! What was the projected altitude?

I have a problem getting my minimum diamter G models back. One out of four to be exact, and I lost the fourth on an Apogee F10.

I used 1/2" launch lugs the first time, and that was OK, but they were UGLY on such a small rocket... second time around, I used some rail buttons I made for the BSR rail... much nicer!!
Projected altitude was around 6,400 feet if memory serves, and YES!! It's great to fly in the desert!!!

Ron

Ok, what kind of method is there to recovering something that small that flies that high? Do you guys rely on blind luck to spot it on the way down or is it actually visible at 6000ft? It also seems like it would float a few states on a 36" chute with just motor ejection recovery. Wow! I am totally amazed. Great job getting that thing back! It must have shot off the pad in a blink and been a speck in the sky in a blink!

The closest memory I recall of losing something in the sky was an Estes Wizard and/or Yankee on a C6-7.

Yeah, how do you spot something that high up?
I lost sight of the 5' sustainer of my Thunder N lighting at 5300'.

However, hopefully that won't happen again because I have a new weapon....Magichalk!
Go to club NEPRA's website: www.NEPRA.com
On the left side (scroll down the menu list) there is link to the magichalk website, check it out! The stuff is awesome. It is just like tracking powder but it won't stain the cute or rocket or your clothing and it is HIGHLY visible! Check it out!!!!!!!

David

BTW- Eugene, I planned to send my estes wizard into low earth orbit on a C6-7 but it was unstable (no weight in NC) and went somewhere, far, far away, over the mountains.

Originally posted by MaverickLV
Yeah, how do you spot something that high up?
I lost sight of the 5' sustainer of my Thunder N lighting at 5300'.

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Remember, in the Western states, the air is more arid, and, hence, less hazy than east of the Rockies, where moisture from the Atlantic, or the Gulf of Mexico, is much more present in the air, and humidities are generally higher. If you flew your Thunder N Lightning out west, you'd probably have a naked eye view of it past 7500 feet.

That's what AZ_Ron meant when he said that its great flying in the desert.

Now that is what I call a Big Daddy!!! Great job!!! But I have a question: Where the heck are the launch pics? I'm drooling to see a 4' flame on a 1' rocket. Share!!!!

Originally posted by PGerringer
Now that is what I call a Big Daddy!!! Great job!!! But I have a question: Where the heck are the launch pics? I'm drooling to see a 4' flame on a 1' rocket. Share!!!!

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Pfft! What are you kidding? By the time he has the chance to push the button all the way down the rocket is already about 1000ft! LOL!

Great report Ron, THAT's the way to do a Big Daddy!!!

Well done man,

Carl

Yea...pics...we neeeeeds pics

The Air makes a BIG difference out here... I sent a 4" rocket to 9,200 feet, and although I couldn't see the rocket, I saw the Rocketman Drogue chute...the Big Daddy had a BRIGHT pink LOC chute...I wasn't willing to risk an expensive chute!!!
I wish I had launch photos, and someone may have one, but I've never seen it/them. It's actually surprisingly heavy for it's size...The empty motor hardware is probably about 1.0-1.5lbs, plus the G10 fins, quick-links and such...plus the noseweight.
It comes down pretty quick on that 36" chute...I'd stuff a larger one in it if it would fit...
I sold this one to a friend, but am really itching to make another one, and now that I have a really NICE digital camera, I'll take lots of pics...

As far as tracking powder...I'd heard about that Magichalk on RMR or ROL, or somewhere...I've got some stuff given to me by Mark Clark...when He and Frank Kosdon were working on the Thunderbolt projects, they needed something that would be visible at 100,000 feet...they played with all kinds of stuff...chalkline chalks, tempura paints, etc....What Mark came across...somewhere...don't know exactly where...is the Pigment that's used in Dupont Dayglo orange paint... it's a but nasty, and get's on everything, but it washes out easily... they used this stuff in the ThunderBolt 2B, which although the Numb nuts at Balls that year only tracked the booster, Frank calculated the sustainer should have hit about 90K-95K, and they SAW the ejection...they'd used a foot long 54mm motor tube full of the stuff, but they'd done tests before hand, and found that a tablespoon of it was visible at 20K...

I have it here, but haven't used it yet... I'll be using it at Balls this year though...I've got a 2.5" project going up on a Homebrewed L1400...sims put it at 17K feet, and Mach 1.8...IF it's stays together... Here's a pic of the same basic rocket and myself at Black Rock in '99...This one was flown on a Baby 'K' to 8,000ft.
The new one is a little longer, but essentially the same...

Ron