MAC BlackFly build thread

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How's that for a start?
 
How's what? I did exchange an email with Mike and he said "If you blinked you missed it. Stable as can be it was." I think Yoda may have written the last part for him.
Yeah, great flight. Everyone asks how high, but I don't know. No room for an Altimeter. I could've put in a Jolly Logic, but I forgot to charge it, LoL! I had a Recon 20, JLCR, and an RF tracker (taped to shock cord). Loaded the tracker in the tip of the NC with antenna pointing down, bundled the chute and JLCR in a Nomex and pushed that into the nosecone. Had 25' OBH harness z-wrapped around the motor, and I definitely had a couple inches so I could've gotten a 6XL in there, no problem. I think a white motor would be better for tracking because the blue has so little smoke, I didn't see the trail until it slowed down enough for the smoke grain to be dense enough to see. I'd guess that was at about 3500'... I probably got about 4500-5000' total.
Love that little rocket. It's my new go-to shoot-pop rocket. $10 fun or $20 thrills. Sport flying has become my bread and butter since our finances slowed a bit, so the Black Fly is a great rocket for everyday fun going.
I love it so much, I've been talking to Mike about getting a 4"... Hmmmmmmmmm...
 
Yeah, great flight. Everyone asks how high, but I don't know. No room for an Altimeter. I could've put in a Jolly Logic, but I forgot to charge it, LoL! I had a Recon 20, JLCR, and an RF tracker (taped to shock cord). Loaded the tracker in the tip of the NC with antenna pointing down, bundled the chute and JLCR in a Nomex and pushed that into the nosecone. Had 25' OBH harness z-wrapped around the motor, and I definitely had a couple inches so I could've gotten a 6XL in there, no problem. I think a white motor would be better for tracking because the blue has so little smoke, I didn't see the trail until it slowed down enough for the smoke grain to be dense enough to see. I'd guess that was at about 3500'... I probably got about 4500-5000' total.
Love that little rocket. It's my new go-to shoot-pop rocket. $10 fun or $20 thrills. Sport flying has become my bread and butter since our finances slowed a bit, so the Black Fly is a great rocket for everyday fun going.
I love it so much, I've been talking to Mike about getting a 4"... Hmmmmmmmmm...

Well Mike was right, blink and you missed it. That flight reminds me of my PML Bull Pup that I used to love to launch on an AT I600, rest it's soul.

Hmm an upscale BlackFly, you might have to call it a HorseFly. Are you thinking of a 54mm, 75mm or heck just go MD and go with a 98mm MMT. You have me thinking that it would be so simple for me to take my BlackFly, order the FW/FG nosecone and set it up for the 6 and 6XL, after-all the only real differences are all in the nosecone. I might be sending Mike an email before the day is up.
 
My Black Fly flew today on a G126. Michael, my abbreviated tail cone paint showed no signs of bubbling, but...

This flight simmed to about 1600' (no electronics on board). Sounded great, looked great. Then it cocked over a little bit leaving the rail, unfortunately in the direction of the nearby reservoir. After the minor course change it continued up straight as a laser nearly out of sight. Main at apogee as planned, and then the wind drifted it over the reservoir. I ran after it in time to see the splash. Cool thing about foamed fin cans and O-ring sealed ebay nose cones is that they float forever! Somehow even the 30" spherachute stayed on top of the water.

Winds were pretty calm at launch, if any thing it cocked over with the wind (not into it like a normal weather cock).

45 minutes later I had a towel in hand and was preparing for a November swim when the only boat on the lake rounded the corner. Got it back and it's good to go again. Gotta love a little luck and water resistant canvas phenolic!

Figured luck must be on my side so for my other flight of the day I sent my beefed up DD Star Orbiter to 3,856' on a AeroTech H128W. Maiden flight for my Missile Works T3 tracker and it worked great.


Michael, Erik -
I usually fly long skinny rockets and I'm not used to this cocking off the rail behavior. Would love some input to correct it. Dry weight was 833g, ~1.4 cal stability. More thrust? G250 Vmax? Don't launch at venues with "Lake" in the name? :boat:

Thanks!

https://youtu.be/uzINeDwmvuU

DSC02180.jpg

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IMG_2698 - Copy.jpg
 
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Michael, Erik -
I usually fly long skinny rockets and I'm not used to this cocking off the rail behavior. Would love some input to correct it. Dry weight was 833g, ~1.4 cal stability. More thrust? G250 Vmax? Don't launch at venues with "Lake" in the name? :boat:

Don't know why it would angle off the rail. More thrust cures many ills, though... But your 833g at G126 is 15-1 thrust ratio. If anything, you're overstable going that fast. Go even faster and it won't matter. LoL!
 
My Black Fly flew today on a G126. Michael, my abbreviated tail cone paint showed no signs of bubbling, but...

This flight simmed to about 1600' (no electronics on board). Sounded great, looked great. Then it cocked over a little bit leaving the rail, unfortunately in the direction of the nearby reservoir. After the minor course change it continued up straight as a laser nearly out of sight. Main at apogee as planned, and then the wind drifted it over the reservoir. I ran after it in time to see the splash. Cool thing about foamed fin cans and O-ring sealed ebay nose cones is that they float forever! Somehow even the 30" spherachute stayed on top of the water.

Winds were pretty calm at launch, if any thing it cocked over with the wind (not into it like a normal weather cock).

45 minutes later I had a towel in hand and was preparing for a November swim when the only boat on the lake rounded the corner. Got it back and it's good to go again. Gotta love a little luck and water resistant canvas phenolic!

Figured luck must be on my side so for my other flight of the day I sent my beefed up DD Star Orbiter to 3,856' on a AeroTech H128W. Maiden flight for my Missile Works T3 tracker and it worked great.


Michael, Erik -
I usually fly long skinny rockets and I'm not used to this cocking off the rail behavior. Would love some input to correct it. Dry weight was 833g, ~1.4 cal stability. More thrust? G250 Vmax? Don't launch at venues with "Lake" in the name? :boat:

Thanks!

https://youtu.be/uzINeDwmvuU

Hi gfunk,

That is a good story. Of course you know that a low thrust motor off a rail combined with a bit of wind could weather cock but that motor sims great. A member of URRG flew that config a couple of weeks ago and reported that it was a nice straight flight. I suppose it is possible that you had a larger gust of wind just off the ground when you launched. This happened to me and it looked just like your video. Mine was on a long skinny 54mm MD carbon fiber Madcow Tomach. It was on a 2 grain CTI J which had a 12:1 thrust ratio. As you can see by the pics as soon as they hit the go button a ground wind picked up and it did what it did. You can even see the yellow caution tape in the foreground start to move more intensely in the second picture.





Beyond this I can only think of is that it possibly got hung up on the rail so you didn't leave it with the velocity that you thought, the rail certainly looks black in the video.
However I am not sure if it is just a black anodized rail. One thing I do on a longer 1010 rail is use a rail stop and place it a bit higher so it has less rail to run down, that is assuming I am launching with a high impulse motor.

As to other strategies I would say G250Vmax is a great one :), just make sure you have electronic eject and feed the fish before you launch.


Don't know why it would angle off the rail. More thrust cures many ills, though... But your 833g at G126 is 15-1 thrust ratio. If anything, you're overstable going that fast. Go even faster and it won't matter. LoL!
 
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Hi gfunk,

That is a good story. Of course you know that a low thrust motor off a rail combined with a bit of wind could weather cock but that motor sims great and a memeber of URRG flew that config a couple of weeks ago and reported that it was a nice straight flight. I suppose it is possible that you had a larger gust of wind just off the ground when you launched. This happened to me and it looked just like your video. Mine was on a long skinny 54mm MD carbon fiber Madcow Tomach. It was on a 2 grain CTI J which had a 12:1 thrust ratio. As you can see by the pics as soon as they hit the go button a ground wind picked up and it did what it did. You can even see the yellow caution tape in the foreground start to move more intensely in the second picture.

Thanks for all that! The rail was pretty darn crusty (that's not black ano) but seemed to slide OK. I see some abrasive material removal on my delrin buttons after this 1 flight, so hanging on the rail is a valid theory. Will launch again soon on a shorter, brand new 1010 rail and report back.
 
The only mitigation for weathercocking that I know of is to increase thrust. A stable rocket will turn into the wind, and the greater the wind, the bigger the turn. Increasing thrust gets the rocket up to speed more quickly, and the increased upward momentum is better able to overcome the wind rotation.

I hope I said that correctly.
 
The only mitigation for weathercocking that I know of is to increase thrust.


This rocket is such a blast, launched it several times over the holiday from my new 1010 rail and jaw stand. Super straight flights on 3G H163 and G118s. Don't blink. That Missile Works T3 tracker in the nose was good idea. A little weathercocking on a G80 SK with some 5-10mph winds, but still acceptable. Regular Rustoleum metallic paint on my shortened tail cone still looks fine.

c28abe5f-9668-48bb-bb8c-8a78571a705d-o.jpg

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This rocket is such a blast, launched it several times over the holiday from my new 1010 rail and jaw stand. Super straight flights on 3G H163 and G118s. Don't blink. That Missile Works T3 tracker in the nose was good idea. A little weathercocking on a G80 SK with some 5-10mph winds, but still acceptable. Regular Rustoleum metallic paint on my shortened tail cone still looks fine.

I take it you avoided the water hazards. I will have to add the H163 and G118 to my to launch list. I have launched the G80 and my flight was dead straight but the wind was pretty dead when she left the rail.

Happy to hear your experience was a bit better this round.
 
inspired by Erik and gfunk, I received a package from Mac today.



Time to figure out how to cram a 6 or 6XL into this puppy!
Very nice. No cramming... LoL, just careful planning on the packing.
Good luck, and post videos
 
The more I see this thread the more I want one. I love the short, tiny stumpy look. Be perfect on F52's...
 

lol

Very nice. No cramming... LoL, just careful planning on the packing.
Good luck, and post videos

I may be asking you for pics to inspire me

The more I see this thread the more I want one. I love the short, tiny stumpy look. Be perfect on F52's...

F52 might be a bit light but I will try it and let you know. You should order one from Mike, loving the Optima build BTW...I might have to order one myself!
 
So, is there any interest in a 38mm motor/3" diameter upscale for the Black Fly? I went ahead and made my display stand for such a thing this weekend...

Hoping the upscale could fly class 1 on a AT H130, which is the coolest class 1 / no-hazmat motor I've seen yet (and no I haven't tried Loki...). Best $25 I've spent in a while!

Put me down for 1, if there's a minimum order from MAC...

Here's my Goblin upscale on an H130W:
[video=youtube;Vj3bBPz6JhQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj3bBPz6JhQ[/video]

IMG_3283.jpg
 
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So, is there any interest in a 38mm motor/3" diameter upscale for the Black Fly? I went ahead and made my display stand for such a thing this weekend...

Hoping the upscale could fly class 1 on a AT H130, which is the coolest class 1 / no-hazmat motor I've seen yet (and no I haven't tried Loki...). Best $25 I've spent in a while!

Put me down for 1, if there's a minimum order from MAC...

Here's my Goblin upscale on an H130W:
[video=youtube;Vj3bBPz6JhQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj3bBPz6JhQ[/video]

I bet Mike would make a one-off if you asked him. I would love to see it upscaled, but why limit it to a 38mm MMT :)
 
Add the AT H128W to fun motors for the Black Fly! Was pretty happy with these 2 telephoto launch pictures of it. Sims around 2800', just out of sight, glad for T3 GPS tracker. I've changed from a 30" to a 24" spherachute to get it down quicker (still main at apogee with no JLCR).

Official announcement coming very soon on the 3" upscale!!!

mac_bfly_h128w_1.jpg

mac_bfly_h128w_2.jpg
 
Add the AT H128W to fun motors for the Black Fly! Was pretty happy with these 2 telephoto launch pictures of it. Sims around 2800', just out of sight, glad for T3 GPS tracker. I've changed from a 30" to a 24" spherachute to get it down quicker (still main at apogee with no JLCR).

Official announcement coming very soon on the 3" upscale!!!

Nice launch pics, is that pops in the background? It must be nice to have access to that family farm. I am looking forward to the 3" upscale.
 
Add the AT H128W to fun motors for the Black Fly! Was pretty happy with these 2 telephoto launch pictures of it. Sims around 2800', just out of sight, glad for T3 GPS tracker. I've changed from a 30" to a 24" spherachute to get it down quicker (still main at apogee with no JLCR).

Official announcement coming very soon on the 3" upscale!!!

First off, Thank you to gfunk for doing the poll on the upscale and placing the order for the first one. It only made sense to make a small batch of them to offer up on TRF. These are 3" diameter and have a 38mm motor mount. They also have the printed tailcone and kevlar booster bridal. The kit sells for $99.00. This offer will not be available on the website and there are only 5 kits available. If there is enough interest I will run another batch. Send me a PM to reserve yours.

3 BlackFly.jpg
 
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First off, Thank you to gfunk for doing the poll on the upscale and placing the order for the first one. It only made sense to make a small batch of them to offer up on TRF. These are 3" diameter and have a 38mm motor mount. They also have the printed tailcone and kevlar booster bridal. The kit sells for $99.00. This offer will not be available on the website and there are only 5 kits available. If there is enough interest I will run another batch. Send me a PM to reserve yours.

PM sent
 
First off, Thank you to gfunk for doing the poll on the upscale and placing the order for the first one. It only made sense to make a small batch of them to offer up on TRF. These are 3" diameter and have a 38mm motor mount. They also have the printed tailcone and kevlar booster bridal. The kit sells for $99.00. This offer will not be available on the website and there are only 5 kits available. If there is enough interest I will run another batch. Send me a PM to reserve yours.

View attachment 335765

Good grief, Mike. My ETHOS 2.0 is not yet done, 3FNC in for repaint, one of your 54's still in the box.... and now you temp me with this. Mmmmm
 
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