Magnum Resurrection

One thing I have learned with this hobby is to never give up. After the nasty crash of my Magnum, I decided that this rocket is too sweet to let die. So I gave Barry (LOC) a call, and ordered some tubing, couplers, and a new ring. The booster section sustained major damage. So the first order of business is cut off all the damaged tubing. Done! I then used a 29mm case with sand paper taped to it to sand down the high areas inside the motor tube. I used my Hypertek 835cc tank to test the fit of the motor mount. Once that was done, I worked on extending the 54mm motor mount. I cut a 6" long piece of motor tube, and spliced it vertically. Then I cut another lenght of motor tube, this time its for real... it is meant to house a motor. Using my Hypertek J motor system with the 835cc tank as a guide, I will connect the extension to the old tube with the spliced 6" tube.

On the rebuild, you should go all out and reinforce the heck out of it. Fiberglass everything. Carbon fiber across the fins. Then fly it on a J500ST airstarting two I200W's. That would be sort of cool. Or, J420R and two H268R's. Redlines are cool.

or...

You can just gut out the lower fin can, then add a 75mm motor mount surrounded by six 29mm mounts!!! I have a friend that recently bought the Magnum 3" just for that reason. Nick is right though...Redlines are cool...

Carl

The fincan has a lot of internal glassing, so I is very strong. I am leaving that alone, it would be to much effort to change it. As far as glassin the rocket... I need to know how much it weighs first. I want to keep it light enough for hypertek, and J500 motors (can't beat the price.) Ryan and I were discussing about a Big Nuke with a 3" motor tube and 29mm outboards, but I am not sure if there is enough room between the motor tube and airframe for 29's? At least I may glass the leading edges of the tubes, and the fins... but I am cincerned that my Mag is getting kinda heavy.

Originally posted by CTulanko
Nick is right though...Redlines are cool...

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Ok, ok... M1550R airstarting 6x H268s

Now yer talkin'

Unfortunately, there isn't room for a 76mm and 29's in a 5.5 rocket :< I tried... That motors would fit, but no room for MMT's

Alan

Redlines are aweome
get that Magnum fixed, and get it flying

cooool.....I say build it heavy and fly some Ks

Redlines are cool but I have heard the Red Rhino's are much better

Well, personally... NASSA Red is the best red flame propellant I've ever seen ... not to start this debate again...

The reality is many of us on the right coast may never see the MASSA propellant (EX, right?) A redline in the flesh is better than something else on video. And of course the Red Rhino will be accessible....someday... Seen some nice EX stuff here to, but its hard to compare.

Red Rhino is so much better than Redline. Longer burn (doable because of the thicker cases), and the flame is more of a RED . I been to some of the test firings at AMW... sweet stuff. To bad I can not share my videos .

Redline is cool, but in EX you can make the red flame soooooo much more intense. like David said though, we shouldn't open up that can 'o' worms.

I just finished the new motor mount/timer bay of the Magnum. The new motor mount consists of a tube coupler, new cetering ring, new 54mm tubing, and the use of the old phenolic centering ring. I plan to mount the timer right on top of the new centering ring. Note the new arming pin connector. That makes it easier to arm the timer on the launchpad. This whole assembly slides into the body tube, where the forward centering ring will rest againts a tube coupler, and the rear secured with screws. Note the supports in front of and behind the centering ring? That is reinforcement for the recovery system.

So, will you be able to access the timer from outside or fo you have to take the hole thing apart?

Is this new motor mount removable?

keep it up Doug
looks like your making ggod progress

Originally posted by Ryan S.
So, will you be able to access the timer from outside or fo you have to take the hole thing apart?

Is this new motor mount removable?

Click to expand...

There is no outside hatch on this one. The will be accesed by removing three screws, and seperating the body from the new fincan. So... Timer settings and battery check will be done, arm pin installed, timer switch turned on, then the tube joined. Once the rocket is on the pad, all I have to do it is remove the arming pin.

cool idea. you will have to show it to me next launch

Tonights update:

Today I finished the repairs on the booster section... well, everything but installing a rail button.

First task of the day was to get the electronics installed. I mounted the timer right to the centering ring. Then I soldered the relay, switches, terminal, and battery connection to the board. I ran into a small problem with th phono jack, so I cut a small window in the side of the coupler, making it possible to service the 1/8 phono jack if it got damaged (Which it did). I then secured the loose parts of the timer with hot-melt glue. Everything fit nicely on the centering ring.

The last task I did tonight was to attach the main airframe. I had to sand down the new centering ring and tubecoupler joint to fit inside the new length of 5.38" tubing, so I used a belt sander to accomplish that task. Then I attached the tube, mark the tubes for the set screws, and pulled a DeHate (Drilling Screws into the rocket). I also measured and drilled a peep hole in the airframe. This allows me to check the lights on the timer while the rocket is on the pad. Here is what it looks now.

The only major thing left to do is repair the damage to the altimeter bay, and the rocket is ready to fly again... and for that, I am waiting for the new bulkead plate from LOC. Should get that Tuesday (I hate Monday Holidays )

Whoa there buddy, did I hear you mentioning a relay for use on the airstarts? I'd be very worried about that. The relay may not activate in flight due to G forces, and when it does activate is when your rocket touches down and "bounces" the contacts just long enough to fire the igniters. One example of this can be seen on the Extreme Rocketry LDRS XX video. A nice looking 9.25" Patriot owned by my friend Kelly Smith is just touching down, when 4x J350Ws intended to light in the air lit on the ground. He was using a relay to light the airstarts, which apparently failed in the air, but worked on the ground .

Doug,

I am with Daveyfire on the relay thing...whatcha gonna use it for? The rebuild is coming along well btw!

Carl

I am not worried about that... it will take a lot of force to pry the connectors apart when the relay fires... its magnetic energy. Maybe his problem was the circut (if it was the relay that caused it) used only a small amount of electricity to fire the relay, yeilding a weaker magnetic attraction. My timer, with its current config, dumps a 4700 uf capacitor into the relay. That's overkill (it was really ment to fire an igniter, but did not have enough juice to do so). The capacitor is on the wrong side of the relay to be used to assist ignition, but maybe that is a good thing. This is something I should experiment with... maybe build a couple small two stagers... and do some high G testing.

Doug, That is a great method of putting the timer in the magnum. In my opinion much better than the panel thingy.

It take less time to arm too.

I think i will have to use this method to mount the timer in my Sandhawk.

Hey, an excuse to build more rockets... not a bad thing

The flagship of my fleet is finally ready to fly again. August 16th, 2003, in Hallifax, MA, the Magnum suffered an severe crash... almost totaling the rocket. I want to thank Barry from LOC Precision (Manufacture of the Magnum kit), who has been supportive of my rebuild. He helped me keep the project under budget by giving me many parts I needed for free. Scheduled this Saturday (Sept 27th), assuming it does not rain, my Eight Foot Tall Magnum will take off with close to 200 pounds of thrust with a three motor cluster. I may fly it again later in the day with a single Hybrid Motor if the Ground Support is present at the launch. All who can come to the launch, are welcome to do so.

Lookin good Doug. Someday when I have more time and money, i'm going to get into hybrids. I really want to try the new Rattworks M700. The only problem with that motor is it's 2.5" in diameter and 6 feet long!

So when are you gonna fly it on a K? A K1100T and two H220T's would be cool.