Our new custom Launch Pad

I'm sure it's been done, but not that I have seen (I don't get out much...). Our stock Estes pad was alittle flimsy for some our scratch builds, so I decided to 'kick it up a notch'. It's made from a halogen light stand, with the Estes 'head' fastened to it. Compact, portable, adjustable and quite sturdy...You like?

That is really cool. I need to make a light single rod launch pad myself that is easily transportable like the Estes pad but more "heavy duty" like yours. Here is a picture of a 3 rod one that I built to use for a cub scout launch. Under the flower pots are 3/8" drill chucks.

I like (and have seen) the drill chuck idea, but I can't figure out how to get it off of my -toasted- drill, and too 'frugal' to buy a new chuck just for our pad...

open the chuck to as far as it goes, clean the accumulated crud out. if you look deep inside you should see an allen head, unscrew it. that should unlock the chuck(harbor frieght has had them for $10). put the drill in reverse and it should unscrew.
rex

McKailas Dad said:

...so I decided to 'kick it up a notch'. It's made from a halogen light stand, with the Estes 'head' fastened to it. Compact, portable, adjustable and quite sturdy...You like?

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That's a good idea. This is what I used. It's a Bogen 3033 tripod made for medium format cameras. It will support my weight, so I feel comfortable launching the Aspire from it. :roll: However, I hope to build two rockets soon, a L1 and L2. I'll still use this tripod for those.

The 'launch pad' is a piece of 1" thick aluminum that I had leftover. I drilled and tapped two 1/4-20 holes in it. One to mount to the tripod, the second for the stainless steel guide rod that is also threaded 1/4-20.

tz250, how long is that launch rod

Andyd103 said:

tz250, how long is that launch rod

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7.5 ft. I may shorten it a little to make it easier to move and store. It's longer than it needs to be. The lighweight Aspire get's up to speed quickly.