Tonimus's L1 Madcow Patriot build "FINISHED!"

A closeup of screw head detail.

Truly a masterpiece!! Beautiful fillets!! Great job!! :drool:

Thanks, guys! Here's a pic out in the sun.

Can anyone else see any pics? I dont see any pictures....

Connor, they're hosted on Flickr. Are you behind a firewall that doesn't allow access to Flickr? (usually flagged as a depository or filesharing site.)

Tonimus said:

Connor, they're hosted on Flickr. Are you behind a firewall that doesn't allow access to Flickr? (usually flagged as a depository or filesharing site.)

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IDK what happened but i see them now?!?! Great work. Good luck on the cert flight

I just realized I hadn't posted clear coated pictures in this thread! For shame! These are done in a matte automotive clear. I had an actual body shop spray it, as I don't have the gun or a booth to spray in.

Thank you! I just changed the nose weight position. Found an old small block main bearing bolt, just about the right length to move the adjustable part of the weight forward about 2 inches.

AV bay is almost done.

I got my L1 cert reload Saturday. I couldn't help myself, as I needed the complete assembled motor to do a final balance and adjust the nose weight. I also got an E16 for a Leviathan too. These were the first reloads I've ever done. I was glad I did it at home.



Here's the sim. 600 feet on the H-180W.

Quick question - are you going to fly that DD for your cert flight? 600' is pretty low altitude for a DD rocket.

I am. My last DD rocket test, the drogue popped at an apogee of 340 feet, 200 feet for the main.

A truly beautiful finish; nice work!

Great work on the rocket!! I've always liked the Patriot.

Tonimus said:

I didn't used to be any good at fillets. But having a large airframe to work with definitely helps in that department. There hasn't been a whole lot of "Yeah, I did that!" in this build, but the way these turned out has me pretty pleased.

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Is that just primer red or do you have a color for it?

On the fin can the one inch vertical beige and white band isn't that the actually how they mount it on the aircraft. Kinda of like a rail launcher? See below:

View attachment 283427

Guess I missed this many months ago, but what a fantastic finish!

AfterBurners said:

Is that just primer red or do you have a color for it?

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Red primer. That's one of the reasons why I cleared the rocket when I was done.

AfterBurners said:

On the fin can the one inch vertical beige and white band isn't that the actually how they mount it on the aircraft. Kinda of like a rail launcher?

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No, it's a conduit for the wiring for the aft end.

pyrobob said:

Guess I missed this many months ago, but what a fantastic finish!

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Thank you, PyroBob. She got retired after a VERY hard landing. Even crunched a bit, the finish is still nice enough for display. This is what I stuck the L1 motor I got from you in to get my cert.

Be careful. That looks so much like a real Patriot that you might get arrested! :wink: Excellent work.

Someday, I may do a full size with a boat tail and real conduit...

Can you tell us some of the details about your L1 flight? I'm considering using an H144 for my L1 but it only sims to 700', which is making me nervous. Was your hard landing a consequence of the low altitude?

My L1 cert flight landed under drogue. No damage. Here's the thread: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?125684-Got-my-L1-cert-yesterday The hard landing that accordioned my AV bay came in perfectly vertically under a tangled drogue and then the main fired, the nose cone kept it from opening (was also my first L2 attempt). A 1 in a thousand chance... Here's that one: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?126643-Level-2-Attempt-and-failure

Tonimus said:

Got the filler primer coat sanded down and I'm pretty happy with it overall. There's always going to be "issues" that one isn't happy with when they are building, but it's okay.


Got some color shot today. Starting to look the part.

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sorry to resurrect this thread, and sorry I don't have a bunch of time to search through text, but am curious what color is that?

nice bird!

fm

FM,

That is red oxide primer. I cleared over with matte clear to protect it.

Thanks!

Were u able to fix and fly again? Think I'll fly my bird on a large I then push for my L2 cert.

Thanks again!

fm

I built the same bird..how much nose weight did you use? My nose cone came in at 33 ozs

FM, I could've repaired it at the expense of the paint job. I retired the bird, salvaged all I could, now it is just a display.

AfterBurners, I used a variable nose weight system and I balanced it ready to fly with one caliber of stability. That weight changed depending on the motor size.