James Duffy
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- Jan 19, 2009
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Our club will be one of the hosts for the distributed TARC finals this weekend, and we needed some additional mid power pads to support the teams who will be coming to fly. As a bit of background, we have plenty of big, heavy HP pads that can accept rails, but only a single QuadPad (remember those?) for mid-power flights that need a rail. The QuadPad is a perfectly adequate launch pad, but its it heavy, unwieldy, and threatens to remove a digit every time it is moved. The planets for change had aligned.
I've used Ultimate-style speaker and light stands in bands since the '80s, and often mused that they might make an interesting launch pad. The TARC need finally spurred me to gather the hardware and come up with a solution. Inexpensive speaker stands were sourced from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SCCB1H5
After removing the upper section, holes were drilled through the upright to accommodate a 1/4"-20 T-nut, a 1/2"-long nylon spacer, a pair of washers, and a knob. One need not be a rocket scientist to figure this out.
The T-nut slips into the rail, and the whole assembly is tightened. Note that there are upper and lower attachment points. It was necessary to grind away a bit of the thickness on the T-nut. A small 8020 T-nut was attached on the rocket side of the rail to serve as a support for the rocket.
Here's what everything looks like with rails in place, and with rockets mounted.
The requirement for a blast deflector will be satisfied by simply placing a square of plywood beneath the pad. Total expenditure for three pads with rails and hardware was ~$200. The stand will ultimately get roasted by use over the years, but a replacement unit is less than $40.
James
I've used Ultimate-style speaker and light stands in bands since the '80s, and often mused that they might make an interesting launch pad. The TARC need finally spurred me to gather the hardware and come up with a solution. Inexpensive speaker stands were sourced from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SCCB1H5
After removing the upper section, holes were drilled through the upright to accommodate a 1/4"-20 T-nut, a 1/2"-long nylon spacer, a pair of washers, and a knob. One need not be a rocket scientist to figure this out.
The T-nut slips into the rail, and the whole assembly is tightened. Note that there are upper and lower attachment points. It was necessary to grind away a bit of the thickness on the T-nut. A small 8020 T-nut was attached on the rocket side of the rail to serve as a support for the rocket.
Here's what everything looks like with rails in place, and with rockets mounted.
The requirement for a blast deflector will be satisfied by simply placing a square of plywood beneath the pad. Total expenditure for three pads with rails and hardware was ~$200. The stand will ultimately get roasted by use over the years, but a replacement unit is less than $40.
James