5.5" Cherokee-D L3 build thread for rharshberger

Awesome! Congratulations Rich...One step closer. No question you are going to pass, but it's definitely going to be with outstanding success from everything we've seen here! Hope your house prep for the move is going well.

rharshberger said:

Today was a really strong day even with all the interruptions, we had three appointments and a run to drop some stuff at the storage unit. First up was charge wells and wire pass thru ports (well nuts), the charge wells are 1" fiberglass rod drilled out with 5/8" drill bit, and yes they are heavy (all four weigh in at 7oz total).

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Sorry to take us back so far, but can you explain the Well nut usage in your build? I've heard of using these to anchor rail buttons, but I can't quite conceive of how you're using them as pass throughs?

soopirV said:

Sorry to take us back so far, but can you explain the Well nut usage in your build? I've heard of using these to anchor rail buttons, but I can't quite conceive of how you're using them as pass throughs?

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For passing wires through the bulkhead I take a needle file and put a slot into the side of the hole, it makes inserting and removing the well-nut easier and prevents crimping the wire when the screw is drawn up tight. Evidently I don't have a picture showing the slot which is just large enough to allow the igniter wire to go up the side of the well-nut yet still seal the Av-Bay. The picture below shows the well nut, but not the slot in the hole it sits in.

burkefj said:

Here's Rich's test flight today at tri-cities on a DMS L-1000, excellent flight, nominal recovery.

Frank

[video=youtube_share;fafEitsQZJ4]https://youtu.be/fafEitsQZJ4[/video]

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Really cool. What kind of camera does it take to do this kind of video?

Banzai88 said:

Really cool. What kind of camera does it take to do this kind of video?

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That would be the one I don't own..... Just kidding, Frank Burke (burkefj on TRF) did the video so you might PM him to find out what the video camera is, but I believe its just a regular hand held camcorder like a Sony Handycam or a Canon Vixia, Frank did a great job following the rocket and getting the shot.

It's a Sony handycam with the focus set to infinity, my son max did the vudeo, both he and my daughter are pretty good at following fast moving objects and zooming in.

rharshberger said:

That would be the one I don't own..... Just kidding, Frank Burke (burkefj on TRF) did the video so you might PM him to find out what the video camera is, but I believe its just a regular hand held camcorder like a Sony Handycam or a Canon Vixia, Frank did a great job following the rocket and getting the shot.

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burkefj said:

It's a Sony handycam with the focus set to infinity, my son max did the vudeo, both he and my daughter are pretty good at following fast moving objects and zooming in.

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Thanks. Any idea what model? I might have to invest! I need something much more capable than my phone.

rharshberger said:

For passing wires through the bulkhead I take a needle file and put a slot into the side of the hole, it makes inserting and removing the well-nut easier and prevents crimping the wire when the screw is drawn up tight. Evidently I don't have a picture showing the slot which is just large enough to allow the igniter wire to go up the side of the well-nut yet still seal the Av-Bay. The picture below shows the well nut, but not the slot in the hole it sits in.

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AH, I get it now- learn something new every day! Like that you don't have to monkey around with terminal blocks on the bay bulkheads, I'm building a 2.1" diameter DD for messing around, and this would've saved some space!

soopirV said:

AH, I get it now- learn something new every day! Like that you don't have to monkey around with terminal blocks on the bay bulkheads, I'm building a 2.1" diameter DD for messing around, and this would've saved some space!

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Doing away with the terminal blocks does away with additional possible points for failure as the igniter is wire directly to the altimeter.

rharshberger said:

Doing away with the terminal blocks does away with additional possible points for failure as the igniter is wire directly to the altimeter.

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Agree, lumped that in with my "monkey around"

Got a bit of color coatings on the various parts, the fin can, lower payload bay, upper payload bay and Av-Bay all got shot with the first coat of white, the nose cone got sanded with 400 grit and shot with another coat of red. With the house remodel taking up my time currently, the painting and decals will be as time is available.

rharshberger said:

Got a bit of color coatings on the various parts, the fin can, lower payload bay, upper payload bay and Av-Bay all got shot with the first coat of white, the nose cone got sanded with 400 grit and shot with another coat of red. With the house remodel taking up my time currently, the painting and decals will be as time is available.

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Meeeee toooooo....

Teddy

onebadhawk said:

Meeeee toooooo....

Teddy

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Yep, and I have all these beautiful Stickershock23 decals just waiting for the final color coats.

rharshberger said:

Yep, and I have all these beautiful Stickershock23 decals just waiting for the final color coats.

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And yer workin on the house....
We're near the end of another big push,,,
We'll be done with this one soon....

Teddy

Got some more color on the airframe and nose cone, its really starting to look like a CherokeeD only bigger than normal, the last coat of color goes on tomorrow evening, and the new charge wells will get installed. Wednesday will be re-attaching the antenna mount on my Eggfinder LCD (that seems to be the reason I couldn't start the flight at Aprils launch) its simply re-soldering what appears to have been a cold-joint. Thursday's plan is to apply all the beautiful StickerShock23 vinyl. All is looking very fine for a Saturday flight at FITS, even the weather appears to be pretty nominal at this point.

Good Luck.

MaxQ said:

Good Luck.

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Thanks, been looking forward to Saturday since last November. Its kind of nice to do it this weekend, as my wife and I will be celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary, she tolerates my rocketry hobby but she is making the special effort to attend this launch.

Piece -O-Cake Rich.....
Positive vibes for the flight...
Everything's going to go perfectly...

Teddy

rharshberger said:

Thanks, been looking forward to Saturday since last November. Its kind of nice to do it this weekend, as my wife and I will be celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary, she tolerates my rocketry hobby but she is making the special effort to attend this launch.

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Good luck on your upcoming flight. I just bet things go perfectly. Ultra nice build. Oz

Hey best of luck Rich. With the build thread you've done, the pre-flight, and your attention to detail, this should be a textbook launch and recover operation...with a whole lot of hootin and hollerin going on!

kcobbva said:

Hey best of luck Rich. With the build thread you've done, the pre-flight, and your attention to detail, this should be a textbook launch and recover operation...with a whole lot of hootin and hollerin going on!

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Thanks, a textbook DD flight is the plan and the weather if it stays as forecast couldn't be much better, high 60F's with winds 5-10.

A photo update for this evening. The color coats are on and the loose bits are replaced ( rail buttons and etc.). Tomorrow its StickerShock time! The charge wells have even been mounted.

I seriously cannot wait to see this thing in person. I'm in the same boat too, our anniversary is on Saturday but my wife is coming out as well. I should probably bring her anniversary gift with me for being such a trooper.

Is her anniversary gift a rocket, or a reload?

Igotnothing said:

Is her anniversary gift a rocket, or a reload?

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A weekend at a B&B near Leavenworth, WA., without our three kids...

Can totally relate man :horse:! Although I only have 2 kids at the moment and it will stay that way. It must! It has to!

Okay here is the final update before my L3 flight on Saturday, the rocket is now Stickershock'd! I did add a 2" band of red to the top of the payload bay to make the nosecone appear longer like a true upscaled Cherokee D nosecone would be, this rocket turned out better than I had even hoped.

Nice! I love how you have it as a 98MM powered rocket and kept the Cherokee D name!

That turned out gorgeous! Have fun at FITS and best of luck on your L3!

K'Tesh said:

Nice! I love how you have it as a 98MM powered rocket and kept the Cherokee D name!

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Thanks Jim, I tried to keep it as close to original as possible.