K&S Black Wolf 2 Stage Build

[Lentamental]

Started building this a week or so ago, but just now getting to post photos.

Photo 1: Boxes ready for opening. Also had to ship my toolbox/rangebox home for the christmas break to work on rockets.

Photo 2: I'd forgotten how nice is is to build a rocket from a kit. You open up the box and everything you could ever need is in there! No running out to the hardware store 15 times, every time you realize you need another eye bolt

Photo 3: Motor mount getting wood glued together. Rear centering ring will go on after the rear set of fins are attached and filleted, and the kevlar will get epoxied down next.

Photo 4: Ave bay. Looks solid. Probably way more solid than necessary, but hey, I don't want that to be the failing point.

Photo 5: Fin slots cut. Just like the good ole days of Estes, I got to cut my own fin slots. Out came the exacto knife and an old trashy coupler I use for everything like this.

[Lentamental]

Photo 1: An upside down hand sander clamped into the workmate serves as a fantastic tool for putting a bevel on the fins

Photo 2: Kevlar epoxied to the motor tube. It was cold enough outside that the epoxy hardly ran at all, and I really had to work it into fabric. As a result of the low temperature it also didn't do much curing until I brought it back inside. Sorry lungs!

Photo 3: Rear centering ring with screw terminals for lighting the sustainer motor when I launch this as a two stage. While the terminals are recessed waaaaay into the tube, I couldn't think of any other way to effectively wire it. The wires then run up through the centering rings and up to where they will be connected by some sort of pull apart attachment, to the av bay.

Photo 4: One full set of nicely sanded fins. These fins are THICK! No way are they gonna break, even if the parachute never comes out.

Photo 5: My glue curing station. Turn the radiator up and wow does it dry that wood glue fast. I think I let each fin set for 20 minutes before putting the next one on, just to be sure.

[sodmeister]

One thing about those K&S kits ,they sure do fill the box !

This should be a nice rocket build and they are nice kits to build.

Things are looking very good !

Paul T

[Lentamental]

Photo 1: Lining up the front and back fins. Once the front ones had dried, I used two pieces of aluminum angle and big binder clips to make sure the rear fins were aligned, and then set it on the radiator to dry.

Photo 2: Featherweight Raven av bay in a 38mm bluetube coupler. This is going to end up being taped inside of the av bay that came with the kit. I don't want to do anything permanent and it looks like there is plenty of space for me to shove this in without cutting the sled.
Do you think it will work to just drill a few holes in the 38mm coupler, in addition to the normal holes drilled in the 2.6" av bay? Pressure should equalize across the two barriers just fine, I think.

Photo 3: My epoxy curing oven. The temperatures outside were way too low for epoxy to cure, so I scrounged around the house and eventually settled on the clean side of our subdivided curbside recycling bins. I stuck two 75 watt light bulbs in there and covered it with two tarps and a ratty old blanket. As you can see in photo 4, this was able to drive quite a temperature difference, and kept the rocket at a balmy 95-100f while the fillets cured.

Photo 5: All masked off, the rocket sits ready for paint. Not sure the paint I got builds particularly well, but we'll see. I got 2 coats down and now am letting it all dry for a few days while I head off on a family vacation to Death Valley (no rockets coming with me though).

Any suggestions for a paint scheme? I'm sticking with white and orange because I really want to find this thing again, but I am up to any ideas on patterns.

[sodmeister]

I`m pretty jealous that you are able to work outside ,let alone paint.

You sure do build fast.Looks good !

Paul T

[Lentamental]

I`m pretty jealous that you are able to work outside ,let alone paint.

Well I go to school in VT, which was -7 today, so I figured I should take advantage of the weather while I can. Back there I have to do the spray painting dance. Run outside to spray a few strokes, and then run back in, stick the can in a tub of hot water, and sit the rocket on a radiator for a few minutes before repeating. It takes AGES to do a single coat, and smells up the entire stair well.

I also am cramming to get this rocket built before the LUNAR Snow Ranch launch on the 7th, so time is of the essence. Looks like I'll be finishing pretty much exactly in the nick of time.

[sodmeister]

Well I go to school in VT, which was -7 today, so I figured I should take advantage of the weather while I can. Back there I have to do the spray painting dance. Run outside to spray a few strokes, and then run back in, stick the can in a tub of hot water, and sit the rocket on a radiator for a few minutes before repeating. It takes AGES to do a single coat, and smells up the entire stair well.

I also am cramming to get this rocket built before the LUNAR Snow Ranch launch on the 7th, so time is of the essence. Looks like I'll be finishing pretty much exactly in the nick of time.

Well ,I hear you about the "spray paint shuffle" alright Did plenty of that in November.

Good luck ,and post more pictures please !

Have you decided on the finished paint scheme ?

Paul T

[Lentamental]

White and orange, with a focus on the orange for visibility sake, but nothing definitive yet. All ideas are welcome.

[robbdm]

I'm little ahead of you on building the same kit, mine arrived Christmas eve but enjoying your pictures.

When assembling the centering rings on the sustainer, I drilled a hole thru each and ran a brass tube thru to allow the igniter a path to the ebay.

Concerning the sled on the booster ebay, you might check Scott's post in the Vendor section, http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=30463, he'll be sending you one. I build so many kits that don't come with one that I over looked and started my own sled too.

Paint color for a "Black" Wolf? Black... helps when decal is white.

[robbdm]

Just notice you're trying to make the 1/7 LUNAR launch... me too...

No, no Black Wolf drag race.

What did you plan for motors?

[Lentamental]

An H225 White Thunder just arrived in the mail for me today. I hate hazmat and shipping. All in all cost more to get the motor here than it did for the motor itself. Will you be bringing the black wolf with you? And any chance I could get a hand from you with ground testing (and maybe get you to lend me a gram or two of powder)? This is only my second dual deploy launch, and I accidentally blew the first one to pieces with too much powder. Because I am living in two different states I haven't had a chance to invest in a bunch of black powder in either place, so I've just got a little vial of BP from the ROC launch I went to over the summer.

[robbdm]

Sure, I can give you some powder. I'm figuring 1~1.5 grams to pop the payload and ~1 for the booster.

[o1d_dude]

James, be sure to stop by and see QQUAKE2K and I at the January Snow Ranch launch.

I drive an older "Little Mermaid" green and white Ford Bronco and am the only one on the field who flies fluorescent pink tube fin rockets. I"m probably the oldest flier on the field, too.

[robbdm]

I'm just waiting for the New Year's long weekend to paint. See you at LUNAR.

[Lentamental]

How did you get that eyebolt in to the nose cone like that? Did you drill a hole to stick the nut in on the back side?

I've only got the sustainer done, as the rest will be going back to VT to be finished.

I'll see you both there! I have a 20 year old red honda civic, and will probably be wandering around with some poor friend who I drag into the long drive, and a big camera by my side.

[robbdm]

I drilled a 5/8" hole in the shoulder, inserted eyebolt, used curved hemostat to place a washer and 1/4" nut. Used hemostat to hold nut while tightening. Then use epoxy to lock nut in place. I cut off the plastic loop and sanded level. See photo. I might try to find a plug at Home depot to seal the hole.

I didn't come up with this myself, I asked Scott at K&S if the loop on the nose cone could be trusted and he shared the instructions for another similar kit.

[robbdm]

We had a warm day yesterday in Northern California ~70, so I was able to finish my Black Wolf paint job.

Too bad LUNAR Jan HP launch is canceled due to fire danger, will fly next month.

[Lentamental]

Yeah, huge bummer on the cancellation. Looks like I'll be waiting till summer to fly this guy. Not really sure it is worth shipping the rocket back to VT for the winter, as launches there can be unpredictable because of the opposite reason. Too cold! I'll see what I can get done before I leave, but barring that, this project is going on hold for a few months.

[robbdm]

Check the LUNAR website, they rescheduled launch to 1/14, conditional on rain... might be a launch.

[Lentamental]

Alas I'm flying back to VT on the 11th, so to late for me. I had a very narrow window to hit while I was back, and like with the big rockets, if delays make you miss the window, you could be waiting for quite a long time for the next one. Such is life though. I have another two stage dual deployment rocket I'm working on back in VT, just a midpower one, so I'll get back to work on that for the next few months.

[Aris]

how does the booster stage separate from the sustainer on this rocket?

[Lentamental]

Just like anything else, it needs to be blown apart some how. Depending on how you wire the electronics, you could either use a black powder charge to separate the two and then light the sustainer, or you could just light the sustainer and have that blow the two apart. The former has slightly less damage to the booster, but the latter is much less complicated, and takes less output channels. Or you could do a combination of the the two and wire a blackpowder charge in parallel with the motor igniter (coming from the sustainer altimeter of course) to light both at once, but the motor will take longer to light than the black powder charge. To make sure that works though, you have to have an ematch that breaks, or at least doesn't short after use, for the charge.

[robbdm]

After the canceled January launch date took the Two Stage BlackWolf DD to Lunar Feb 4th, Considering this was my first HPR 2 stage launch, it was fairly successful.

Great conditions this weekend, used I357s in the booster and sustainer. Airstart worked as planned. I love after the coast the motor ignites and kicks the rocket higher.

Only hitch was I reversed the wiring on RRC2 mini in the booster and seperation occured at 500 feet when main charge ignited, lost a fin on the booster for that mistake. Next time wire charge to drogue for apogee deploy.

Dual Deploy sustainer section worked great and landed on a nearby hill all parts intact ready for next time.

No photos of flight since I too busy tracking the different sections.

[Lentamental]

Congrats! I am still waiting on summer vacation to get back and launch mine. With a little luck though I'll get some oportunities to fly my mid power 2 stage while I'm at school. Still need to make the booster stage though.

[Lentamental]

At long last I am back from school and picking up work on the rocket. I'm trying to decide how big of a parachute to use. I was planning on going drogueless and then putting a 4' homemade parachute in the upper stage. Then I'll probably put 1-2 of those 36" military surplus flare chutes in the booster. Does that sound good? I've got a descent calculator, but what is a good descent rate for high power?