kevinkal
Insatiable Hobbyist
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This will be a build thread to share, learn through feedback and document my first Fiberglass Rocket Build in an effort to make my L2 Certification attempt with a more advanced Dual Deploy rocket capable of flying I's through low L's.
I selected the Madcow "Level-2" Build because I like the design, layout and quality of the kit, not to mentioned the available detailed assembly instructions complemented by some excellent previous build threads here on The Rocketry Forum.
I ordered the Level-2 kit through Apogee Components on April 12th, 2016. At that time, they had 5 units in stock, today they're down to 1. So perhaps this is indeed a popular kit.
Here's what I received last week:
Box:
Contents:
All the airframe parts are nicely fabricated fiberglass, I was impressed with how well the nosecone fit the tubes.
There were 2 DVDs with Tim's video instructions for assembly, but no printed assembly instructions. I went to the Madcow Rocketry website and downloaded their instructions to build their 4" Fiberglass Super DX3. This kit is nearly identical except for the fins. The Level-2 uses straight tapered fins, similar to the Nike Smoke.
It was good that I checked the contents list and verified that each item matched the description. I found that I had received only a 36" main parachute. Not nearly big enough for this rocket.. which without the motor will weight in @ 127 oz, and depending on motor and build will go 12+ lbs. This rocket requires no less than a 48" main parachute if it's kept light and flown on light motors, or larger parachute if heavier. I think the 48" parachute that is supposed to come with this kit is undersized. This is my biggest concern with this excellent kit. This is meant to be a Dual Deployment kit... it should come with a parachute that takes advantage of the second low altitude main deployment and use a bigger chute that will set this bird down softly. What do you think?
I contacted Apogee, and Amy from Apogee contacted me Monday and is working with Madcow to get the "correct" chute to me. I hope it's at least the 50" chute. Hopefully I'll get the chute before Tripoli Central California's (TCC) DairyAire 3-day HPR Event in May 20-22nd. UPDATE: The replacement Chute Arrived a few hours after I posted this. Apogee and Madcow did an outstanding job to get the correct chute to me fast. Thank you.
The drogue chute is 18", but doesn't appear to be as rugged as I would have expected. Will this drogue hold up to 10 - 12 lbs of falling rocket for thousands of feet before the main opens? I suppose it just needs to hold 10-12 lbs of average force.. plus endure the stresses of flapping at roughly 60-75 ft/sec during freefall.
I wanted to thank kcobbva for his willingness to share his experience building this exact kit just this month, where he obtained his L2 cert. In a few posts, I'll share the results of implementing his suggestion to me to modify the nosecone to be "avionics sled ready".
I'll be reserving the next few post positions for pictures and other updates. I took a picture of every part while on my gram scale... this helps with mass and cg calculations, making for the best possible Open Rocket / RockSim models.
I selected the Madcow "Level-2" Build because I like the design, layout and quality of the kit, not to mentioned the available detailed assembly instructions complemented by some excellent previous build threads here on The Rocketry Forum.
I ordered the Level-2 kit through Apogee Components on April 12th, 2016. At that time, they had 5 units in stock, today they're down to 1. So perhaps this is indeed a popular kit.
Here's what I received last week:
Box:
Contents:
All the airframe parts are nicely fabricated fiberglass, I was impressed with how well the nosecone fit the tubes.
There were 2 DVDs with Tim's video instructions for assembly, but no printed assembly instructions. I went to the Madcow Rocketry website and downloaded their instructions to build their 4" Fiberglass Super DX3. This kit is nearly identical except for the fins. The Level-2 uses straight tapered fins, similar to the Nike Smoke.
It was good that I checked the contents list and verified that each item matched the description. I found that I had received only a 36" main parachute. Not nearly big enough for this rocket.. which without the motor will weight in @ 127 oz, and depending on motor and build will go 12+ lbs. This rocket requires no less than a 48" main parachute if it's kept light and flown on light motors, or larger parachute if heavier. I think the 48" parachute that is supposed to come with this kit is undersized. This is my biggest concern with this excellent kit. This is meant to be a Dual Deployment kit... it should come with a parachute that takes advantage of the second low altitude main deployment and use a bigger chute that will set this bird down softly. What do you think?
I contacted Apogee, and Amy from Apogee contacted me Monday and is working with Madcow to get the "correct" chute to me. I hope it's at least the 50" chute. Hopefully I'll get the chute before Tripoli Central California's (TCC) DairyAire 3-day HPR Event in May 20-22nd. UPDATE: The replacement Chute Arrived a few hours after I posted this. Apogee and Madcow did an outstanding job to get the correct chute to me fast. Thank you.
The drogue chute is 18", but doesn't appear to be as rugged as I would have expected. Will this drogue hold up to 10 - 12 lbs of falling rocket for thousands of feet before the main opens? I suppose it just needs to hold 10-12 lbs of average force.. plus endure the stresses of flapping at roughly 60-75 ft/sec during freefall.
I wanted to thank kcobbva for his willingness to share his experience building this exact kit just this month, where he obtained his L2 cert. In a few posts, I'll share the results of implementing his suggestion to me to modify the nosecone to be "avionics sled ready".
I'll be reserving the next few post positions for pictures and other updates. I took a picture of every part while on my gram scale... this helps with mass and cg calculations, making for the best possible Open Rocket / RockSim models.
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