Biggest scratch build yet - Bluto

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He's still sitting in my garage where I left him almost three years ago. I don't know what it's going to take to get me motivated again. I know I lost my motivation for rocketry in general during our years long drought when launches were few and far between, and because of health issues. But still, it would be a shame not to finish Bluto. I've got a lot of time and money invested in him, and I think about him a lot (Everytime I walk through the garage!). I just need to get off my lazy butt and get to it. Easier said than done...

I can only tell you what works for me sometimes. Pick a very small, manageable thing to accomplish with the build. Really small. Something that takes five or ten minutes and has an end point.

Then do it. Just that one, small thing. If you do, a couple of things may happen. One, it may reignite the "urge" and get you going again. Or, two, it might make you feel like you are not "stuck" any more, and see a way forward.

I have been building my RW Formula 200 since mid-summer. Sometimes I just stare at it, afraid I am going to make a hugs mistake and throw away all that time and money. So I sit down and make checklists of steps. Then I set my sights on one step at a time. Before you know it, I am moving along through my list at a good clip.

Good luck!
 
He's still sitting in my garage where I left him almost three years ago. I don't know what it's going to take to get me motivated again. I know I lost my motivation for rocketry in general during our years long drought when launches were few and far between, and because of health issues. But still, it would be a shame not to finish Bluto. I've got a lot of time and money invested in him, and I think about him a lot (Everytime I walk through the garage!). I just need to get off my lazy butt and get to it. Easier said than done...

As said previously, start with something small and work on that.

Sometimes I drag my heels as well about rocketry because we can't fly during the summer. All it takes for me is to just go to one launch and get a wiff of that AP or BP and ooooooohhhhhh baby I am off the deep end again lol.
 
Resurrecting one of my old threads here. You know, I think about Bluto all the time. I can't help it, he's sitting in my garage, and I walk past him everyday. I think what's holding me back is the complexity and the motor cost. My original plan was to use two altimeters and a timer for the air starts. But now that I have a Chute Release, dual deploy is no longer a necessity. So I think I'm going to finish and fly Bluto as a single deploy with one K motor and no outboards. The motor cost would be $115 for a single K, vs. $160 for a K and two 29mm outboards. I might put one altimeter in it for deployment, with motor eject as backup. We'll see.

To make room for the 9' Rocketman parachute, I would put a bulkhead at the top of the coupler, with a u-bolt in it for the attachment point. The nose cone, forward body tube, and coupler would all be one unit. If I do use an altimeter, I would attach it to the top of the bulkhead. Still a lot to do, but not nearly as much as the original plan. I think this is much more doable and possible.


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Recommend borrowing a second JLCR for your flight and chaining them for something this big. Awesome that you're giving it another go!
 
Seeing as how there is water in the creeks sometimes at Snow Ranch, I'd rather not be responsible for an extra $130 of electronics.
 
I'm thinking I might turn the bulkhead down to fit inside the Stiffy.

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Dude I cannot wait to see Bluto finished.I love your cluster design. A central 98, two 38s and two 29s. And I love the pterodactyl style fins. I would have done 3 personally, but that's just me, I'm a fan of 3 finned rockets. I want to learn how to build this way. I'm still only at the mid power level. This seems so daunting.
 
I would suggest simplifying further and ditching dual deployment.

We have flown our big Dragonfly on K-L motors four times, reaching ~800-2000'.

As I see it, big rockets succeed by flying, not by going fast or high.


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Dude I cannot wait to see Bluto finished.I love your cluster design. A central 98, two 38s and two 29s. And I love the pterodactyl style fins. I would have done 3 personally, but that's just me, I'm a fan of 3 finned rockets. I want to learn how to build this way. I'm still only at the mid power level. This seems so daunting.

It's actually a central 54 with four 29's. I went with four fins for the extra stability. Even with four, it still needs 20 oz of nose weight. I have since built four 5 fin rockets (one was a rebuild and one was my first high power cluster), which I really like. I also built a 6 fin, which turned out really cool.

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I would suggest simplifying further and ditching dual deployment.

We have flown our big Dragonfly on K-L motors four times, reaching ~800-2000'.

As I see it, big rockets succeed by flying, not by going fast or high.

Yes, that is my aim with phase 2. I want to convert it to single deploy. I'm leaning toward altimeter apogee deploy with a Missileworks RRC2+ (which I already have), using motor deploy for backup.
 
:lol::surprised::lol:Glad your going to fly this monster.Olga going to be able to retrieve it alone?:y:

I'll bring a hand truck. LOL

He'll weigh over 14lbs without motor. By far my heaviest.
 
I epoxied some blocks on the bulkhead for the screws that will hold the upper body tube to the coupler. I also filled some unneeded holes.

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I sanded the blocks flush, then epoxied the bulkhead into the coupler.

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I need to decide what to do for a switch for the RRC2+. I have several options. I could set up a pull pin switch like I did in Milestone.

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Or I could use this really cool lighted push-on/push-off switch that is rated for 50,000 cycles. I know I would never use it that often, but it tells me it's a quality switch. If I decide to go with the PB switch, I have two options.

1. I could mount it in the body tube. It requires a 5/8" hole, and I would have to make some sort of curved backing plate. It would also require a long wire for when I remove the coupler.

2. Or I could mount it on the coupler bulkhead, and access it through a hole. I would have to use a pen or dowel to push the switch, but the hole would be big enough to see the light through. The wiring would be simpler with this method, but it wouldn't look as cool.

Decisions, decisions.


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