Frustration...

You ever have that one rocket that you have been looking forward to launching for such a long time, but something keeps happening to the rocket so you can't get it off the pad?

For me it's the 6" Sirius Saturn V that my fiancee bought me as a birthday present a year and a half ago.

I managed to finally get the rocket built and finished in time to meet my planned launch date of LDRS this past year. Well, my new best friend Murphy had other ideas about me launching that rocket and made what was supposed to be the best launch of my life the most challenging launch of my life. I couldn't get the deployment to work right during ground testing, the resin cast fins got warped due to the exsessive heat and one wound up snapping in half. Fine, I'll take the hint and scrub the flight for that launch and save it for another day- Plaster Blaster.

Welp, Plaster Blaster is this upcoming weekend. Remembering that I had a few minor things to work out from LDRS, I got back to work on the rocket this past weekend and figured that I would solve the deployment issue by installing a piston.

Sure enough, it worked just fine... Perhaps a little too well as the result of the ejection test not only blew out the laundry, but also managed to break one of the fairings lengthwise, towards to upper, tapered part. Ripped it clean off the airframe and snapped it, leaving just the top 1" or so still glued to the airframe.

Oh, and that fin that snapped in half is back to being in half again.

Anyway, I'm frustrated. Looks like it will be postphoned yet again. Maybe RocStock in June, who knows..

Your experiences are starting to sound very close to NASA's! Heck, I've experienced that frustration on the many occasions I've gone to watch a shuttle launch only to be denied because of some computer glitch! I just hope that once all the bugs are resolved you get to enjoy a favorable and successful launch 'cause if you don't then I won't know what to call your situation. Best of luck.

PS - Pics of the rocket anywhere so we can at least check it out?

I feel your pain! It happens most times I want to go launch something on a day off...I had planned to launch some rockets this afternoon..But, well Murphy and Mother Nature said a resonding NO to that...Windy as all get out, and then it rained.. Of course the weekend I work was beautiful! Just figures!

So, yeah, major frustration...But, at least I don't have a rocket to repair..Ouch! Hopefully repairs will go smoothly for ya!

I know how it goes Chris,
I have a two stage 2.5" rocket that I flew once at Midwest Power3.
Staging and the sustainer flight went great but the booster section didn't have enough BP in the ejection charge and that part augered in.
It took me a year to remember to buy the tubing. Another year to get around to glassing the tubing and building a new interstage coupler. Then the epoxy for the tube glassing didn't cure right and was all sticky. I am finally on it again and hope to have it ready to fly again this fall.
It's a very nice little rocket. I'm thinking an I 435 to an H999 this time. It would be fun to hear that warp 9 go boom and thats' all folks,
Good luck with that Saturn 5.
I'vs always wanted to buy one of those from Dave,
Scott G.

Yeah, here's a pic PRE-LDRS. Forgive the mess, but we move in like two weeks before LDRS, and I spent my free time just trying to get ready:



I'll post a build thread on it one of these days. I made some modifications to the original design, fitting it with a 54mm instead of the 38mm, adding some glass, etc.

Right now I'm in tears--hearing that we don't have a weekend waiver to 30K. This is like the fourth time in two yearsI have received BoD approval for a 2 stage M-M flight above 25K only to have weather, my own unpreparedness, or lack of a waiver foil my plans. I could just spit.

Man that Saturn V looks freaking awesome. Man when that thing goes up take many many pictures. I am sure you will get it sorted out
Cheers
Fred

THat CSM is wicked Sorry could not help myself I am a Saturn V nut but self-aware
Cheers
fred

Had a Mean Machine when I was a kid that I built and never launched. Broke it in half too many times. A month or so ago I bought the new Mean Machine kit and built it. Then broke it in half.

I'm done with 6-foot x 1-inch rockets.

paparoof said:

Had a Mean Machine when I was a kid that I built and never launched. Broke it in half too many times. A month or so ago I bought the new Mean Machine kit and built it. Then broke it in half.
I'm done with 6-foot x 1-inch rockets.

Click to expand...

'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again, expecting a different outcome....'
:flybye:

paparoof said:

Had a Mean Machine when I was a kid that I built and never launched. Broke it in half too many times. A month or so ago I bought the new Mean Machine kit and built it. Then broke it in half.

I'm done with 6-foot x 1-inch rockets.

Click to expand...

Ever get the feeling that the rocket is trying to tell you something?

A standard modification to the Mean Machine is to replace the short, hollow, cardboard coupler in the middle with a long, solid coupler. It is then meant to break in the middle, preferably when it's a long way up in the air.