4 inch upscale Estes Photon Probe project

[skyway2k]

I'm starting a new thread here in the High Power forum to document the build of my 4" Photon Probe - 300% upscale. All the parts are here for me to get started, Indiana is kicking Minnesota's butt, and coffee is still hot, so without further delay - here's a picture of all the potential fun just waiting to be had:




Thanks go to Tim Van Milligan and the Apogee Components crew! As usual, they provided WONDERFUL service and all the parts arrived safe and sound in great packaging. They have my business for life.

• 4" LOC tubing
• 54mm LOC MMT
• 4" LOC nose cone
• 54mm-98mm LOC centering rings
• PerfectFlite Stratologger altimeter
• Madcow avionics bay
• Other misc parts and pieces

Recovery gear came from Top Flight Recovery.

• 58" main chute (Purple!) :surprised:
• 18" drogue chute
• 15' of 9/16" tubular nylon shock cord (x2)
• 3' of Nomex shock cord protector (x2)
• 12"x12" Nomex blanket (x2)
• Bag of quick connects

And of course - decal sheet from Stickershock!

 

[sodmeister]

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice !

Always exciting when a box of stuff comes to the door and then unpack and spread out the goodies !

Good times to follow no doubt !

Cheers

Paul T

 

[stickershock23]

Now that looks like the makings of sompin' really cool!

 

[skyway2k]

Well, first things first, I need to cut a couple of these 34" tubes down to size.

The MMT is cut to 24" and will go in to an uncut 34" section of body tube later.



Then, I cut a 1" piece off one of the 4" body tubes to make the avionics bay vent band. The left over 33" section is then cut to 21.25". The stacked total length will come to 69".

I sealed all the ends of the tubing with super thin CA and sanded them smooth.

 

[skyway2k]

I made the calculations of where my centering rings need to end up on the motor tube to interlock with the main fin tabs and leave the Aeropack retainer exactly flush with the end of the tube. I then roughed up the tube to remove the shiny. I epoxied the mid and forward centering rings to the tube and let that set up. Meanwhile, I started thinking about how I was going to mount the rail buttons. I saw in sodmeister's build that he used some plywood to build up the centering ring to accept the screw. I figured I'd have to go in to work and cut out some ply to do this, but I knew it would be some work to make it match the outer edge of the CR.

Then.... I had an idea! :marshmallow:

Because the CR's came in packs of two, and I need 3, I had to order 2 sets. This leaves me with an extra. I dug out the razor saw and started making dust.

Here's the result... less work and now I've got 3/4" of wiggle room to hit home with the drill bit later.. :w:

 

[skyway2k]

I also sliced open the bag holding the stuff for the Madcow avionics bay. It went together fast and easy. I'll have to come back to this later on when I'm ready to test my might on soldering.... :bang:



I feel like this build is just going way too fast already! So I'm going to stop for the night and watch Green Bay hopefully lose, while enjoying some cold ones.

Question - I have a notion to go in to work Monday with the screw eyes and weld the open end. Do you all think this would be beneficial? Do you think they'd see enough force to ever bend open? I think I might do it to be safe. I also need to drill holes in the forward CR to accept the U-bolt for the shock cord.

 

[sodmeister]

If you have access to a Mig or Tig ,go for it and weld them shut.There is always a lot of talk and some have seen the e-bolts open (I have not) so if you can, it cannot hurt.A rocket this big probably will not see that much force ,but it also depends on their size.

I now buy the one piece lifting eye hooks and u-bolts for my bigger stuff ,but i also took all my other eyebolts and put the Tig welder to them ,both steel and stainless steel.

Paul T

 

[skyway2k]

Well, I'm ready to cut the fins now.

I re-purposed an empty box of Raisin Bran in to fin patterns and then transferred the patterns to the 1/4" Baltic birch. There's gonna be a lot of lumber hanging on this rocket!

 

[caveduck]

Nice job, keep it up!! Can't wait to see how this comes out, I love seeing classic upscales.

 

[skyway2k]

Thanks for the encouragement!!

I went to payloadbay.com and printed out the tube marking guide and fin mounting guide as well. I need to pick up a piece of foam board tomorrow to use with the fin mounting guide.

Next step is to cut out the slots in the body tube for the fins.

 

[krusty]

Woah! This is going to be cool The Photon Probe is an awesome rocket to upscale!!

op:

Krusty

 

[chadrog]

Thanks for the encouragement!!

I went to payloadbay.com and printed out the tube marking guide and fin mounting guide as well. I need to pick up a piece of foam board tomorrow to use with the fin mounting guide.

Next step is to cut out the slots in the body tube for the fins.

Cardboard works just as well, and is something most have a surplus of.

 

[skyway2k]

I got the fins cut out tonight... not too thrilled with them, but not too bad I don't think.

If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't have used the belt sander to start to round the leading and trailing edges. I think I did more harm than good. I thought I'd save myself some time and elbow grease later by doing most of the work with the belt sander. I think I can clean them up and make them look good with a sanding block.

Tomorrow, I'm going to cut the slots in the body tube for the fins.



The pic makes them look awful, but it's really just that the belt sander left "burn" marks in some places on the wood... they really aren't wavy like that... I did cut a straight line! :lol:

 

[Green Jello]

I had to look it up, so I might as well post this for others:

https://www.estesrockets.com/003026-photon-probe

 

[JP Morgan]

Interesting rocket build.
Looking Good!

JP
NAR when I can afford it...`~`

 

[T-Rex]

Looking good so far skyway! You mentioned foam board, Micheal's has it on sale this week, 20"x30"x3/16" 2 for $3. Got a couple sheets for fin guides yesterday.

Carry on!
Terry

 

[skyway2k]

Thanks, Terry!!

Well, I'm almost ready to start gluing stuff to each other soon...

Got all the slots cut in to the body tube and my fin fixture made. Found a 20x30 foam board at Wally World for like a buck seventy. Thanks to payloadbay.com for the fin alignment PDF tool.



I also re-cut one of the forward fins. I wasn't happy with the cut and sanding of one of them. I got the holes drilled in the forward CR and a 1/4" x 2" U-bolt fastened. About to mix up a batch of epoxy and lock her in.

 

[skyway2k]

It's kind of a special moment around here tonight... my rocket is growing up! The first fin is in and the epoxy is curing! *sniff sniff*

 

[skyway2k]

I added internal fillets... holy crap that was hard to keep the epoxy right where I wanted it... they are UGLY, but at the end of the day, no one will ever see them again so, oh well!



Then I put the aft centering ring in place to hid all the disgusting fillets.

Next up were the forward fins. I used angle aluminum and what clothes pins I had on hand to get them lined up with the main fins.

 

[skyway2k]

And... before bed, I couldn't resist. I had to stack the assembly and see what it looks like!

Next to her inspiration:


Next to my G-Force for comparison:

 

[skyway2k]

I cut and shaped the main pieces of the strakes tonight. I made them from 3/8" square basswood. The fins are 1/4" thick, so to complete the effect of the strakes, I'm going to use 1/16" thick balsa on each side of the forward fins to connect the 3/8" square basswood.

 

[skyway2k]

Got the strakes and the balsa fillers in last night.



Lots of filling with Elmer's wood filler and sanding!



And still more to go.

I know this project has been done a few times before... I hope I'm not boring too many of you!

 

[sodmeister]

Got the strakes and the balsa fillers in last night.

View attachment 115312

Lots of filling with Elmer's wood filler and sanding!

View attachment 115313

And still more to go.

I know this project has been done a few times before... I hope I'm not boring too many of you!

Heck no, not boring at all !!

I wish more people would try some upscales ,great fun and new skills to be learned ,what`s not to like !

I think this is looking very nice ,good work !



Paul t

 

[skyway2k]

Paul, coming from a master builder like you, that means a lot! Thank you!

I'm definitely learning all kinds of things during this project. This is definitely so much more gratifying than a kit... I'm not just following directions. It's been very enjoyable to "design" this from the beginning. All the calculations and decision that have to be made. It will be very enjoyable to see the payoff when this thing lifts of and comes back in one piece!

 

[sodmeister]

Paul, coming from a master builder like you, that means a lot! Thank you!

I'm definitely learning all kinds of things during this project. This is definitely so much more gratifying than a kit... I'm not just following directions. It's been very enjoyable to "design" this from the beginning. All the calculations and decision that have to be made. It will be very enjoyable to see the payoff when this thing lifts of and comes back in one piece!

Indeed ,scratch building is a great way to get a person thinking and hone some building skills.

That`s why I decided to take a break from some scratchbuilds and crack open my Estes Ventris kit ,nice ,easy and relaxing and a nice big kit !


Paul T

 

[skyway2k]

I got some more work done. I've added all the fillets to the main fins.



I wanted to get the epoxy fillet added to the aft facing side of the aft centering ring, but since I designed the layout of the components such that the Aeropack retainer butts up against the ring, I'm going to go ahead and add it at this point.



A finger wetted in alcohol and held stationary on the JB Weld that squeezed out of the joint after pushing and rotating the retainer, while then spinning the rocket around left a really nice fillet between the centering ring and the retainer. I'm going to pour 30-minute epoxy in to cover the centering ring and fillet up the side of the body tube. Hopefully this will provide adequate protection of the cardboard tube and plywood ring with the long burning engines I plan on using.

 

[krusty]

Heck no, not boring at all !!

I wish more people would try some upscales ,great fun and new skills to be learned ,what`s not to like !

I think this is looking very nice ,good work !



Paul t

+1

Agree totally!

Krusty

 

[MikeL]

Skyway,

Looking great!
Can't wait to see it finished.

Is there a chance you'll make it back North with it in April? I'm sure the crowds would love to see it go up at Thunderstruck...

 

[skyway2k]

Thanks, Mike!

I definitely want to go to Thunderstruck in April. I hope to have the Probe done by then so I can fly it! I need to get my level 1 first. I plan to use my G-Force for that.

How's that full scale Patriot coming? On schedule for an April launch? That thing will shake the ground! Can't wait to see that go up!

 

[MikeL]

Oh... the FS Patriot is getting there. Work sessions every weekend. Sunday, the skin was slotted and put on the booster's structure, the nose got another layer of glass, and the Ebay got it's internal structure.

Not a good shot with the sun coming in.
The 4, 6, and 9" toys laying around look downright small next to the 16"


But this is the Probe's thread!!

I've been meaning to find and download the fin templates for the Probe for quite a while. Mine has been knocked over a number of times over the years and one of the upper canards/fins has disappeared.
You mentioned using some long burn motors. What are you thinking about?

On the L1 cert. By chance if you can't squeeze it in before Thunderstruck, I'm sure it can be handled there. For TRA, I would think there might be a Prefect or TAP member floating around. For NAR, there will be a bunch of us there that can take care of it. Just let us know so we can make sure we have the paperwork on hand.