Estes Leviathan nose cone fit

I recently built a Leviathan and the nose cone was way too loose. I put some masking tape around it to snug it up, but how do I know just how tight it is supposed to be? Don't want too tight as to keep the ejection charge from sending out the chute and don't want to zipper by having too loose. Any suggestions? Thanks everyone!

I typically see if I can blow it out by lung power. If it doesn't bind, I'm cool with sending it up.

Hold the assembled rocket upright by the nose cone and give it a short "bounce" if it seperates no more than an 1/8th inch its good (IMO, its the way I do it).

First things first. I ALWAYS test fit the nose cone in both ends of the body tube. This way I find the better fit.

Next, you simply need enough resistance to prevent drag separation. I was taught that after friction fitting the cone, pick the rocket up by the cone. The entire rocket should lift without separation and a gentle to moderate shake should allow the cone to slide free.

It's been very effective for my needs.

And don't forget to check it again before you launch. Temperature and humidity swings can affect the fit, so carry tape with you just in case.

-Hans

Ok, great advice! Thank you all so much! I'm really looking forward to sending this thing up. It was a very straightforward and pleasurable build, and my first
PSII build. With the discounts they've been having lately, I'm sure to get lots more. Thanks again to all

This question is an afterthought. I purchased a nomex cloth instead of using the wadding. Should I shove the nomex into the BT, followed by the shock cord and chute, or do some guys actually wrap their chute in the nomex? Thanks again guys!

The nomex is to wrap the chute and shroud lines in, like a burrito. You want to have a minimum amount of shock chord below the wrap in the tube.

EXPjawa said:

The nomex is to wrap the chute and shroud lines in, like a burrito. You want to have a minimum amount of shock chord below the wrap in the tube.

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I still use a little dog barf between the "burrito" and the ejection charge, on a Leviathan that means about a handful.

I usually do too, though I found in one of my cluster rockets over the weekend that doing so can lead to blocking the pressure port between the body tubes. It spit the second engine out (past the retainer hook) rather than blow through. But that's an unusual situation...

Should I maybe use a single piece of wadding on the bottom to "cup" the dog barf, then my chute burrito on top? The wadding could help any of the dog barf from falling too far aft...?

That works.

For my stretched Leviathan, I built in a baffle and a shelf to prevent the laundry from falling too far back.

Also there's some grumbling about the slope of the nosecone's attachment point that suggests that it could allow the gasses to vent without deploying the parachute.

K'Tesh said:

Also there's some grumbling about the slope of the nosecone's attachment point that suggests that it could allow the gasses to vent without deploying the parachute.

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I had thought this was mostly in the Big Dad E rocket, but I've not seen anyone actually post that it's happened to them in a Leviathan.

Banzai88 said:

I had thought this was mostly in the Big Dad E rocket, but I've not seen anyone actually post that it's happened to them in a Leviathan.

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Same nose cone and same body tube diameter as the Big Daddy, possible it could happen on a Leviathan or Scion, however AP motors have a bit stronger ejection charge so it might not be a problem. I always convert my larger diamerter nose cones to Av-Bays/Tracker-Bays anyway so its a null problem.