Thin-Wall airframes are useless without matching Nose Cones.

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JMZawodny

JMZawodny

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I have long lamented the fact that there really aren't any good quality nose cones for 29mm "high power" tubing. With the near simultaneous introduction of thin-wall airframes *and* new nose cones to match, I wonder why we have not seen matching nose cones for the new 29mm and 2.5" thin-wall tubes. The quickest way to make something work is to go with a conical nose cone and sand the lower bit to match the tube, but that is not easily done with the other shapes. The existing 29mm cones someone is sure to mention are either very heavy or crap quality (I won't mention brands publicly). Do you think some manufacturer/vendor will step up and fill the void? I'm not talking custom balsa either.
 
JMZawodny said:
I have long lamented the fact that there really aren't any good quality nose cones for 29mm "high power" tubing. With the near simultaneous introduction of thin-wall airframes *and* new nose cones to match, I wonder why we have not seen matching nose cones for the new 29mm and 2.5" thin-wall tubes. The quickest way to make something work is to go with a conical nose cone and sand the lower bit to match the tube, but that is not easily done with the other shapes. The existing 29mm cones someone is sure to mention are either very heavy or crap quality (I won't mention brands publicly). Do you think some manufacturer/vendor will step up and fill the void? I'm not talking custom balsa either.
Click to expand...

We could make those. Similar to our 38mm glass-filled PolyCarbonate ones? We can only justify the tooling expense with sufficient interest. We have not been asked for those yet.

Jeroen
 
Jeroen_at_CTI said:
We could make those. Similar to our 38mm glass-filled PolyCarbonate ones? We can only justify the tooling expense with sufficient interest. We have not been asked for those yet.

Jeroen
Click to expand...

Jeroen, what quantity would be sufficient interest be in approximate numbers?


Mark Koelsch
Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum
 
I love 2.6" There's a few rockets I'd like to make out of thin wall FG, that I'd use these nosecones for. Of course, an Optima clone comes running to mind.
 
Jeroen_at_CTI said:
We could make those. Similar to our 38mm glass-filled PolyCarbonate ones? We can only justify the tooling expense with sufficient interest. We have not been asked for those yet.

Jeroen
Click to expand...

Jeroen, you are just the person I was hoping would respond to this request. I have both your 38 (in black) and the 54 (in Clear) and they are very nice. Currently, the only 2.6" cone that might work is the AeroTech. It is the one they use on the Strong Arm. I do not think it will hold up at speeds above Mach 2 (if that), it is lightweight though.

It is hard to judge the depth of the market for a good (lightweight) 29mm high-power nose cone because there really isn't one for these tubes or the thick walled tubes either. Personally I think some lightweight FW fiberglass 29mm diameter rockets with 24mm motor mounts would be quite popular. Just like the explosion of new kits utilizing the thin-walled tubing that recently came to market in 38 and 54mm sizes, I suspect manufacturers would go for the 29mm and 2.6" nose cones in order to differentiate from their competitors.

Obviously, I'd be a buyer of either/both if they became available.

While I'm asking, it would be nice to see 65mm motors (that would use the 2.6" tube as a motor mount) come to market. These would fully span the L impulse range as well as the upper K's and Lower M's. Someone has to be the first to market.
 
Well as a matter of fact we just finished producing 3 new 2.6 Inch Filament wound nosecones.
They are:
3:1 Ogive
4:1 Ogive
5:1 Ogive
These are available in both standard and thin wall.
We will be coming out with both a 5:1 Conical and 5:1 Von Karman in the very near future.

We also produce both a 5:1 Conical and a 4:1 Ogive for the 29mm thin wall (hand layup and lightweight)(these have been on the market for almost 10 years)

Also as an aside Mad Cow offers several other 2.6 thin wall nosecone (hand layup produced by some other manufacturer
They are Nike Smoke, 5:1 conical, 4:1 Von Karman, Honest John, 3:1 Ogive, and maybe more.

BTW, Mad Cow Rocketry has been selling the 2.6 Thin wall fiberglass tubing for over 5 years along with the matching nosecones.

If there is interest in any particular product we are happy to bring it to market.

Thank You
Curtis Turner
 
I have the 2.6" Mad Cow Honest John nose cone. While it is pretty true to scale is it rather delicate. I'll be interested in taking a look at the FW cones for thin wall 2.6" when they become available. I'll keep an eye out at the usual outlets. Hopefully they'll be reasonably light weight. I have all sorts of 29mm nose cones including, I believe, the "thin wall available for the past 10 years" mentioned. They are all (over-)sized for thick wall tubing or made for the ultra thin Estes paper tubes. I'm really looking for a 29mm that is a very close match to the 29mm TW tubes (1.225") and/or LOC paper (1.210") for that matter.
 
Jeroen,

It's safe to say that I would welcome new nose cones in all shapes and sizes made out of that fiberglass-infused polycarbonate. I have no idea how big the market is for such things, and I suspect the tooling costs an arm and a leg, but I really like the cones you are making now.


Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum
 
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wfcook said:
It's safe to say that I would welcome new nose cones in all shapes and sizes made out of that fiberglass-infused polycarbonate. I have no idea how big the market is for such things, and I suspect the tooling costs an arm and a leg, but I really like the cones you are making now.
Click to expand...

Thank you. The tooling and equipment to run it is indeed very costly. Thousands of parts are required to justify the tooling.

There are more in the works. We are molding three new parts this week and just started working on another one. Several vendors will be announcing them in the next few weeks.

Jeroen
 
Jeroen,
I didn't know you guys made NC's (for the hobby market)
Where are your NC's for sale today?
A 3" clear sounds perfect -- I want one -- where can I buy it?
 
Pardon my ignorance but what or whose "thin wall" airframe tubing are you referring to?

Bob
 
FredA said:
I didn't know you guys made NC's (for the hobby market)
Where are your NC's for sale today? A 3" clear sounds perfect -- I want one -- where can I buy it?
Click to expand...

ProX dealers can order the nose cones for you. Madcow is also selling them.

The 3-inch is available from Wildman. We also make a clear one (bit blurry, my camera has difficulty focusing on the clear cone):
3inch_clear.jpg

That is a phenolic ablative tip on the front. The nose cone is made out of polycarbonate. The black ones are glass-filled polycarbonate.

Jeroen
 
Jeroen_at_CTI said:
ProX dealers can order the nose cones for you. Madcow is also selling them.

The 3-inch is available from Wildman. We also make a clear one (bit blurry, my camera has difficulty focusing on the clear cone):
View attachment 246568

That is a phenolic ablative tip on the front. The nose cone is made out of polycarbonate. The black ones are glass-filled polycarbonate.

Jeroen
Click to expand...

The only problem with you making 29mm nose cones is that I would have to buy a bunch of new hardware and motors in 29mm and 24mm sizes.

Jeroen, I'm guessing you don't see that as a problem.

And if you made 18mm hardware and reloads...I'd have to buy those too.

And maybe some 66mm...
 
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