8 inches V2

[UncleVanya]

So you plan to surface mount the fins? Did you decide against through the wall mounting tabs due to weight?

 

[legranddudu]

to be honest.. artist creativity at this point...several options I am studying..i think i will slice the tailcone first and mount the fins same way i did with big max with success.

 

[EeebeeE]

I have been trying to design an upscale Estes Gyroc, but the problem is a CG issue as you increase in size. Normal approach of adding nose cone weight is not desirable because of the helecopter recovery. This fin design idea could work for that as well.

 

[dixontj93060]

hmmm now strong BIG V2 feeling in my workshop ...exciting!

View attachment 110616

Looking good!

 

[UncleVanya]

to be honest.. artist creativity at this point...several options I am studying..i think i will slice the tailcone first and mount the fins same way i did with big max with success.

I'm a little confused - why would you profile the fins (sanding the curve into them) if you don't plan to surface mount them why sand the profile into them if they are going to directly attach to the motor tube - or did I misunderstand this step?

 

[legranddudu]

i am sorry to confuse you. here more explanations: the fins will mount TTW of course. It was important to get the curve of the tail cone to draw precisely the form of the fins following scale for this 8 inches model.

i made another set of fins as I was not happy with the weight, now using light plywood and later more carbon to "cloth" the fins. The new ones saved me 45% weight! Now under one kilogramm in total:





after that I prepared my fin attachment, hopefully self explaining:







The funny effect: my holes on the centering ring help placing the wood guides for the fins at exactly 90 deg...the fins are perfectly hold tight in place at right angle same time.

 

[legranddudu]

now placed on the motor tube:





in that way i will attach my 4 fins on the glassed motor tube and i will slide the whole thing inside in cutted tail cone!

 

[MasonH]

Interesting way of holding on the fins with the dowels...

 

[legranddudu]

to be married soon

 

[legranddudu]

last silent action for tonite in my sleeping house (its late now in Germany..): marking the tail cone for the cut orgy tomorrow...i built again a tool with a piece of foam showing same thickness as the fins. Using double face tape i fixed sandibg paper on the tail cone. Now with some energy i got the curve. now marking all 4 90deg angles i can do my cuts tomorrow with the dremel. hopefully pictures will explain better...

 

[legranddudu]

ready to cut



tomorrow...marriage !! ...I mean the fins/motor tube with the tail cone...

 

[legranddudu]

guys I have something exciting to show you now: the v2 looks good. Nose (tail) cones & g12 tubing 8 inches from PR..the rest from me... is this THE proline v2? certainly not...but kind of...hopefully Gary T allows me to be proud... maybe this one helps him to sell more of it ) ...by the way the "little v2" aside is 4 inches scale... this is big model guys...enjoy first pics. Of course lot to be done now. Next: glassing fins with carbon fiber under vacuum.. i keep you updated...if the audience is interested of course.. i guess first flight in 2 months..

 

[legranddudu]

more

 

[dixontj93060]

Looking great! Makes me want to get started on the 11.5" V2 in my build pile!!!

I am assuming the fins are not actually attached and you will now fill the void and carbon fiber the fin, right?

 

[Eric1]

Freaking SChweet!!

 

[MasonH]

I never really get the size of the rocket until it is next to another one...and that is a big rocket.

 

[beezwax]

guys I have something exciting to show you now: the v2 looks good. Nose (tail) cones & g12 tubing 8 inches from PR..the rest from me... is this THE proline v2? certainly not...but kind of...hopefully Gary T allows me to be proud... maybe this one helps him to sell more of it ) ...by the way the "little v2" aside is 4 inches scale... this is big model guys...enjoy first pics. Of course lot to be done now. Next: glassing fins with carbon fiber under vacuum.. i keep you updated...if the audience is interested of course.. i guess first flight in 2 months..

That is looking great! You can always be proud of building it scratch. Please do continue the updates.

 

[legranddudu]

You are right it was only a "dry assembly" to see the whole picture in my workshop late at night...now i need to disassemble again an start the glassing of the fins exactly as you described...lot of work ahead....so lets start )

Looking great! Makes me want to get started on the 11.5" V2 in my build pile!!!

I am assuming the fins are not actually attached and you will now fill the void and carbon fiber the fin, right?

 

[legranddudu]

did tonite foam and sanding (round shaping at edge) of the 4 fins. tomorrow start glassing process.





today i also decided how to process double deploy sequence: i will use the dezzender tether from Eric at Badazz, attached to one of the 2 anchor points at the end of my hybrid casing. the other point will host the lower point of the main schock cord. shall be easy at straight forward. let see.

 

[legranddudu]

Guys I found last night a very interesting video (unfortunately poor quality). How to assemble and fire a real V2...

 

[legranddudu]

V2 fins now glassed and curing in vacuum..

 

[legranddudu]

some progress since last posting:

Fins ready from glassing (3 layers: 1x 100gr/sqm, 1x 200gr/sqm, 1x 100gr/sqm). Like always perfect finish from the vacuum bag.

The total weight now increased from 995gr to 1359gr for the 4 fins. Still very light and very strong now for such size.

 

[legranddudu]

Once the fins were ready to mount I made a dry assembly of the whole system to see if aligment was respected at 90°, also vertically. This is even more important to avoid spinning rockets (well at least too much).

 

[legranddudu]

following I could prepare the lower part of the motor mount tube, now including the thrust plate (5mm aluminium) and the 75mm aeropack with flanch.

 

[legranddudu]

Now all is set in place with CA first and then I start the epoxy orgy on the inner filets, like always with a mix of epoxy, micro balloons and cutton flakes.

 

[legranddudu]

Just a quick update on weight.

The full body of the V2 weights 4 kg (just tail / NC + FG airframe)
The fins/MM construction weights 3 kg.
The inside and outside filets (16 of them!) shall bring another half kilo. I will foam the whole tail later, another 500gr. Makes total 8 kg. Additional 3 kg recovery devices & chutes and 3 kg lead in the NC (says my stomach right now).

Finish 14 kg max plus 5 kg fully loaded L hybrid with nitrous. 19 kg/40lbs on the ramp just before the start is my guess. 1000m/3000ft with L 1200 says my glass of Beer tonite! Too tired to check Rocksim...

Prost...and good night from Munich!

 

[beezwax]

prost, nice progress!

 

[legranddudu]

Fins assembly now finished, cut new centering rings for the airframe and dry fit on the MM. Next step tonite: epoxy the tail cone to the fins & MM construction.

 

[legranddudu]

now starting the last steps for the completion of the tail & booster, where I obviously had a lot to do..custom built and scale is sometimes really a pain...I suppose the coming real Proline V2 will save you a lot of time and energy..anyway, it was fun too..
In the morning I glued the thrust plate from the inside: just filling the bottom with epoxy & a few adds from the top-inside of the tailcone, gravity helps...here a (bad) view from the top to the bottom.

So I started tonite the first filets. Also kind of challenging due to the curve of the tail cone on the horizontal: the stuff just flows on both ends...but finally I could make it with a new mixture..

This will certainly not stay like this but will be reinforced with an additional CF band. I do 4 filets a day, another 2 day to go. Later in the week I will do the AvBay and NC inside. This weekend it shall be nearly finish. When I get my badazz dezzender we shall be ready to go, in 4 weeks approx.
Hope you like it...I know it looks weird at this moment but structure is important at this point, not the finish.

 

[legranddudu]

one last view for tonite...at the moment I am around 16.7 pounds for the whole rocket...of course growing but very promising...