DARS HP Launch Feb 28 at Gunter

With the much needed rain came a much unwanted launch cancellation. The good news is we had already scheduled the February HP launch.

To quote liberally from my DARS group emails:

Our next scheduled high power launch is Saturday, February 28, in Gunter. If you have a project that wasn’t quite ready for today, you’ve got another month to get things wrapped up. Plus, the next few days are looking great for painting.

As we get closer, I'll send the formal announcement out with the usual reminders.

Now, who's going to be flying what in February?

If I get it ready by then, I'll be putting up the Scortch 3XL v2.0 on (most likely) a J350W.

Here's what v1.0 looked like before I decided to see how far down you had to go in Gunter to find the wet clay.


The answer in September was about 6 inches. The other 10 inches of nose cone just made a deeper hole... :cry:

I'll be there man! May even have something to launch. I really need to spend some time repairing or painting some projects. I have 6 or so that have never launched but are practically ready.

I will be here with several new things to launch, mostly mid and low power:

Modified NCR Avatar RCRG with 29mm motor mount
German A4b RCBG kit bashed from the Estes 2.6" sport scale V2 kit
Guillow's RC Space Shuttles v 2.0.
Aerotech Strong Arm
Super Xenon XL (modified Estes Super Neon XL)
RC servo operated "cable cutter" module for dual deploy on some 2.6" airframe mid power rockets.

This delay might give me time to knock out my quick and dirty L2 model: a vintage 8" diameter NCR Hobgoblin on a K550, either stock or perhaps restyled to be less Hobgoblin-ish.

An NCR Hobgoblin! No way! I remember seeing them in the very early HPR magazine issues but never saw when in person. It's about 6' tall, right? About 3000' on a K550?

The weather forecast for the next few days is just too nice to ignore and I have a severe case of cabin fever complicated by the need for speed. Fortunately, I am no longer gainfully employed and live near some wide open spaces. Anyone want to join me for a fix?

pyrobob said:

An NCR Hobgoblin! No way! I remember seeing them in the very early HPR magazine issues but never saw when in person. It's about 6' tall, right? About 3000' on a K550?

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That's the one. I actually have two of them, but one set of fins warps badly over the years and will have to be replaced.

Have done a little work on it over the last few months. Trying to decide on a Monokote film finish, or a paint finish.

Will be fun to fly either at Gunter or Corsicana.

Heading out to fly RC since the AP fix is not available...

The Arapahoe-J will be there for my L2 flight. The final paint is drying now, as you can see here. I have to choose the motor and get my request in, what day is the Aerotech order going in Robert? You know me, I rarely fly the normal stuff, but at least that means I get the 20% preorder discount. I just have to plan ahead a bit more.

I'll probably have my Madcow Frenzy ready by then. As of today, it is pretty much ready to paint. I'm making a few minor repairs to my Madcow Torrent and will bring it as well as a few Estes midpower rockets.

David

tab28682 said:

That's the one. I actually have two of them, but one set of fins warps badly over the years and will have to be replaced.

Have done a little work on it over the last few months. Trying to decide on a Monokote film finish, or a paint finish.

Will be fun to fly either at Gunter or Corsicana.

Heading out to fly RC since the AP fix is not available...

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Definitely bring it out, I'd love to take a look at it.

I've got my son's stomp rocket in lieu of RC.....

Cl(VII) said:

The Arapahoe-J will be there for my L2 flight. The final paint is drying now, as you can see here. I have to choose the motor and get my request in, what day is the Aerotech order going in Robert? You know me, I rarely fly the normal stuff, but at least that means I get the 20% preorder discount. I just have to plan ahead a bit more.

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That paint job looks great. I could use some guidance in that department....

Regarding special motors, technically it's the first business day of the month. However, I always try to add a Pre Order motor onto an existing order (assuming there is one). In this case I have about 150 pounds of motors back ordered so I can just add your motors to it at anytime provided it hasn't already shipped (highly unlikely).

AT is light on product but ramping things up. I would definitely say the sooner the better.

Wasn't there an off chance that we could get the Corsicana field for February? Or was I just dreaming?

pyrobob said:

Wasn't there an off chance that we could get the Corsicana field for February? Or was I just dreaming?

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I thought the Corsicana field owner ruled out Feb as well.....

That rings a bell. Something about planting his crops early?

Last I heard on Corsicana, is the owner was going to get something in the ground as soon as he could get his equipment in the field. Looks like we'll have to wait a bit to try this field out.

I am going to try and trade weekends at work so I can make it out for this one. Estes Nike Smoke and Leviathan are ready to go. The 2.6" Madcow DX-3 is in the paint shop so will also be ready. My 29mm Estes Big Daddy should be ready by then. I am ordering some parts tonight for my stretched Leviathan, so that one is a maybe. If nothing else I'll bring the stretch to the meeting to show off.

I'll try to make it out. I should have my 29mm MD rocket finished and ready for a test flight on a G motor!

MD G motor? Sweet! About 3500'? Just trying to calibrate me senses....

pyrobob said:

MD G motor? Sweet! About 3500'? Just trying to calibrate me senses....

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Yeah Rocksim says it should go somewhere between 3500-4000 feet. I designed it to break mach on a G64 motor reload, but it also is able to take up to an I205. :sly:

That would be an ideal application of a DMS motor.....

pyrobob said:

That would be an ideal application of a DMS motor.....

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.....using all 14 seconds of delay, yes, yes?

tmacklin said:

.....using all 14 seconds of delay, yes, yes?

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I've been meaning to ask that... Is there some way I can plug a DMS motor and just use the electronics for deployment?

I would strongly recommend using the 14 second delay as a back up ejection charge. Don't ask how I know.... You could just leave the BP charge out of the well although it wouldn't be a bad idea to plug the well with a little grease. I would again strongly recommend the former, however .

RAHagen said:

I've been meaning to ask that... Is there some way I can plug a DMS motor and just use the electronics for deployment?

Click to expand...

pyrobob said:

I would strongly recommend using the 14 second delay as a back up ejection charge. Don't ask how I know.... You could just leave the BP charge out of the well although it wouldn't be a bad idea to plug the well with a little grease. I would again strongly recommend the former, however .

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My guess is 14 sec is a bit too short. I know the 38mm MD I have been a siming looks more like 16-17 sec. Even my Cherokee is in the 13-16 sec range in the high end motors.

pyrobob said:

Definitely bring it out, I'd love to take a look at it.

I've got my son's stomp rocket in lieu of RC.....

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Did an Open Rocket sim of the 8" Hobgoblin on a K550 yesterday. Did not add the paint, the glue or the recovery system and it was looking like about 3200 feet. Still need to add the missing components and run it for a final number.

So, about 3k looks about right.

Have decided to push this model to the front for Feb and have it there if at all possible.

Took a quick pic last night.

tab28682 said:

Did an Open Rocket sim of the 8" Hobgoblin on a K550 yesterday. Did not add the paint, the glue or the recovery system and it was looking like about 3200 feet. Still need to add the missing components and run it for a final number.

So, about 3k looks about right.

Have decided to push this model to the front for Feb and have it there if at all possible.

Took a quick pic last night.

View attachment 253049

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Wow, beefy! That should be a show. With the pished back launches, amd some additional big projects in the ready this should be a sweet launch.

RAHagen said:

Yeah Rocksim says it should go somewhere between 3500-4000 feet. I designed it to break mach on a G64 motor reload, but it also is able to take up to an I205. :sly:

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Are you going with rail buttons on this one?

Cl(VII) said:

Are you going with rail buttons on this one?

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I'm not sure. I'm hoping I can get away without them. I might be getting a fly-away rail guide from wfcook, But if not,Do you think it would be possible for you to bring the launch tower out to the launch? I'd really like to see if I can get away without them...

Cl(VII) said:

My guess is 14 sec is a bit too short. I know the 38mm MD I have been a siming looks more like 16-17 sec. Even my Cherokee is in the 13-16 sec range in the high end motors.

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Yeah, forgot to qualify that in the event you actually needed something beyond 14 seconds.

tab28682 said:

Did an Open Rocket sim of the 8" Hobgoblin on a K550 yesterday. Did not add the paint, the glue or the recovery system and it was looking like about 3200 feet. Still need to add the missing components and run it for a final number.

So, about 3k looks about right.

Have decided to push this model to the front for Feb and have it there if at all possible.

Took a quick pic last night.

View attachment 253049

Click to expand...

A Hobgoblin sighting! Have you already installed the motor mount. Go with a 75mm if you can. Lot's more options and new 75mm DMS motors coming out as well.

RAHagen said:

I'm not sure. I'm hoping I can get away without them. I might be getting a fly-away rail guide from wfcook, But if not,Do you think it would be possible for you to bring the launch tower out to the launch? I'd really like to see if I can get away without them...

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Would be cool to see the fly away rail guide. Is he selling them? Would also like to see the tower launcher of course .