N-1 builder kit from new manufacturer

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Oh no! After all that hard work. Seems like the biggest problem was the parachute not opening. Maybe thin mil nylon for the next flight after repairs?

The up part was good. It is always that down part that is tough. Repair and fly again!

Kuririn, Daddy, You are right the parachute turned out to be the hardest part. I knew in advance that this was one of the biggest concerns, if not the biggest. The old crumpled mylar chute that I used was about 42" diameter. The kit comes with two 32" diameter chutes. To me they seem like heavy plastic and I was concerned that they might not fit into the parachute compartment. I see that Apogee sells some large mylar chutes. These are things that I will need to think out about after making repairs. Right now I don't know when I will do reconstruction work. I may wait until next winter. The obvious method of repair is to cut out the damaged section and put in a new section.
 
I’ve got a couple of scale launches planned for tomorrow that I’m mildly dreading.. I build them to fly them tho...

On the bright side, the result you got is at least somewhat historically accurate....
 
Correction: Altaira has three new kits on Ebay. USS Starliner Enterprise, Friede, and a smaller version of the N1 with a 4x18mm cluster motor mount. I'm tempted.
 
Looks like Altaira has a second kit out on Ebay: a model of the "Friede" spaceship from an old German movie. 12 D engine cluster!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Friede-Her...115317?hash=item2f1aaea235:g:4RIAAOSwRWVa9k9d

Have you recovered yet, Aero?

Matt showed up at the fly portion of a build and fly that I helped Randy (eRockets) with last week. Matt had his Friede with him. It wasn't prepped to fly, but he showed it to us. It looked pretty nice. And 12 D engines makes it a high power rocket.
 
Sorry to hear that...did you get enough altitude, any where near expected?

- set it aside as you mentioned...you simply must repair this and fly again.
"4 out of 6 motors were ejected from the model" Motor retention needs a look at….?
 
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Sorry to hear that...did you get enough altitude, any where near expected?

- set it aside as you mentioned...you simply must repair this and fly again.
"4 out of 6 motors were ejected from the model" Motor retention needs a look at….?

Yes, agreed. To me the altitude looked good. I did go back and build the parachutes that were supplied in the Altaira kit. After assembling the chutes they did not look that bad. I may have been better off using those chutes. Perhaps, one chute for the nose cone and one chute for the main body. There are a few things here to think about.
 
I'm starting to repair the N-1 first stage, where the damage was the greatest. I cut the shrouds either with a Dremel tool or an xacto knife, probably mostly with the Dremel tool, because the CA soaked paper shroud was just to tough to cut with the knife. I cut one shroud along the center of the fuel cowling that I took off. I will be replacing the shroud under 3 cowlings. I decided to cut a little bit past the other cowling.
 

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I think you would have success with packing a top flight thin mill nylon chute. I was able to get a 12” TFR thin mill into a 24mm MD in less than an inch and half of length. They pack very small for size. Of course use the larger size for the n-1.
 
I put in some ribs as scaffolding using heavy card stock. Then I put on some shroud sections using lighter card stock.
 

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I got an email from Matt Johnson and he recommends using the the six D12-5's. However, the kit manufacturer's offer the single 29 mm motor option if the modeler is averse to clustered motors.

NOTE : Using SIX Estes D12 BP motors will put you over the 125gr maximum propellant weight for Model Rockets ( 5 BP D12's are the maximum for a Model Rocket ). It would be considered an HPR rocket, legally-speaking, with 6 D12's.

Dave F.
 
NOTE : Using SIX Estes D12 BP motors will put you over the 125gr maximum propellant weight for Model Rockets ( 5 BP D12's are the maximum for a Model Rocket ). It would be considered an HPR rocket, legally-speaking, with 6 D12's.

Dave F.

That's good to know. I always launch at a Club launch, which has a FAA waiver. Our Club launch is also out in a desert-like area with lots of open space, which is probably good for a complicated model like this one.
 
That's good to know. I always launch at a Club launch, which has a FAA waiver. Our Club launch is also out in a desert-like area with lots of open space, which is probably good for a complicated model like this one.

ALSO, in order to FLY that "HPR" rocket, legally, you would need to be Certified Level 1, or higher.
 
Fortunately, the kit came with a lot of extra parts and I held on to them. I ordered some extra inter-stage struts. Hopefully, they will be enough.
 

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ALSO, in order to FLY that "HPR" rocket, legally, you would need to be Certified Level 1, or higher.

I don't think the model needs a Level 1. The D12-5 has 17 N-sec and there are 6 of them for a total of 102 N-s. This puts the model in the G motor range, which is 80 to 160 N-s. Level 1 is required to launch an H or I motor.
 
I don't think the model needs a Level 1. The D12-5 has 17 N-sec and there are 6 of them for a total of 102 N-s. This puts the model in the G motor range, which is 80 to 160 N-s. Level 1 is required to launch an H or I motor.

The propellant weight puts into high power. If the propellant is more than 125 grams you need to be L1 certified. A D12 has 21.1 grams of propellant, so 6 would be 126.6 grams; just over the limit.
 
The propellant weight puts into high power. If the propellant is more than 125 grams you need to be L1 certified. A D12 has 21.1 grams of propellant, so 6 would be 126.6 grams; just over the limit.

OK, I see this on the NAR website. So, the N-1 with six D12's is 1.6 grams over the limit on propellant weight putting it in the Level 1 category. Interesting.
 
Good thing you’re an L3, Bob.

Joe, actually, I'm only an L2. However, that is enough for this N-1 model. I made some more progress today. Using mostly a Dremel tool, I cut a way the broken struts on the lowest inter-stage and glued on strut replacements with CA. I need to put on two first stage grid fins and some second stage strut replacements. I will need to look at the escape tower and Soyuz capsule and decide on parachutes, but that will be it. We can re-build it, but it won't look quite as good as the first time. (Just ignore the underlying mess on the workbench in the photo's. It is only getting worse.)
 

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I am planning a 1/125th scale Saturn V to go along with the N-1. My Saturn V will not be as fancy as many of those on TRF. The plan is to have something basic for comparison. I ordered two parts from bumper1b, who has them programmed for 3D printing with ShapeWays. Two of the parts, the aft skirt and 1st stage/2nd stage transition, have come in. The fins are located on a tree in the aft skirt and need to be cut out.
 

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I bought the Boyce 1/125 scale Apollo capsule and upper shroud and found some tubing to start putting the 1/125 Saturn V together.
 

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I bought one of these off of eBay this spring. When it came I opened the box looked thru it and put it back in the box where it’s been since.
After seeing the finished product I am tempted to build it but maybe not.
 
I bought one of these off of eBay this spring. When it came I opened the box looked thru it and put it back in the box where it’s been since.
After seeing the finished product I am tempted to build it but maybe not.

It is a lot of work and I think as Apogee says the kit is in the rough so to speak. I think this thread shows the biggest pitfalls and how to overcome them, if you are willing to go through all the posts. The model does fly straight up, but I need to better work out the parachute recovery. I am planning to fly the N-1 again.
 
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