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At long last I am back from school and picking up work on the rocket. I'm trying to decide how big of a parachute to use. I was planning on going drogueless and then putting a 4' homemade parachute...

I'd also love to go to this, but as I've never been to a TCC launch before, I have a few questions.

Can we camp out on the field? If I can save money on lodging, I can spend that much more on...

At the time lengths we are talking about, of just a few seconds, I don't think a heat "sink" would have much effect. More so I would think some sort of insulation would be great. Something that can...

I just want to verify that this is actually braided, not twisted. I don't remember where I got it, but I ended up with about 20' of twisted kevlar, and it really didn't do the trick. It was always...

Those look great for low power rockets, but a little light for higher power stuff. Any chance of stocking higher load kevlar? I'm sure you'd have significant interest here.

Honestly I haven't been on that forum in a few years so can't find my login info that you need to access the user info.
Here is the post he made about VERA over at SpudFiles:...

I know the guy who had this cannon built (through a forum, not in person). It was a military contractor research project, and a pet project of his. The canon is powered by a propane/air mix. The...

This thread has inspired me to get my act together and start putting together a supplies list for the rocket I'd like to make as part of my senior thesis / engineering design project.

I'm most...

One final feature I just realized would be really nice for failure analysis, especially as systems get more complex would be some sort of indicator that the maximum angle had been exceed and it had...

A seemingly trivial issue, but an issue none the less:
If temperature deviations over the course of the flight are an issue, when is t=0. From when you turn the device on, or from when the rocket...

I was speaking in terms of chipping the fin when you land, or in any other impacts. Balsa is notoriously bad at that - hence in part the sandwich - so it is best to keep it covered everywhere.

The fact of the matter is that if you are intending on using the properties of a sandwich to your benefit, it doesn't so much matter what the inner material is, so long as it is reasonably good in...

Not to hijack this thread, but I have a 24/60 case that I am trying to get rid of too. I was sent the wrong case when I was ordering a 24/40 case and they never fixed the order. Make me an offer and...

Congrats! I am still waiting on summer vacation to get back and launch mine. With a little luck though I'll get some oportunities to fly my mid power 2 stage while I'm at school. Still need to make...

What is everyone's take on the "wrap everything first, then wet" approach? I've been wondering how you are supposed to do all your layups in the 20 minute handling time of the laminating epoxies. I'd...

Those too could be wrapped in foil, but my understanding was that the transmitter was interfering with the sensors on the altimeter, which shouldn't be an issue if the altimeter itself is wrapped in...

Or you could wrap the altimeter in foil, which should completely shield it from the transmitter. It may also shield the transmitter from you at certain angles, but I'm not sure how much.

Though I may not have articulated it well, I was thinking in terms of the tube being crushed from the side, if it were to get stepped on, or come in hard, or have the end ding off of something hard....

If I'm not mistaken though, carbon fiber is more rigid than fiberglass (hence it is really good for T2T) which would make it a better outer layer when it comes to crushing/buckling. Not sure how much...

I'm having some second guessings here, when it comes to making tubes "sandwich" style. The reason fins, and plates in general will get so much stronger is the added moment, but in a tube, don't we...

The veiling looks great. Tap plastic has some really cheap stuff. They also have the epoxy and pumps, and all of that good stuff. No CF veil, but for a first swing at composites, FG is probably...

Sweet deal! It looks like my mechanics of solids class this semester may really pay off!
In the mean time, I am going to try my first venture into fiberglass to see how that goes. I think I may give...

Do you have any photos of the process? That sounds great. And how did you keep the balsa conformed to the curve while it was setting? Also, not to nitpick, but did you weigh it to see how much epoxy...

Actually yeah, same question as daveyfire. How many teams competed last time? I'd really like to push for this, but I need to know how to market it to the various sources of funding and potential...

I've always been rather fascinated with sandwich structures such as CF on balsa fins, which provide much higher strength per weight than either material alone. I know we have been doing this for fins...

I'm in.

The IEEE has been anything but helpful for my previous rocket projects, so it's time to set my sights a little lower. Say 96050km lower...

Anyways, I'll be scrounging around to see if I...

But make sure to check the CP is far enough behind the CG. Larger motors can make that go wonky! You may need that extra fin span, or a bunch of nose weight.

I am trying it, and the demonstration to how hard it is is how long it has been, and how few people have jumped on board my project... They are complex, and many people are working on rockoons off...

Just like anything else, it needs to be blown apart some how. Depending on how you wire the electronics, you could either use a black powder charge to separate the two and then light the sustainer,...

You could also potentially put half a pound of lead in the nose, or however much you would need for the most stable engine, and then have the bolt for fender washers, or large lead weights, to adjust...