DARS HP Launch

Weather has no impact on my painting. It's terrible. I'm just not gifted with such skills.... I do take solace in that after one or two flights it's pretty hard keeping a rocket looking good unless your using automotive paint. In that case I've seen rockets look new after many flights. I think I'm going to stop paint altogether .

I hate paint. I'm trying out precolored fiberglass sleeves. The neon green is looking pretty good.

That's interesting. How do you apply it to an airframe?

pyrobob said:

That's interesting. How do you apply it to an airframe?

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Using their treated heat shrink tubing. Similar to how it is done in their tutorial (below), but I use more epoxy (US Composites 635 3:1) and let the tubing squeeze it out by heating from the middle out. One layer of the fiberglass lets the underlying tube show through some, so I pulled off the glassine and wiped the tube down with Ebony wood stain and let that dry before fiberglassing. That way I have a uniform black tube showing through, not the normal brown. Purely esthetic preference there.

[video=youtube_share;jwExI_vnchE]https://youtu.be/jwExI_vnchE[/video]

Away in Orlando and Lakeland, Fl this week working some, vacationing a little and then working at the SAE Aero Design college event this weekend.

Fingers crossed here for a possible project delay that will free me up from a tough project due date of March 30. If that date holds, I will have to work the day of the launch! Argh.

And I have 5-6 new rockets to fly!

Looking like the weather is going to be nice in Gunter this weekend but I wonder if it will be dry enough. I'd like to make it but I'll probably wind up going to my sons soccer game.

Oh, and I saw the sun today. It's pretty bright and up in the sky somewhere. Take a look and let me know if you see it!

pyrobob said:

Looking like the weather is going to be nice in Gunter this weekend but I wonder if it will be dry enough. I'd like to make it but I'll probably wind up going to my sons soccer game.

Oh, and I saw the sun today. It's pretty bright and up in the sky somewhere. Take a look and let me know if you see it!

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Still 2.5 weeks to go, until Gunter High power, right,?

tab28682 said:

Still 2.5 weeks to go, until Gunter High power, right,?

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It is, but they decided to host the low/mid power/MEGA-Launch competition in Gunter this weekend instead of Frisco. The waiver will be in affect but rockets limited to whatever fits on the mid power pads since they chose not to haul the trailer. Unless someone brings their own pads, that limits impulse to probably I considering rocket size, weight, etc. on a mid power pad. All in all, an ideal setup for me but probably not one I'll be able to take advantage of .

Oh, and check out: https://dars.org/March.htm

Jack's supposed to make the call tonight whether Gunter is a go for Saturday. There's a potential for more rain and that may undo things. However, they may move it to Frisco; I guess that field dries up better than Gunter.

The ground around my house is saturated and there is standing water in the large flat fields in this area. I checked my rain gauge and we received about 5/8" melt water from the recent snow/ice event. Got about 1 1/8" from the previous rain/sleet/snow and it's raining today, and add those amounts to another 2 1/2" which fell in mid-February. It's a tad bit humid.

The late Harold Taft (AKA "The World's Greatest Weatherman") always used to say, "It takes a flood to break a drought".

Yes, but take heart: It will soon be 110 in the shade with burn bans and water rationing!

I was just getting used to seeing blue sky and then today happened .

That's why the alternate name for DARS is the Dallas Area Rainmaker's Society...

There's the regular Frisco launch and the actual HP launch still to go this month, so we'll likely get another foot and a half of rain. Lord knows we need it. We're only a year behind in rain fall.

Well, the weather was just ho hum yesterday so I guess not having the launch worked out well. I managed to get some yard work done yesterday. It mainly consisted of knocking the weeds back down...

Well on a whim this past Sunday I started on a rocket that's been in my mind for a very very long while. It's totally scratch and I was amazed at how much progress I made. I've got some parts on the way and if all goes well I'll have the 54mm MMT epoxied in and 6 fins tacked in place over the weekend. It's 4" using LOC/Aerotech parts that should stand about 5.5 feet tall and setup for dual deploy. I totally have Gunter in mind and flying some 54mm long burn J's and some 'rare' 54 I's. I totally dig lightweight rockets and it should work out well with the Gunter waiver and long burn J's....

The Frenzy is just about ready if the field is ever dry enough. I just have to install the electronics and recovery systems and apply the decals.



I also bought a Mobius wide angle camera to attach to the Torrent and send up on another J270.

David

Dave47 said:

The Frenzy is just about ready if the field is ever dry enough. I just have to install the electronics and recovery systems and apply the decals.

View attachment 258258

I also bought a Mobius wide angle camera to attach to the Torrent and send up on another J270.

David

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That is a great looking rocket David.

samb said:

That is a great looking rocket David.

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Agreed!

How are you guys mounting your shock cords these days? I've seen a lot of people making a 'loop' out of kevlar with each leg passing through small slots on the forward centering ring. The legs run past the centering ring several inches and are then epoxied to the MMT.

I always used some coated steel cable that ran back and through the forward centering ring where I clamped it together using one of those aluminum buckle things (whatever those things are called). The cable would be about 1' long where I would then make a small eyelet/loop using the same aluminum buckles. The shock cord would then attach to the cable using a quick link.

My way seems old school. Personal preference thing perhaps??

I use a Kevlar Y-harness that passes through the Top CR and the ends are epoxied to the MM. The top of the harness always extends beyond the top of the airframe to allow easy attachment of shock cord via quick link. I try to get the knot of the harness close to the top edge of the airframe, so it helps with avoidng zippers.

Thanks. Barnes?

Autocorrect of "harness" apparently.

Fixed it.

Okay so I've been working on my Gt-R for a while now, and sadly it looks like I will most likely not have it ready for the next launch. I am curious however, if anybody has any Cessaroni motor hardware they'd be willing to loan for a launch once it's done? As requested by WFcook in exchange for me beta testing his 29mm fly-away guides, I'm trying to get the most possible acceleration and velocity of the rail as possible. so far it seems that the best I can find is a Cessaroni H410 VM reload. Too bad AT doesn't make Warp-9 in 29mm. That'd be great.

pyrobob said:

samb said:

That is a great looking rocket David.

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Agreed!

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Thanks, guys! I know it won't last, though. My Torrent's paint job has taken a beating in it's 4 launches.

Dave47 said:

Thanks, guys! I know it won't last, though. My Torrent's paint job has taken a beating in it's 4 launches.

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Yeah, it's pretty crazy how quickly paint jobs on a rocket go downhill. I think "epoxy" paint or automotive paint is the only thing you can get some mileage out of. Last I checked though that requires a special paint setup using a compressor and all of that stuff. I think the consumable is pretty expensive, too.

I think I'm going to go the route epoxying a harness to each side of the MMT. Question: I don't have kevlar, but do have ~1/2" to 5/8" nylon that I bought from Giant Leap Rocketry many years ago. Any concerns with that? I think the strength should be sufficient but I do wonder about it potentially being exposed to direct ejection charge gases in the event I go with motor deploy or backup. Thoughts?

pyrobob said:

How are you guys mounting your shock cords these days?

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Eyebolt or U-bolt mounted on the top CR with kevlar ties to this. Just in case I need to replace it, I can. Haven't needed to yet, but I want the ability.

pyrobob said:

I think I'm going to go the route epoxying a harness to each side of the MMT. Question: I don't have kevlar, but do have ~1/2" to 5/8" nylon that I bought from Giant Leap Rocketry many years ago. Any concerns with that? I think the strength should be sufficient but I do wonder about it potentially being exposed to direct ejection charge gases in the event I go with motor deploy or backup. Thoughts?

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Let me know what kevlar you're thinking of using. I may have it on hand, and can get you the couple of feet you'll need.

AlfaBrewer said:

Eyebolt or U-bolt mounted on the top CR with kevlar ties to this. Just in case I need to replace it, I can. Haven't needed to yet, but I want the ability.

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That makes sense. Thanks.

AlfaBrewer said:

Let me know what kevlar you're thinking of using. I may have it on hand, and can get you the couple of feet you'll need.

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Do you think the nylon is sufficiently resistant to ejection exhaust?