Some ideas for my TLP Maverick build, LAUNCH VIDEO ADDED

I'm recently back to the hobby with my 6 year old son and building a TLP Maverick next. I've read many TLP threads and plan on keeping it a light build. My only planned deviations are as follows. 1) Papering the small back fins for a bit of strength as they will hit the dirt first. 2) adding a pair of light nylon rail buttons opposite the launch lug. 3) thinking of adding a drilled out bulkhead disc ahead of the paper disk they instruct you to add 6" back of the nosecone to act as a baffle and shock cord mount, probably still wrap the chute in a sheet of wadding for safety. Other than that I'm a fan of wood glue fillets and spray paint, no epoxy and bondo for this. I want it stable on D12s and tough enough to go up to E or maybe a G someday with more experience.

I have a TLP Bullpup waiting in the wings too.

Can't find a video anywhere of someone flying their Maverick?

op:

I like mod 1. I am a fin papering zealot, lots of strength and no wood grain for minimal weight and effort. The rare win, win, win.

I am also a fan of versatility, so mod 2 also sounds like a quality plan. If you don't want them on all the time you can install T-nut or threaded insert (can use little backing blocks of balsa) to keep the weight down. Also makes them more replaceable for wear.

3 confuses me a little. Doing this as a baffle would be fine (probably want two disks with offset holes though), but the chute shelf that it comes with and a couple sheets of wadding really work fine if you want to keep the weight down.

I think you will be good up to F, but G might get a bit hairy. Definitely observe the stability very carefully as you move up in motor sizes.

Good luck, and welcome to the asylum.

Meant up to F originally. It's not the kit for G as I see it. I guess adding a wood disc does go against the other ideas.

KevinNC said:

Meant up to F originally. It's not the kit for G as I see it. I guess adding a wood disc does go against the other ideas.

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I gotcha now, my misunderstanding. Just didn't want a fun outing with the kiddo, to end with you two standing over a crumpled rocket agreeing not to tell mom. :wink:

The thing is gonna really go on an F. If a baffle gives you piece of mind it isn't going to make much of a difference performance wise, and will actually add to the overall stability if fore of the CP. Hey, build what makes you happy, and fly the heck out of it. There are many paths to rocketry zen.

If you use a baffle, make sure you leave yourself room for your recovery gear, and don't use a glue that sets really fast when installing it, like Titebond II. That's what I did once by mistake when I first got back into rocketry for like the ninth time.

Replace the lower fins with basswood, and make them TTW. Otherwise, you'll be reattaching a fin every other flight. Weight gain is minimal.

Reviving this thread. This is coming out nice and has been fun to build. Any pointers on launch lug placement? I've kept it light with a replacement tube that is 20 grams lighter and and inch longer so it should be a touch more stable than the design usually is. Replaced the lower fins with basswood.

These don't fly that great on a D12 3 and are not what I would call one of the better flying TLP kits. Mine is stock with papered fins and it does a lot better on an E 15 or 18, or an F 12 or 24 composite to really rock and roll. May need a tad of nose weight if you are putting more weight in fins and motors on the bottom, not the most stable thing out there so better to error on the side of lovely power and stinking nose weight. The orange and white test scheme is not that hard with some electrical tape and stick on vinyl letters. The bottom fins will break off on landing if surface glued. So what, just CA them back on and fly again. They are stronger after a quick CA re glue anyway. That is the easy way, yet some will also say the lazy way.

It is not the fin material that fails, it is always that darn second layer of paper on the thin tube! WHY? Narrow root gluing surface? Sacrificing all for sport scale good looks? No TTW? Trying to keep the hind end light? Cheap, low power materials? Lack of bullet proofing? Poor flying and recovery techniques on stock parts? Landing surface not like a wet sponge? I just can't figure it out, so I just keep gluing the little fins back on, always while saying "I LOVE TLP!" I can take the damage like a MAN! Keep them flying and having fun. They will last a long time and the repair scars make for great patina! So the breakage and quick repair gets the fins a bit out of alignment. If it gets too squirrely after many repairs just tone the motor back down to the lack luster D12.



Put the first short lug on the CG and down. The second short lug on the bottom of the rocket. I would go 1/4 inch lugs and not use the 3/16 straw provided, but the straw will work.

Note that (as others have noted) TLP can be marginally stable. Using the "chute shelf" CR as a baffle further down would shift the CG further back (the purpose of that ring is stated in the instructions to be a "Parachute Compartment Disc" meant to hold the chute from shifting back).

I've launched mine a few times and may have a video of the last launch, but will need to check. However with that last launch it landed in a river and swam for about half an hour before I got to it. Still, I got it back and do plan to fly it again. I did paper the fins...boy, that took a LOT of SSLP!

I'm a big fan of not only the chute' shelf, but reinforcing it with a hardpoint for shock cord attachment, so that I can get all the forward CG I can out of my recovery system placement.
Just because everyone likes to attach to the motor mount does not mean that I have to do it that way too, especially if I can avoid it, meaning the rocket needs less nose weight.
I also have stopped using MMTs that are needlessly long. I really don't want to place the MMT 2" or more up in the tail cone or body tube, and I don't have to if I keep the shock cord and extra hardware or glue/epoxy out of it.
My TLP Rockets seem to fly ok.

I wish rustoleum enamel dried faster, I want to fly this thing.

Ha. I like the stuff but one thing it does not do is dry quickly. I try to give it a week, and it usually still fails the sniff test. But at that point I have to get on with my life, and usually it's ok.

The humidity went away and the paint dried. I epoxied the equivalent of the clay, may be 10 grams more, of copper plated lead shot into the nose cone this AM and the wind died to near calm late in the afternoon. First flight on a D12-3 was GORGEOUS! Dead straight slow boost with the nose cone popping exactly at apogee. Super soft drift down to 50 feet from the pad on a 24" nylon chute to save my fins. Probably 3-400 feet. Wish I had thought to video it. Hooked on scale missles.

Awesome!

Glad to hear it.
Definitely got to get a video next time, as I can count on both hands the number of Youtube Videos of TLP Kits actually flying, and half of them are mine.
Even the great Sodmiester, who's TLP builds are EPIC, never posted any videos of them actually flying.
I really think there is some kind of conspiracy going on here, but I have not quite figured out what it is yet.
There has got to be something fishy going on with the reason you can't find any videos of TLP kits flying.

KevinNC said:

The humidity went away and the paint dried. I epoxied the equivalent of the clay, may be 10 grams more, of copper plated lead shot into the nose cone this AM and the wind died to near calm late in the afternoon. First flight on a D12-3 was GORGEOUS! Dead straight slow boost with the nose cone popping exactly at apogee. Super soft drift down to 50 feet from the pad on a 24" nylon chute to save my fins. Probably 3-400 feet. Wish I had thought to video it. Hooked on scale missles.

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Awesome and great to hear! :clap:

I really enjoyed mine until it fell in the lake...still, I'll fly it again soon if possible.

TopRamen said:

Awesome!

Glad to hear it.
Definitely got to get a video next time, as I can count on both hands the number of Youtube Videos of TLP Kits actually flying, and half of them are mine.
Even the great Sodmiester, who's TLP builds are EPIC, never posted any videos of them actually flying.
I really think there is some kind of conspiracy going on here, but I have not quite figured out what it is yet.
There has got to be something fishy going on with the reason you can't find any videos of TLP kits flying.

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I think it's a curse! LOL I found one video I took of the Maverick, but it's out of focus.

Video from this evening, another D12-3 launch.

https://youtu.be/0zD4CXMO2d8

KevinNC said:

Video from this evening, another D12-3 launch.

https://youtu.be/0zD4CXMO2d8

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That's a good flying Maverick right there!

That is a great D12 3 flight on that Maverick!


Always lots of fun to fly the Nike Ajax on 3 D12s, a Matra Magic on an E 30, or even the Krypton on an F24. Fun sports scale creations from TLP!