Blaze Rocket- Build Thread

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REK

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The year is vastly coming to an end and I want to obtain my level 2 certification. Not only that, but I want to break Mach 2.

For my certification flight I will be using my Mariah 54 on a usual 2-grain J to make it nice and simple.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1437691358.094457.jpg

As for the Mach 2 bird. I have had these 38mm PML tubes sitting there for a year or so and its time I give them the attention they deserve.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1437691255.640574.jpg

I plan to have these ready to fly in November.

This thread will mainly focus on the Mach 2 bird as the Mariah 54 is already built and all it needs is an altimeter and motor.

Design coming up soon.
 
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Good luck on your L2 and your mach 2 Alexander. I am sure that you will get both. Nice looking Mariah 54.
 
It could be any 2 grain J, but I feel like having a good show with the new skidmark longburn.

I've seen a couple of those long-burn skids go up. Very cool motor to watch. Should be very interesting to see in a minimum diameter bird, but I think the cool factor of this motor shines in saucers. Anyway, good luck on the L2 attempt and the Mach 2 attempt. What motor do you plan to use to achieve that speed?
 
I've seen a couple of those long-burn skids go up. Very cool motor to watch. Should be very interesting to see in a minimum diameter bird, but I think the cool factor of this motor shines in saucers. Anyway, good luck on the L2 attempt and the Mach 2 attempt. What motor do you plan to use to achieve that speed?

I plan to use the J-600 Red Lightning. Not that I wont see it, but red is my favorite color.
 
Here is the design, not likely done with it yet. I took the old fashion dual deployment route, as to keep it simple.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1437781866.010757.jpg

Materials:

The pinnacle nose cone from giant leap seams to offer more speed to the design. This will be my nose cone of choice. Tracker will be housed in this nose cone.

The E-bay and internal motor mount will be constructed from some left over full length blue tube that I still have.

The fins I am still thinking about. I was thinking perhaps getting some prism plates from Public Missiles to further increase my chances of getting this rocket back.

I will keep you all updated as the months go by. I got to save up the money before purchasing anything.
 
Here is the design, not likely done with it yet. I took the old fashion dual deployment route, as to keep it simple.

View attachment 268395

Materials:

The pinnacle nose cone from giant leap seams to offer more speed to the design. This will be my nose cone of choice. Tracker will be housed in this nose cone.

The E-bay and internal motor mount will be constructed from some left over full length blue tube that I still have.

The fins I am still thinking about. I was thinking perhaps getting some prism plates from Public Missiles to further increase my chances of getting this rocket back.

I will keep you all updated as the months go by. I got to save up the money before purchasing anything.


Well again good luck. However I would move those fins as far back as possible to keep stability at those speeds, unless your stability margin is good throughout the flight.
 
Well again good luck. However I would move those fins as far back as possible to keep stability at those speeds, unless your stability margin is good throughout the flight.

I would move them back, but the tube already has dado slots that are two inches away from the back. Same goes for the root cord. I cant remember why I got them like that, but if anything I think that will be fine.
 
I did some work today and here is what I did. To start off I went ahead and cut the 5" e-bay coupler from a blue tube full length coupler that I had.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1437950899.758339.jpg

Next up I found this plate I made awhile back working with the high school students. They didnt want to use it so I asked permission to keep it. It is a total of 10 layers of 5.7oz. 2x2 twill carbon. All compressed using floor tiles. The end results was a 1/16" thick carbon plate. It feels strong and rigid. Along with an epoxy rated to 300F. I'll use this for my fins, since it will save me some money.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1437951095.776298.jpg

Finally, I remembered I had a piece of glass plate that I made awhile back. I found it and it is perfect for my e-bay sled. I will cut it down to size later on.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1437951152.568568.jpg

This is all for now.
 
Today I cut the 36" tubing down to its 28". Realizing I just cut a 7.75" section off. I used it as my upper section. This allowed me to extend the length of the rocket by half an inch. Thus giving me more space to pack everything in nicely.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1438038092.991175.jpg
 
Picked me up some needed materials that I will most likely need later on. $2 plus tax obviously, from the Dollar Tree.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1438218040.753924.jpg

Tomorrow is payday and I plan to get a few materials from Rocketry Warehouse.

More on that later on.
 
Okay so I was going to get a filament wound fiberglass nosecone, but the plastic is cheaper. In the long run I still want a metal tip on the nosecone with threading. The reason for this is to create the mounting sled for the tracker or gps.

Is someone willing to make me a metal tip for the nose cone? Of course, I will pay you. Please PM me so we can discuss the details, etc.
 
Not to sound like a jerk or anything but wouldn't be cheaper in the long run just to put a larger motor in the Mariah for your Mach 2 shot? It looks like you did a nice job building it. I would fly it on the J then see what it would do on a 3 or 4 grain motor.
 
Not to sound like a jerk or anything but wouldn't be cheaper in the long run just to put a larger motor in the Mariah for your Mach 2 shot? It looks like you did a nice job building it. I would fly it on the J then see what it would do on a 3 or 4 grain motor.

Nothing rude about it, you make a valid point. I dont feel secure pushing the Mariah 54 past Mach 2. If I had glassed the magna-frame tubing I would feel confident. For now low and slow and Mach 1 is where I want to keep it.
 
Alexander,

From post #14... Please tell me your fins are not going to be 1/16" thick. You are going to go at least 1/8" for mach, right?

Also, from what I've read, you need a stability margin of at least 2.0 for mach. I don't know if that's true, but it may be something to look into.

Forgive me if I'm making an @$$ of myself. :facepalm:
 
Obviously, you and I have VERY different definitions of "low and slow". :cheers:

Hehe yeah, considering its a minimum diameter rocket low and slow is not quite right. It is more like high and slow lol.

8K is what I am expecting with that longburn skidmark.
 
Alexander,

From post #14... Please tell me your fins are not going to be 1/16" thick. You are going to go at least 1/8" for mach, right?

Also, from what I've read, you need a stability margin of at least 2.0 for mach. I don't know if that's true, but it may be something to look into.

Forgive me if I'm making an @$$ of myself. :facepalm:

Sorry Bat-mite, 1/16" thick is the plan.

I am not worried about stability. I will explain the details on that later on.
 
Parts ordered from Rocketry Warehouse,

Nose cone
A-Bay lids
Airframe bulkhead
 
Okay so let me relief some of you that are concerned of the fins being torn apart due to flutter.

I will be using rocketpoxy for both the attachment and fillets. After that I will be doing a semi tip to tip. In which, only covers the body tube and fillets.

To futher increase my odds of secure attachment. I will be putting a veil layer on the carbon plate and a peel ply that will allow me to have a secondary bonding. This will make the attachment more strong.

One last thing, I have been lowering the fin span as to further lower the odds of the flutter being too severe.

I hope this puts some of you at ease.
 
I forgot to include that I've been carefully sanding away at the fin can section to be certain of a proper bond.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1438388004.726645.jpg

I feel there are still some spots that have a bit of paint on it. I dont know why, but its tough to figure out when I've hit the fibers on this tube.
 
To cause to flutter: "fluttering her bristly black lashes as swiftly as butterflies' wings" (Margaret Mitchell).

Just because they are bonded well won't mean they will not flutter and cause significant drag.
 
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