Its a sort of scratch as the nosecone is an Estes one, but the rest is all scratch.
I cheated. I built a better cardboard tube.
The remaining weak point is at the top. I beveled the CF rods to prevent catching the chute on them while stuffing it. Sounded good, but at 65G's if the NC pushes down and widens the BT, there's nothing to stop the BT from expanding other than the cardboard and 8 coats of paint. I thought of putting another reinforcement ring at the top, pushed into position by the NC with Vaseline on it. Then the down-pressure would transmit directly down the BT and the NC would never get in the BT to expand it. I'm concerned about the ring interfering with deployment, though.
In all candor, I'm 80% low-and-slow, 20% get-up-and-go. I enjoy watching it work its way up, seeing the smoke and flames, looking for Mach diamonds.
A couple other enticing motors are the Redline with its pretty, tight, disciplined flame... and the one that pours out a column of black smoke. Is that a Smokey Joe? It's coming time to learn more about motors!
Maybe I am missing something but it looks like the grain on those basswood fins was parallel to the root edge instead of parallel to the leading edge, if thats the case that severley weakens a fin in relation to fin flutter.
My club offers the Micro, 1010, and 1515, as well as 1/8", 3/16", and 1/4" rods. Any launch I attend which is almost every one of my local clubs' I provide a Jawstand pad with both a Micro Rail and a 20mm rail ( soon I am adding a 1010 rail to my pad, I just need to get it and build the triple rail holder for them. The Micro and Mini are mounted back to back currently.
Today's flights went well. The G40-7 was a pretty good match for the rocket. I made a mistake in the first launch - I packed the chute the way I did years ago. The JLCR got tangled up in the shroud lines and the chute didn't deploy. Fortunately, the 25' Kevlar shock cord and tumbling kept the velocity reasonable. The grass is long and the ship is strong; no harm done.
Eric saw the seriously twisted Kevlar when I brought it back and asked how I packed the chute. Experience is priceless. I told him, and he ever so graciously explained that the JLCR wants the chutes packed differently than we used to. My wife was so impressed with his - and everyone's - politeness, respect and friendly nature.
I had another G40, so I untwisted the Kevlar. When the shroud line got tangled, it tangled the swivel - what a mess it was! With the chute packed as Eric suggested and the JLCR double-checked for a red LED at 300, I went to the line again. Everything worked as planned. It's probably good to write "Chute release" on the flight form rather than "JLCR". Apparently I inadvertently caused some concern.
I have to say that launching a 3" diameter anything off a 1/4" rod is probably ill-advised. I'm going to do some math, but there is obviously friction against the rod, causing drag, which causes torque because the thrust vector is 1.75" from the rod. This makes the friction worse as time goes on. Most 3"+ rockets used the rail, but those that didn't bent the rod and shot off at an angle. It's physics... it's unavoidable with a whippy rod.
Next week: L1 cert flight at LUNAR.
Today's flights went well. The G40-7 was a pretty good match for the rocket. I made a mistake in the first launch - I packed the chute the way I did years ago. The JLCR got tangled up in the shroud lines and the chute didn't deploy. Fortunately, the 25' Kevlar shock cord and tumbling kept the velocity reasonable. The grass is long and the ship is strong; no harm done.
Eric saw the seriously twisted Kevlar when I brought it back and asked how I packed the chute. Experience is priceless. I told him, and he ever so graciously explained that the JLCR wants the chutes packed differently than we used to. My wife was so impressed with his - and everyone's - politeness, respect and friendly nature.
I had another G40, so I untwisted the Kevlar. When the shroud line got tangled, it tangled the swivel - what a mess it was! With the chute packed as Eric suggested and the JLCR double-checked for a red LED at 300, I went to the line again. Everything worked as planned. It's probably good to write "Chute release" on the flight form rather than "JLCR". Apparently I inadvertently caused some concern.
I have to say that launching a 3" diameter anything off a 1/4" rod is probably ill-advised. I'm going to do some math, but there is obviously friction against the rod, causing drag, which causes torque because the thrust vector is 1.75" from the rod. This makes the friction worse as time goes on. Most 3"+ rockets used the rail, but those that didn't bent the rod and shot off at an angle. It's physics... it's unavoidable with a whippy rod.
Next week: L1 cert flight at LUNAR.
