TTW Fin alignment

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Sooner Boomer

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While working on a scratch design, I was positioning the fin tabs against the motor mount tube. I inserted an engine into the tube, originally to keep from deforming the tube, but then realized how helpful it is to get the alignment straight. The nozzle gives you an "aim point" to point the fin tab towards. Of course you have to do this before you glue the aft centering ring on...

fin alignment.jpg
 
While correctly located slots on any given body tube will locate the fins correctly about the circumference of the tube, they will not insure that the fins are radially correct. There has to be some slack in these slots in order for the fin to be inserted and because of this slack the fin can deviate slightly from theoretical "perfect". The resulting deviation is most apparent on four, six, eight and other even numbered fin configurations because these also need to be on plane 180 degrees opposite another fin, just as the OP's photo shows. It's much harder to see any deviation in radial alignment with odd numbered fins, 3,5, 7 and so on.

That is the beauty of my little contraption...it not only holds the fin in position while the glue sets, it adjusts for tube diameter, fin thickness and fin alignment in both the longitudinal and radial axis. Even so, one should still do a visual check, especially on even numbered fin configurations. (End of shameless plug)
 
You Fools...

Don't you know that TTW is a completely unnecessary over building technique...:grin:
 
I'd still recommend going to payloadbay and creating a fin jig for it.
I second this. If you really care, build a fin jig like I did for my Badazz Defender MKIII. This also works for TTW and surface-mounted fins.

finguide2.jpg
 
Personally, I've been putting in fin tabs on all of my latest BT-60 and larger rockets. They ensure alignment (vertically), thus eliminating roll. Had I used it on my Estes Magnum, perhaps I would have only had to replace the booster section, and not the entire rocket when the sustainer's engine mount was knocked loose from the force of the exploding booster's engine. The sustainer's motor ignited, and burned a hole in the side of the body tube as it flew.

 
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