I love seeing these finished builds coming in. Here's mine. I'll be flying it for the first time at LDRS for my L2 cert on a CTI J270.
Still deciding if I'm going to paint it or not. I'm thinking I probably will. Just having it out in the sun for a few minutes for my ejection test and it was almost too hot to touch.
^ Not my best ever fillets, but they came out ok. As mentioned previously in this thread, the fin tabs were too long. I ended up using some epoxy clay to even out/continue the leading edge. Used tinted Rocketpoxy for the external fillets. Injected all internal with Aeropoxy. I really liked this technique but will need to invest in a less viscous epoxy for injecting. Used JB weld to tack on the fins at the root.
This is a Giant Leap slimline boat tail motor retainer. I think it looks pretty spiffy.
Used the kit-supplied rail buttons but had to cut down the screws to length. set with a tiny dab of epoxy.
^ One modification I made was to use a hard point anchor in the fincan for attaching my recovery. Normally these are epoxied into the motor motor tube, but I got one the size of the body tube instead. I wanted to have the option of motor eject and I also wanted this to be removable. It's attached with 3 black oxide 6/32 button head hex screws. I was concerned that the tube wall and the aluminum of the anchor would be too thin to make for a decent mechanical attachment with just tapping the screws alone, but they threaded nicely and are holding strong.
I have this located in a position that will fit a 5 grain case. It <might> fit a 6 grain but I don't have one so can only guess. Nice thing about this setup is I can always move it forward or aft depending on how much room I need. (would have to fill screw holes though).
I do plan to replace these eye bolts with forged or welded ones. For now stock will have to do.
^ Here's my drogue setup. 18' of 1/8" kevlar. Hexagonal kevlar chute protector from Giant Leap. For the drogue, I'm using a Top Flight 40" streamer. Good deployment test with .75g of 4FG BP. Friction fit on this end. It's a little on the loose side, so I have a bit of tape on the coupler to snug things up.
^ Main side. Same kevlar as the drogue. Quick links on either end. I like using a bit of shrink tubing to cover up knot ends. Using a heavy-duty swivel on the chute attachment point. For this I just threaded it through the line and then made a loop with an overhand knot keeping the swivel on the loop.
Using a Top Flight 36" thin-mil chute. And no, that's not how I fold if for fight...
The chute protector is custom (can you tell lol) yeah my sewing skills need help. This one was for testing - next one will be a little cleaner. This is a much thinner nomex cloth than the ones you normally see - I got a few yards of it. The result is that it folds much tighter. I gave it a blow torch test (really) and it seems just as flame resistant as the thicker stuff. I'm also experimenting with the shape of it. I find that a square hanky just isn't the best shape for making your chute burrito. The hexagonal one I'm using for my drogue is the right idea, but for this I found that something more rectangular with the corners cut off rolled up better.
.75g of 4FG BP for the ejection charge.
AV bay is held to the payload section with three nylon rivets. Nose cone is attached with 2 2-56 nylon shear pins.
^ Electronics is super simple. PerfectFlite StratoLoggerCF powered by a 180mah 2S 7.4v lipo. I'm using twist and tape to arm. I'll fish that wire though a vent hole, button everything up then strip and twist when it's on the pad.
I know it's not "best practice" but I chose not to have redundant altimeters for this first flight. For me the trade off of having as simple a dual deploy setup as possible outweighed other considerations.
I had planned to use one of the cool pull pin switches that Lab Rat rocketry 3d prints mounts for, but I realized that since I'm not using terminal blocks on the bulkheads, there is no way for me to install the alt sled once the charges are wired in without pulling the pin (thus arming it) for a minute while I button it up. That's a no go, thus twist and tape. I wanted to keep this as simple as possible and avoid any potential points of failure, so in this case I'm direct wiring my e-matches to the altimeter. My charges will be in glove tips.
^ Using a TeleGPS for tracking. This is one of the nifty sleds that Chris at Lab Rat Rocketry makes. The bulkhead fits perfectly in a 54mm nose cone and comes with a drilling guide so your set screw holes line up perfectly. the tracker sled is held on by the eye bolt. Battery is attached on the other side.
Previously I used this tracker with only my HT which is ARPS capable, so I could essentially find the tracker with my handheld radio and get the gps coordinates right on the screen. Then I type them into my iphone and go. I broke down and got the TeleBluetooth for it which is attached directly to my yagi antenna. That sends all of the location and flight data to my android tablet.
^ And here's the whole setup. The rocket came together pretty well. Aside from the fin length issues it's a well made kit. The fit is a little sloppy between the switch band and payload, but that's most likely poor building skills on my part. This is only my second FG rocket and I still have a lot to learn.
63 oz total ready to fly weight (no motor). 1/8" vent holes in the booster and sustainer. 3 x 3/32 holes in the switch band for static port.
