Need help - Estes Saturn V Nose Weight - Estes E9

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Thank you Jim, Thirsty, Samb and Kuririn.
Here are a couple of pictures of my Titan IV. Plastic ketchup cups for the nozzles. 24MM motor. 32 in tall.

Nice! Is this a kit, and did it come with that wrap? Or did you make the wraps? Lots of nice detail!
 
Thanks Thirsty. This was not a kit. I downloaded the wraps and pieced them together from several titan rockets. Printed them on regular office paper in color and used spray adhesive to attach it to the tube with a matte spray over the entire rocket afterwards. I also made through holes in the core section with a dowel top and bottom. It looked kind of like Herman Munster before attaching the boosters.
 
Thank you Jim, Thirsty, Samb and Kuririn.
Here are a couple of pictures of my Titan IV. Plastic ketchup cups for the nozzles. 24MM motor. 32 in tall.

You're welcome. Now, about those sideways shots. Go back to the source and open the file in your favorite image editor. I use Paint 'cause it came with my machine. :) Rotate left, rotate right, (or start right then left, your choice) straighten it back up and save. Now upload the picture to the forum and enjoy the correct orientation.
 
Here’s an example of a low thrust Saturn V flight. E15-4. Mine isn’t quite stock - I put a Skylab on top, rather than the SIVB with CSM - but it happens to weigh the same as the stock kit (with all the clay that comes with it). I don’t have that weight handy. A club launch, so a nice long rod.

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https://youtu.be/qfGbwIUEGwo
 
I thought about doing a Skylab Saturn Charles. I did not know where to get the 3rd stage tube (on the Apollo) and a nose cone to fit, so I just build the standard. Were did you get your nosecone and tube? Did you make it yourself?
You should have seen my face when I looked at your launch. I'm glad it made it back safe and sound. I'm a little worried about my Saturn. Thank you Charles!
 
Hello Samb. I read your reply. All the pictures look straight on my computer but when I load them in 'Rocketry Forum' they turn sideways. Even when I forward them to friends etc, they are all straight and not sideways. Wonder what this program is doing to them. I recenly finished a titan ii and here's a quick image. I'm 49 with a wife and no kids so I have free time!

20171221_110308.jpg

20171221_110230.jpg

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I thought about doing a Skylab Saturn Charles. I did not know where to get the 3rd stage tube (on the Apollo) and a nose cone to fit, so I just build the standard. Were did you get your nosecone and tube? Did you make it yourself?
You should have seen my face when I looked at your launch. I'm glad it made it back safe and sound. I'm a little worried about my Saturn. Thank you Charles!

The 3rd stage extension is just BT80 and a BT80 coupler. The nosecone is custom by Sandman/Gordon Agnello. I can PM his email. I worked up a decal for the Skylab extension, but haven't printed/applied it yet. I just friction fit the top on, rather than gluing it, so I can fly either Skylab or Apollo.
 
Hello Samb. I read your reply. All the pictures look straight on my computer but when I load them in 'Rocketry Forum' they turn sideways. Even when I forward them to friends etc, they are all straight and not sideways. Wonder what this program is doing to them. I recenly finished a titan ii and here's a quick image. I'm 49 with a wife and no kids so I have free time!

Well I think the tech guys would tell you that this place is run on an old version of vBulletin that ignores some of the spatial orientation references contained in digital photos created in the 21st century. I just blame the TRF gremlins and do that little left/right/back to center editing dance on all pictures I upload here. Seems to do the trick.

Aw man, now you're just showin' off ! :wink: Beautiful Gemini/Titan. :clap:
 
I love E9 motors, but I would never trust a rocket that big and heavy to them. That makes the D12 and E12 highly suspect given your rocket weight and size. I also recommend you look at something in the E20 or E30 range. That F44 in the video had a little too much kick for my taste for a showcase rocket.
 
I love E9 motors, but I would never trust a rocket that big and heavy to them. That makes the D12 and E12 highly suspect given your rocket weight and size. I also recommend you look at something in the E20 or E30 range. That F44 in the video had a little too much kick for my taste for a showcase rocket.

I agree, the F44 made for a very Un-Saturn-like warp-speed launch. You want something slow enough you can see it launch, but not so slow you see it lawndart. Also, personally, I prefer motors with visible flame and smoke, so the E30 doesn’t really appeal to me. I’d probably pick the E20.
 
Here’s an example of a low thrust Saturn V flight. E15-4. Mine isn’t quite stock - I put a Skylab on top, rather than the SIVB with CSM - but it happens to weigh the same as the stock kit (with all the clay that comes with it). I don’t have that weight handy. A club launch, so a nice long rod.

View attachment 338466

https://youtu.be/qfGbwIUEGwo

The video looks like the flight is more unstable than underpowered. It does that weird loop at the end. The cool thing is the rocket is so light, once it turned sideways, it really wasn’t moving very fast and just started to float until the chute came out.
 
[video=youtube;M-tALprr6rU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-tALprr6rU[/video][/YOUTUBE]
 
I have a Semroc Saturn 1b that I tried launching on an E9....lets just say it was a good thing the field was extremely muddy that day. Next I tried it on a D12-3 and it was legitimately terrifying. So after a recommendation from a hobby shop I tried an Aerotech E20-4W and I will never launch it again on anything else.
 
Oh Phill. That is such a shame...
Estes replaced the tubes, the upper wrap and the wood. That left me with a what-to-do about the big transition. Then I remembered that I'm a CAD guy, so I pulled some drawings, modeled it and sent it off to Shapeways...
DSC_0009.jpg

I laid out the upper transition using skills I learned building my first (paper-towel-tube) SatV from a 1970s Boy's Life magazine..
NewTransitions.jpg

Some Testors Decal film and Paint.Net allowed me to recreate the lost decals.
DSC_0007.jpg

I don't have a pic here, but I made wax castings of the 2 surviving RCS nozzles and molded 2 new ones out of epoxy and micro-balloons
160709.jpg
 
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