ActingLikeAKid
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- Nov 16, 2015
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So it looks like my 38mm Minimum Diameter project is a bust. This means I get to build something else.... And I really think I'm going to go for this project I've had my eye on for a while: Upscaling the Vector Force with Blue Tube. OpenRocket says that pretty much the sky's the limit -- I should be flirting with a mile-high flight, I should be close to breaking the sound barrier; if I pass my L2 and can stuff a J in there, I can do both in one flight.
Before I jump in, does anyone see anything problematic with this? I may have posted this before, can't remember.
Here's a great thread with pictures of what the original Estes product looks like:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?25751-Estes-Vector-Force
I built one and utterly destroyed the finish (that's when I found out that enamel REALLY MEANS DON'T TOUCH FOR 48 HOURS) and got so frustrated I found a second one and bought it and built it. It's now one of my favorites - a perennially fun LPR bird that flies dead straight.
Here's what it ought to look like:
...and here's the OpenRocket for your consideration.
There are some details missing (like fillets and other minutae) but ... thoughts? If I have TTW fins, do I need to glass them as well, or is that overkill? I was thinking about making the transitions out of pine (maybe glassed?) or having a friend with a 3d printer knock them out. Would plastic or pine hold up to transonic/supersonic speeds?
Initially I had envisioned this as having a 29mm MMT, but I figure that I have more flexibility with a 38 -- I can always toss an adapter in there. So the original was 38mm (with 29mm mmt) to 29mm to 18mm for the upper body. Now it's 54 -> 38 -> 29, which means that a: I can build the whole thing out of Blue Tube and b: I ought to be able to find a nose cone pretty easily.
View attachment mega vector force54.rkt
Before I jump in, does anyone see anything problematic with this? I may have posted this before, can't remember.
Here's a great thread with pictures of what the original Estes product looks like:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?25751-Estes-Vector-Force
I built one and utterly destroyed the finish (that's when I found out that enamel REALLY MEANS DON'T TOUCH FOR 48 HOURS) and got so frustrated I found a second one and bought it and built it. It's now one of my favorites - a perennially fun LPR bird that flies dead straight.
Here's what it ought to look like:
...and here's the OpenRocket for your consideration.
There are some details missing (like fillets and other minutae) but ... thoughts? If I have TTW fins, do I need to glass them as well, or is that overkill? I was thinking about making the transitions out of pine (maybe glassed?) or having a friend with a 3d printer knock them out. Would plastic or pine hold up to transonic/supersonic speeds?
Initially I had envisioned this as having a 29mm MMT, but I figure that I have more flexibility with a 38 -- I can always toss an adapter in there. So the original was 38mm (with 29mm mmt) to 29mm to 18mm for the upper body. Now it's 54 -> 38 -> 29, which means that a: I can build the whole thing out of Blue Tube and b: I ought to be able to find a nose cone pretty easily.
View attachment mega vector force54.rkt