Performer 98 Build Thread

Bat-mite said:

Looking good.

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Thanks!

While the epoxy for the first fin is drying I started working on a few components of the electronics bay.

Here's one of the bulkheads with the dual doghouse 6g wells and the thru bulkhead terminal block w/ knurled nuts. I still need attach the u-bolt, they should be in next week, along with the other bulkheads and the sled that Ken is sending.



Once I get the other two bulkheads I'll finish the other side of the AV bay and start working on the sled. In the meantime I'll keep working on the fins.

I finally got around to attaching the fins yesterday. Today I put the fillets on using rocketpoxy (gotta love this stuff). Now I need to foam the fincan. After that when the rest of the components come in it shouldn't take too long to finish.

Pre-fillet test assembly.



The rocketpoxy fillets after curing for a few hours.

I was able to get quite a lot of work done over the long weekend.

The fincan was finally filled with the Public Missiles expanding foam. I was a little off on my estimates for how much I would need and had a bit of overflow, but it was fairly easy to cut away and sand with a rotary tool. I also inserted the tube fasteners to the nosecone coupler/ Payload compartment and attached the aeropack retainer to the motor mount and put a quick coat of paint on the rocket for visibility.

Today I was able to finish the bulkheads for the electronics bay and nose cone. Other than a fillet for the nose bulkhead and a little sanding they are ready for wiring to be connected to the terminal blocks.

On another note my motor, case and aeropack 75-54mm adapter came in, but due to a delay with Perfectflite my vendor was not able to get my altimeter to me (he hopes to have them in about a week) before this weekend, so unless things change my launch date will now be October 2.

Preparing for the foam




Rear centering ring in place ready for epoxy


Aeropack attached


Nose cone bulkhead with u-bolt


Completed electronics bay bulkheads


(L to R) Loki Research J-820 White, Loki 54-1200 Case, aeropack 75-54mm adapter.

Today was a slow day but I managed to do a little work on the rocket. I finished the wiring for the switches and mounted them in the switch band. I also finished putting reference marks for lining up the shear pin/tube fastener holes.

Great news! I originally was only going to fly one altimeter on this first flight so when my order was delayed I was going to have to launch later in October, but I ordered another altimeter from a different supplier and it will be in by Friday! That means I am back on schedule to launch this weekend with Tripoli Pittsburgh!


Switch Wiring


Switches



Looking like a rocket now!!

I was able to finish all of the electronics on Thursday and Friday, and went out to the Tripoli Pittsburgh launch and flew on a Loki J820 to 2354' the altimeter triggered the 1st ejection charge at apogee and the rocket separated and fell drogue less to about 500, where the main was deployed by the second ejection charge. The rocket drifted and landed safely in a field of tall of grass where it was recovered. I had a slight issue with the eggfinder but it wasn't flight critical. Overall it was a great launch! Now I have my TRA L2 as soon as my new card comes in I'll fill out and send in my paperwork to NAR. Now, time to start looking into an L3 attempt.

Completed sled


Electronics bay with sled installed.


Rocket on pad


I'll post a video and altimeter data a little later today when I have a chance to go over all of it!

Here is the altimeter data.

Altitude

Velocity

Temperature

Battery Voltage



Here's an Excel Sheet with all of the data:
View attachment jchaleL2 Flight Data.xlsx

It was a great flight Cameron, I was glad I got to see you succeed in your L2 certification flight.

Congratulations

Now get ready to start spending a lot of $$$

sharkbait said:

It was a great flight Cameron, I was glad I got to see you succeed in your L2 certification flight.

Congratulations

Now get ready to start spending a lot of $$$

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Thanks John! I've already been looking at a few L3 motors for a possible cert next year.

Nice. Congratulations. Did you make a RS or OR file for this rocket? It's on my short list for a winter build.

Congrats. The rocket looked great on the pad. Was your Eggfinder issue related to the antenna being parallel to the all threads on your sled?

Congrats!

BDB said:

Congrats. The rocket looked great on the pad. Was your Eggfinder issue related to the antenna being parallel to the all threads on your sled?

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That was my first assumption, but in testing I could still sync and get a gps in the bay with the all thread. After looking at the position of the sled it looks like the gps antenna would have been sandwiched between the rail and the all thread, which I believe was the problem. I haven't had a chance to test post-flight yet.

Banzai88 said:

Nice. Congratulations. Did you make a RS or OR file for this rocket? It's on my short list for a winter build.

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I found this one somewhere on here and modified it to match the way I built it.

View attachment Performer 98.rkt

Bat-mite said:

Congrats!

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Thank you!

Congrats on the L2!

If you want to make the drive, BattlePark starts up this fall when the crops are out. We have a 16K waiver if you want to let it run a little or decide on an L3 cert.

Handeman said:

Congrats on the L2!

If you want to make the drive, BattlePark starts up this fall when the crops are out. We have a 16K waiver if you want to let it run a little or decide on an L3 cert.

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Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. Not sure if I can make it to any more launches after October. But, if I can I'll definitely consider it for a possible L3 attempt! 16k gives me a little wiggle room!

jcamhale said:

I decided to go with a 12" drogue and 66" sky angle main.

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I didn't know they made a 66" chute, is this a typo?

AdAstraPerAspera said:

I didn't know they made a 66" chute, is this a typo?

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Yes, my mistake should have said 60". I actually downsized to a 44" for the cert flight with a droguelsss event at apogee due to winds and a small field.