BLUE BRUISER BUILD

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Hi Jeff,

Will any of these builds be ready to fly this weekend? The Discovery Channel will be filming at NEFAR on Saturday, if the weather holds. A group of us from Tampa TRA will
be there, hoping to get the opportunity to meet you in person.
 
Hi Jeff,

Will any of these builds be ready to fly this weekend? The Discovery Channel will be filming at NEFAR on Saturday, if the weather holds. A group of us from Tampa TRA will
be there, hoping to get the opportunity to meet you in person.

I had hoped to have the Bruiser ready, but "life" kept getting in the way. Still needs paint work, avionics installation, and ground testing. I didn't want to rush it.
I should be there with a few other rockets though - look forward to seeing you there! Just look for the black and gold Duracell themed LOC Big Nuke.
 
After a good wet sanding with 600 grit, I painted the second and final coat of white paint.

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I also got the third brass shim installed in the nose cone shoulder.

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Here it is with the other rockets I worked on today.

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Next up, I'll paint the second coat of black on the fins in a day or so. The avionics switch band is now in primer and will need first coat of white paint shot tomorrow.

I'll also shoot the first coat of primer on the nose cone tomorrow.
 
Black paint is now finished.

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Avionics bay switch band will need one more coat of white paint.

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Nose cone is in primer.

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You know it's getting close when the vinyl starts going on!!

Still need to apply fin decals as well as red stripe and skull n crossbones on payload section.

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And in case anyone was wondering, Stickershock made the vinyl.
 
And.... more vinyl!!

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The avionics bay wasn't in the rocket yet, and the nose cone still needs painting. Hopefully this will be a productive weekend.
 
After a lengthy pause in construction, yesterday I was able to wet sand the primer and shoot the first color coat of paint.

After a week or so of cure time, I'll wet sand it again and shoot the final color coat.

I currently have some 4g anodized charge well canisters from Binder Design on order, so when those arrive I can start back up on the avionics bay.



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The nose cone is FINALLY finished, two coats of Rustoleum professional. I'll wax it this weekend. Still need to wire up avionics. I can't wait to show off the anodized blue aluminum charge wells that Binder Design made for me.

First flight opportunity will be May.

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The recent hurricane break gave me some time to finish wiring the electronics on this beast.

I wired both altimeters with dog house wiring kits. The gorgeous blue anodized charge wells are custom orders from Binder Design.

I’ve also installed the recovery gear and drilled the shear pins holes.

This baby is ready to fly October 14th up in Bunnell, Fl. First flight will be on a 75mm Aerotech L850w, expected altitude is 4,700’.

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After many delays, I finally got around to prepping this rocket for flight.

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My wife and I headed out to Plant City to fly with the Tampa Tripoli Rocketry Association.

It was a beautiful day for flying. Perfect temps and low wind. The rocket Gods we’re smiling.

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I put it on the away cell, loaded with an Ameritech L850w motor.

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After some brief delays, the RSO counted down and presses the button!

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After years in the making, it was airborne.


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All did not go according to plan!! It arced over at apogee and headed East in a hurry..... towards the swamp!!

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And now it sits in the top of hundred foot tree in the middle in of a waist deep swamp. No way to reach it.... it was very hard to get close enough to get the pic of it in the tree.

So..... I’m still exploring a few options, but things are looking grim for Sky Pirate Ver 2.0.

28°05'42.9"N 82°09'39.0"W are the best GPS coord for it. Another 150 ft north and it would have been on the trail.


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With much sadness, I have exhausted all the ways possible to rescue this rocket. No tree company will attempt to climb the tree. I could hire a helicopter for $2,000 to attempt a rescue, payment must be made successful or not. So, my smart money is on a rebuild!! I truly loved this rocket and need another one in my fleet!

I have been busy the past few weeks ordering parts, which have pretty much all arrived now. All my building supplies were running low so I had to order more fiberglass, another gallon of West Epoxy & Hardener, more Aeropoxy structural epoxy, and of course the Blue Tube air-frame, centering rings, motor mount, avionics bay from Always Ready Rocketry, and then some fins and a nosecone from LOC Precision.

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This build is going to take some time to build, I won't post the whole build because I plan on duplicating the original but I'll post an occasional update and I look forward to posting the first flight video of this bird!
 
A pirogue, a machete and a high spirited 12 year old should get 'er down.
Can't shoot the harness with a shotgun? At least save the booster. A good shot with 22 may get it, we used to shoot missile toe down with a 22.

Sucks that you can see it and can't get it. Probably worse than losing one altogether.

Have fun on the rebuild. Bright side is you get to build another.
 
A pirogue, a machete and a high spirited 12 year old should get 'er down.
Can't shoot the harness with a shotgun? At least save the booster. A good shot with 22 may get it, we used to shoot missile toe down with a 22.

Sucks that you can see it and can't get it. Probably worse than losing one altogether.

Have fun on the rebuild. Bright side is you get to build another.

Lol...... the picture of it hanging in the tree didn't do it justice, it is WAAAY up there in a VERY tall tree. My phone was zoomed in for that picture. Not sure you will find a kid willing to go into that swamp, it would be up to his head - I'll never venture back there again. No idea how I wasn't bitten by a water moccasin or snapping turtle, this was some serious, nasty swamp. That rocket club launches on a working cattle ranch, so I guarantee the land owner won't approve of any firearms - nothing like a cow worth a few grand getting hit by a falling round. The tree base was a few meters in diameter, so a machete wouldn't dent it and it would take all day with an industrial sized chain saw and then risk a tree landing on you - plus its illegal to cut down a Florida Cypress. Believe me, I have tried to come up with a rescue plan. I live a few hours away from that field, so its difficult to get resources on the recovery effort.....
 
Lol. Roger that.
When I was younger we would've climbed it just for the heck of it, but 50 or 60 feet would've been a challenge even for me. Machete would've been for lopping limbs, I wouldn't even suggest cutting that tree down. If it is that big, it should be half way through its life cycle...so in about 75 years it should die and you can get your rocket back. Lol. Sorry. Not funny at all. Being a long drive out to the field doesn't help at all either. Still sucks but what can you do aye? Build another one.
 
Now if you lived up here in WI you would wait untill winter the swamp would freeze up and you could walk right up to the tree. Anyway that's what we do at the Bong Rec. Area launch site.
 
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