What did you do rocket wise today?

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Speed off the rail might be an issue as the 29mm BP motors mass adds up quickly and a F15 or E16 might not get it off the rail stable.

...and there is no check on next stage ignition for a bp multistage. It is a bad feeling to watch a looping 2 stage (or worse 3 stage) knowing that the next stage IS going to fire...never thought I would be scared of an Estes Mongoose until I saw one started looping 25 ft off the ground.
 
Yesterday I wet sanded the black paint on my 2.6 BBII, cut and applied the vinyl for the roll pattern, got excited and applied the clear coat......

......Which gave it a case of the dreaded rocket herpes (paint lifting). D'oh, I normally wait longer to apply the clear. Fortunately the affected areas are small and I should be able to sand down and respray the clear without issue. Even with the spider webbing, the rocket still looks sexy!
 
Livestreamed Airfest via the Aerotech FaceBook page while sitting at my desk at work. I have to be here this week because the semester is starting, but I really wish I was there.
 
Set a new personal alt Mark at 18350 with a CF 54 Mongoose on a Loki L1400.

Whoever told me my sim was wrong and I wouldn't make 20k you were totally right. Sim worked perfectly for long burns, but not for agressively motor apparently. I would give you your due by name, but I don't remember who you are and I'm too tired to look it up.

Also, just glued the grains in a Loki K627 for Sunday. Hotel room rocketry.

L3 attempt tomorrow morning.
 
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Set a new personal alt Mark at 18350 with a CF 54 Mongoose on a Loki 1400.

Whoever told me my sim was wrong and I wouldn't make 20k you were totally right. Sim worked perfectly for long burns, but not for agressively motor apparently. I would give you your due by name, but I don't remember who you are and I'm too tired to look it up.

Also, just glued the grains in a Loki K627 for Sunday. Hotel room rocketry.

L3 attempt tomorrow morning.

Congrats on the record and good luck for tomorrow!
 
...and there is no check on next stage ignition for a bp multistage. It is a bad feeling to watch a looping 2 stage (or worse 3 stage) knowing that the next stage IS going to fire...never thought I would be scared of an Estes Mongoose until I saw one started looping 25 ft off the ground.

I've only launched my Ascender as a 2-stage a couple of times and those launches went fine, but I can imagine how sickening it must be to see a 2-stage loop prior to the sustainer firing. I recognize a 3-stage only increases the chance of failure and I wouldn't try it without confidence. I built the extra boosters to have spares in case I lose one, but the idea of 3-staging did invariably cross my mind.

This evening I spent some time sanding on my new Endeavor. It's a chore, sure, but I find it relaxing.
 
Set a new personal alt Mark at 18350 with a CF 54 Mongoose on a Loki L1400.

Whoever told me my sim was wrong and I wouldn't make 20k you were totally right. Sim worked perfectly for long burns, but not for agressively motor apparently. I would give you your due by name, but I don't remember who you are and I'm too tired to look it up.

Also, just glued the grains in a Loki K627 for Sunday. Hotel room rocketry.

L3 attempt tomorrow morning.

Best of luck on your L3 attempt. What hardware went into the successful recovery of your 18350' flight?
 
Started assembly of a Der Red Max with 24mm MMT and finished color coating a Estes Nike Smoke (BT60 w/24mm MMT). The Nike Smoke is my entry for the closest to X-Altitude contest.
 
Yesterday I wet sanded the black paint on my 2.6 BBII, cut and applied the vinyl for the roll pattern, got excited and applied the clear coat......

......Which gave it a case of the dreaded rocket herpes (paint lifting). D'oh, I normally wait longer to apply the clear. Fortunately the affected areas are small and I should be able to sand down and respray the clear without issue. Even with the spider webbing, the rocket still looks sexy!

Lets see it!
 
I was avoiding a photo until I got the lifted clear coat fixed, but an indoor photo doesn't really show it. It's been about 48 hours since I shot the clear coat so I'm hoping to get that fixed today. The areas affected are still small, so I'm anticipating it'll go just fine. I may do a light wet sanding on the rest of the clear coat and respray anyway, to get a fuller shine (since I cut my last session short when I noticed the lifting).

Anyway, a quick group photo. Gee, can you tell what my favorite rocket design is? From left to right, scratchbuild BT-50, Estes BT-55, Madcow 1.6 fiberglass, Madcow 2.6 fiberglass. They were all finished using the Estes method: Paint the whole rocket white, paint the nose, fins, and tail section black, then do the roll pattern with black decals. The Estes kit has the standard decals and the other rockets were done with hand-cut vinyl.

Should be really fun to get a group shot with my BT-5 BB-Vb and 4" BBIII, but I'm waiting until I build my Polecat 5.5" BBII before doing that.

Black Brants.jpg
 
Started assembly of a Der Red Max with 24mm MMT and finished color coating a Estes Nike Smoke (BT60 w/24mm MMT). The Nike Smoke is my entry for the closest to X-Altitude contest.

Crap, I gotta see if I have a motor/rocket combo for the contest! At least, one that'll fit my Estes altimeter since that's my only transferrable one.
 
Best of luck on your L3 attempt. What hardware went into the successful recovery of your 18350' flight?

Drogue: RRC3 & SLCF
Main: JL Chute Release
GPS tracking: EggFinder (big one) in nose...never lost contact
Rf Beakon: BRB 70cm/100mW...best part was knowing the rocket opened because the tracker was shielded by the CF until Drogue deploy. It was hooked to the cord in a 3D printed case.

As for the L3...failed, dumped chute at apogee. Rocket ok though.
 
Bought a 54mm Broken Arrow from the Madcow Rocketry Labor Day sale. I'm planning on it being my medium sized sport rocket to replace my Quicksilver. I decided on it because I haven't seen any BA's at launches I've been to and it doesn't seem to get any talk on the forum. The Broken Arrow is a "no paint required" rocket, but I'm thinking it'll need a sweet paint job.

I also ordered a couple Eggfinder Minis from Cris' Labor Day sale.

BUY ALL THE THINGS!
 
I was avoiding a photo until I got the lifted clear coat fixed, but an indoor photo doesn't really show it. It's been about 48 hours since I shot the clear coat so I'm hoping to get that fixed today. The areas affected are still small, so I'm anticipating it'll go just fine. I may do a light wet sanding on the rest of the clear coat and respray anyway, to get a fuller shine (since I cut my last session short when I noticed the lifting).

Anyway, a quick group photo. Gee, can you tell what my favorite rocket design is? From left to right, scratchbuild BT-50, Estes BT-55, Madcow 1.6 fiberglass, Madcow 2.6 fiberglass. They were all finished using the Estes method: Paint the whole rocket white, paint the nose, fins, and tail section black, then do the roll pattern with black decals. The Estes kit has the standard decals and the other rockets were done with hand-cut vinyl.

Should be really fun to get a group shot with my BT-5 BB-Vb and 4" BBIII, but I'm waiting until I build my Polecat 5.5" BBII before doing that.

Love it! My favorite too.
 
Flew Go Devil 38 on a Loki K627. Took off like a scalded cat. Altbeeped out almost 17k, but that sounds.low compared to sim and what that rocket took off like. The decals peeled off, and the leading edge if each fin is covered in tiny pits now...hehehehe.
 
Flew Go Devil 38... The decals peeled off, and the leading edge if each fin is covered in tiny pits now...hehehehe.
Awesome!!!

I ordered more stuff today. For my Broken Arrow 54 build, I ordered an Eggtimer Quantum flight computer. It's avionics bay will be: 2S battery, full-sized Eggfinder with an OpenLog board, Quantum, and a switch. If I replace my cratered Jolly Logic Altimeter Three, I'll save space for it too (because they're awesome fun to have).

I also ordered a TeleMini, a TeleDongle, and a few other things for a scratch built rocket I'm gathering parts for.

When this stuff arrives, I'll have quite the build pile: 2 Eggfinder Minis, a Quantum, a Mouse 38, 2x Formula 38s, a Broken Arrow 54, and at least 2 scratch built rockets. **cracks knuckles**
 
Primed the Der Red Max and color coated the nose cone (love the Krylon Industrial Black), built an entire Estes Super Neon, just need to do the fin fillets and its ready for primer. Got the sustainer steer fins/flaps on the Nike Hercules Sustainer, for some reason that build has slowed considerable lately, only 8 fins left to go and the are on the nose cone, still need to make the covers for the staging timer and battery bays (the piece is already laid up I just need to trace the patterns onto the CF part and cut the covers, install the pem nuts and the sustainer will be mostly done).

NikeHerc98.jpg NikeHerc99.jpg NikeHerc100.jpg
 
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