What did you do rocket wise today?

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I picked up some foamcore signs that were being thrown out at work. They're 36" X 11", so I just 3X upscaled the Rocket Cradle in Handbook of Model Rocketry.

Rocket Cradle Grande.jpgRocket Cradle Grande in Use.jpg

I suppose I could have partially cut the foam at an angle and folded, but hot glue seems to have worked ok.
 
Built an Estes Cosmic Explorer for, and with, my daughter. Hopefully tomorrow we can paint it with the paint that I let her choose at the hobby shop.

Also got the fins and rail buttons on the PSII Nike Smoke, so that's coming along nicely.

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Cleaned off my workbench top, swept it, swept the floor, and I am officially ready for the beginning of ROCKET BUILDING SEASON. Our May LUNAR launch at Snow Ranch has been canceled due to fire danger. Ah, California. If it's not the drought it's the rain storm on launch day.

I will be resuming work on my Madcow Frenzy which needs the fin can filleted and the Madcow Lil Goblin 38mm needs its fillets sanded. Once those are complete I will be busting out either the Wildman Black Star 3" or the Punisher 3". I should have all three of these ready for the fall, paint and all. Note to self: Order some vinyl from Stickershock.
 
I finished my first soldering kit ever, an EggTimer Quark, and the dang thing actually powered up and beeped out the correct patterns. I still have to bench test it, but I'm pretty sure it works...no one is more shocked than I. Amazing the difference a good soldering station and a very tiny (0.5 conical) tip can make. An EggFinder TX is next.

 
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That looks great!

Thanks. I built another one (with yet another safety slogan), and I tried to cut 45 degree angles so I could fold it up and glue it:

Cradle.jpg

Seems to be fine. Got to put these Leviathans on something.
 
Cleaned off my workbench top, swept it, swept the floor, and I am officially ready for the beginning of ROCKET BUILDING SEASON. Our May LUNAR launch at Snow Ranch has been canceled due to fire danger. Ah, California. If it's not the drought it's the rain storm on launch day.

I will be resuming work on my Madcow Frenzy which needs the fin can filleted and the Madcow Lil Goblin 38mm needs its fillets sanded. Once those are complete I will be busting out either the Wildman Black Star 3" or the Punisher 3". I should have all three of these ready for the fall, paint and all. Note to self: Order some vinyl from Stickershock.

I heard there may be another local field pending....
 
Getting closer to having two 29mm rockets in my fleet. Just need to fabricate a couple rail button standoffs and the Nike Smoke will be ready for paint. Also painted my daughter's Cosmic Explorer with a color that she chose at the hobby shop.

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Worked on Thunderbird 1 nose cone.. Placed a removable bulkhead in cone tip, this will let me vary nose weight if needed later..
 
Worked some more on my 2.6 alt bay. Removed the single 1/4" launch lug from the 1/8" birch ply sled (razor saw and wood chisel work) and have marked the already bulk plates for the standard dual all-thread set-up. Only difference is that I'll be using 1/8" all-thread and aluminum tubing. There's not a lot of room in a 2.6" coupler tube so wherever I can save space, I will. May have to go with a LiPo battery set up as well. 9 Volt batteries are pretty bulky.
 
Finished my L3 paperwork packet and submitted it to my L3CC. I must say it was a P.I.T.A to get everything together, scanned and submitted, the PDF file was rather large and the document is only 27 pages.
 
This morning, as part of my renewing interest in all things model rocket, I rummaged through some boxes in the basement and found lots of my old rocket stuff..
All the various reward ribbons from contest meets spanning 1973-1984, my old range box (still covered with NAR, Estes Aerospace Club, and AVI stickers, an old un-opened package of Estes C6-7 engines, 2 loose A10-4T engines, my old copy of the Pink Book, and, much to my delight, a few spiral notebooks containing my old flight logs!
I think I'm getting hooked again...I found myself cringing as I expected some large, unseen hand to come down and slap me back to my senses!
 
More sanding primer on recent projects. I did get the final white coat on the previous recent projects:
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These can now be painted in their actual colors. And the same is true for my 3" upscale of an Astron Cobra (pictured with my Leviathan for scale):
26105896924_3e2f148d5c_c.jpg


And because they are the same tube diameter and it amused me to do so, I stacked this "Cobra-Leviathan" imagined complex two-stage rocket...
26618953352_0660efcd61_c.jpg
 
This morning, as part of my renewing interest in all things model rocket, I rummaged through some boxes in the basement and found lots of my old rocket stuff..
All the various reward ribbons from contest meets spanning 1973-1984, my old range box (still covered with NAR, Estes Aerospace Club, and AVI stickers, an old un-opened package of Estes C6-7 engines, 2 loose A10-4T engines, my old copy of the Pink Book, and, much to my delight, a few spiral notebooks containing my old flight logs!
I think I'm getting hooked again...I found myself cringing as I expected some large, unseen hand to come down and slap me back to my senses!

There will be little interest in slapping you back to your senses here, this is the largest group of enablers you will ever meet, if nothing else your first "hit" may be free, PSII is the entry drug of choice here.....
 
This morning, as part of my renewing interest in all things model rocket, I rummaged through some boxes in the basement and found lots of my old rocket stuff..
All the various reward ribbons from contest meets spanning 1973-1984, my old range box (still covered with NAR, Estes Aerospace Club, and AVI stickers, an old un-opened package of Estes C6-7 engines, 2 loose A10-4T engines, my old copy of the Pink Book, and, much to my delight, a few spiral notebooks containing my old flight logs!
I think I'm getting hooked again...I found myself cringing as I expected some large, unseen hand to come down and slap me back to my senses!

Yeah, I did that a year ago, thinking it would be harmless fun as well. Now I have a dozen+ new kits built, another dozen+ in the build pile, mid/high power launch equipment, and a L1 project test-flown and ready for a cert flight. No sympathy here :)
 
I'm here to testify it works the same for an NBR ( New Born Rocketeer, AKA Newbie, AKA n00b, AKA me ). From Bandit 3pk at Hobby Lobby to a quarter of the garage in about 200 Ns flat.
 
I've had a set of Excelsior Rocketry (now Sandman Decals) Der Red Max decals for a few years. Decided to clone the Der Big Red Max (#1977) kit that used a full length BT-60. The plans call for 1/8" thick fins, and I had 3/32" basswood in my supplies. Then a light went off -- I have been papering fins lately, and 110lb. cardstock over 3/32" basswood gives 1/8" thick fins. Perfect.

My current technique is to cut fins slightly oversized on scroll saw, and pin them together with fin template outline drawn on the top fin. I then sand fins on disk sander to the template outline. After attaching cardstock to fins with Elmers Craft Glue Stick, I sandwich them between plate glass and heavy weight for 24 hours. Next I apply CA with a Q-tip to seal all but root edges. When dry, I disk sand each fin to smooth edges and trim any paper overhang. Another coat of CA and they are ready to attach. They look amazing, if I do humbly conclude ... :)
 
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Real Life got in the way for a moment, but I was able to at least slip by the P.O. to mail the foam cutting size NiChrome out.
Once I have one of those cutters, the world of rocketry is endless, as I will always be able to make the nose cone.
I've seen all the ones devised by the folks that use you tube, but I'de really like to see a hot wire foam cutter for the masses, and think it would be way cheaper and fool-proof than this 3D BS.
 
Sketched up a BT-5 split fin, an eyeballed Estes Heat Seeker downscale for mini engines. Should be a fun little project when I get home from my trip (and while waiting for the paint coats to dry on the PSII Smoke).

Mini Heat Seeker.jpg
 
Real Life got in the way for a moment, but I was able to at least slip by the P.O. to mail the foam cutting size NiChrome out.
Once I have one of those cutters, the world of rocketry is endless, as I will always be able to make the nose cone.
I've seen all the ones devised by the folks that use you tube, but I'de really like to see a hot wire foam cutter for the masses, and think it would be way cheaper and fool-proof than this 3D BS.

??? I thought you made one for yourself from your Nich? Or you waiting to buy one on amazon?
 
Primed, sanded and refilled Estes Photon Probe.

Finally put the stickers on my Estes SpaceShipOne. Incredibly bad instructions for sticker placement. Scale of stickers not what's pictured in the instructions. It's like they printed one sticker sheet scaled for the "E" version and put it in the smaller one (like mine). Everything seem too close. It's still cool!
 
Finished up my first EggFinder build. It did not immediately fire up. I had suspected I had a bad joint on the bridge rectifier, so when it didn't start up I went over those again. After that is powered up, found some satellites and communicated with my LCD unit.



There are two lights!
 
Began working on my Eggfinder LCD. All was going well until I somehow lost or misplaced one of my 10K ohm 1/8 watt resistors. Ugh!
 
Went to Home Depot and browsed the Rocketry Department...er...stainless fasteners section. Bought some wing nuts, nylon lock nuts, nuts, flat washers, and a three pack of all-thread couplers...all of this in 8-24 size.

Spent the rest of the day regretting my purchase of an HP OfficeJet 7645 All-In-One printer at Costco today. Normally I'd have checked the reviews before purchasing but the $30 discount led me astray. Amazon reviews showed this device earning 48% ONE STAR ratings. Costco's reviews were similarly bad. It goes back unopened tomorrow along with the two-pack of print cartridges. The search for a modern printer continues.
 
Finished up my first EggFinder build. It did not immediately fire up. I had suspected I had a bad joint on the bridge rectifier, so when it didn't start up I went over those again. After that is powered up, found some satellites and communicated with my LCD unit.



There are two lights!

That looks really nice. Mine is mostly built - on hold for a different antenna as you used here.
 
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