XPRS and BALLS are not that far out.
Hey guys! Indeed XPRS and BALLS are closing in on me, but I do not plan to fly this year afterall. The design is very close to build-ready but I still need to iron out some avbay workings and I want to take a close look again at the tail with new scrutiny- I am beginning to loose faith in John's software's predictions.
Sorry for the lack of progress, but I took a bit of a break from the project, knowing that it wont fly this year anyhow. I like to take the occasional break from it and re-approach the problems after a while. Sometimes it gives me some fresh new perspective. But usually it's because I have work or school all day and I simply dont feel in the right zone to be putting thought into extreme rocket projects at 10pm that day.. Heres whats left to do.
1. I need to go down and visit my local metro elec. and see what they can offer in terms of small footprint pull-type solenoids. This will be the pin removal that allows the avbay plug to pop off and the avbay to start breathing on the way down. Dont have that modeled yet.
2. Once I obtain that ^ dimension, I can work toward getting a GOOD 3D model of the GPS-1 and his new expansion board, as well as a telemega for the purpose of 3D printing the sled. Right now, most of what's in my model is a bunch of cubes representing general dimensions. Like this-
No battery cubbies, no switch mounts.... very unfinished. I had originally planned to simply standoff G10 sleds and just mount everything similar to how my model shows. I will upgrade that over this build season. This will be one trick avbay! Oh, and the off season will give me some time to do some underwater testing.
3. Fins. Recently I did my L3, and as a part of that build I decided to run a finsim on my tail for giggles. According to finsim, I have .1875 G10 fins that diverge at 550 and flutter at 750mph!
Greeeaatt.... Yeah I dont believe that. Im doing something wrong or his software is off. I will need to examine the manual. But what does that say about my 3000mph aluminum flutter predictions for the two stage rocket? maybe theyre a bit conservative? Perhaps I could get away with aluminum fins. While at Aeronaut, Aidan and I were discussing the differences in the rates of thermal expansion between aluminum and ti, and that could be an issue as well. Again, I dont think my carbon skills are up to the task for this project, considering the heat over time of the tail, but I also want it to mate perfectly with that interstage. I need to get ahold of NextLine and get a requote for aluminum fins... get back to yall on that later.
- By the way... Does anyone have some insight as to why we cant fly steel stuff at tripoli events? I think aluminum coming in hot would have plenty of inertia behind it to negate a falling debris argument... Just wondering.. As Alex and I were discussing, steel seems like it has lots of professional rocketry uses.
4. EX
Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but it seems to me that this project would be considerably cheaper if you can get some EX guys excited enough to take part.
I had actually been thinking about that. There's various ways to bring the entire cost down, but they add risk is the issue in my mind. Example A- N5800 to N5800 eliminates the expensive IST and tail. 2 carbon jobs, a tube and youre done. Plus, it might even go higher and have a more spacious avbay. Regardless, I need custom hardware for the sustainer to support H.E.I, or atleast a custom closure. Im not a fan of the kapton and geko wire method. It does work, but it seems real flimsy, considering stage separation. Not to mention trying to make it work with my setup could get tricky. Therefore, I think RX motors would probably run $1000+ still.... Which I guess IS better than like 3 grand. How difficult is it to recreate the motors? I just saw Steve fly a badass 3" N at XPRS. Something like that would make a killer sustainer. M2245 is a full M 4.5s, I'd need something comparable and most critically > simmable.
5. Logistics- Yes I am aware of how I sound with the project pitch. No one has a gun to your head
Heres the way I see it - I am a college student working a part time job to pay off a gas thirsty truck. I was trying to save up enough for an N at XPRS but I also need new tires. Theres absolutely no way I could afford this project while still in school. With an Air Force career approaching, I doubt I will even have much time in the next couple of years anyhow. I could probably drop a couple hundred to a couple grand into it, but not the entirety of the funding required.
Alot of times however, Ive seen people (even kids!) in situations like this inside of rocketry and out, and they are able to secure some critical donations that make their project possible. I feel fully confident in the design once we finalize those few things^ and then I will setup a funding suite and we shall see who wants to contribute. If enough people are interested and want to drop a few bucks on it, maybe we can make it happen. If not? Oh well. Pack everything up and wait on it for some years untill I can get back around to doing it on my own. It will just be a while...
Im simply putting it out there that if a large group of folks wants to drop some cash, I will make it all happen for us.
