Hi everyone,
After spending months on TRF watching build threads, I wanted to do one of my own. Since I'm not L1 certified and wanted to use the largest possible motor size in the given diameter, I decided to go with the CTI 24 mm G motors and build a MD. I didn't really want to spend a lot of money on CF/fiberglass tubing, fins, and nose cones, so I opted to do a scratch build using estes 24 mm tubing with the 24 mm nose cones and some 1/16 aircraft grade plywood. All in all, I don't really care if this rocket shreds or is lost (which will probaly happen) because this build is more of a test of my build skills more than anything else. However, I do intend to give this rocket the best possible chance of surviving.
Technical Details
Ok, now to explain the technical details of my rocket. The rocket uses a 110 mm estes athena NC with a 18 mm shoulder. The wall thickness is around 2-3 mm, so there should be ample space for me to store a streamer, altimeter, shock cord, and some wadding along with ~70 grams of tungsten powder mixed with epoxy. The shock cord attachment will be sawed off and a large slit will be made in the NC to allow the attachment of the shock cord to the BT. The motor casing will be butted of against the NC plastic shoulder, which I think should be strong enough to hold up against the force of the motor. Also, to help strengthen the BT, thin CA was dripped along the length of the tube to help make it more rigid and fireproof.
The plywood fins haven't been cut yet, and since my cutting skills aren't good enough to make a good, clean cut right on the line, I've decided to use a different approach. I'll print the fin templates from OR, use elmer's glue to stick them to the plywood sheet, then water them down with thin CA to prevent them from coming off the sheet. After I've done that, I'll sand them down until they've reached the fin lines, and then I'll stack sand them to equal sizes. I'll then take them to get beveled, and then I'll sand the paper off and airfoil them. They'll be tacked onto the BT with CA and filleted with JB weld.
After spending months on TRF watching build threads, I wanted to do one of my own. Since I'm not L1 certified and wanted to use the largest possible motor size in the given diameter, I decided to go with the CTI 24 mm G motors and build a MD. I didn't really want to spend a lot of money on CF/fiberglass tubing, fins, and nose cones, so I opted to do a scratch build using estes 24 mm tubing with the 24 mm nose cones and some 1/16 aircraft grade plywood. All in all, I don't really care if this rocket shreds or is lost (which will probaly happen) because this build is more of a test of my build skills more than anything else. However, I do intend to give this rocket the best possible chance of surviving.
Technical Details
Ok, now to explain the technical details of my rocket. The rocket uses a 110 mm estes athena NC with a 18 mm shoulder. The wall thickness is around 2-3 mm, so there should be ample space for me to store a streamer, altimeter, shock cord, and some wadding along with ~70 grams of tungsten powder mixed with epoxy. The shock cord attachment will be sawed off and a large slit will be made in the NC to allow the attachment of the shock cord to the BT. The motor casing will be butted of against the NC plastic shoulder, which I think should be strong enough to hold up against the force of the motor. Also, to help strengthen the BT, thin CA was dripped along the length of the tube to help make it more rigid and fireproof.
The plywood fins haven't been cut yet, and since my cutting skills aren't good enough to make a good, clean cut right on the line, I've decided to use a different approach. I'll print the fin templates from OR, use elmer's glue to stick them to the plywood sheet, then water them down with thin CA to prevent them from coming off the sheet. After I've done that, I'll sand them down until they've reached the fin lines, and then I'll stack sand them to equal sizes. I'll then take them to get beveled, and then I'll sand the paper off and airfoil them. They'll be tacked onto the BT with CA and filleted with JB weld.
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