What did you do rocket wise today?

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So I had a little time to myself yesterday. Do I sand the CWF off this body tube? Or do I honor my resolution and spend some quality time on my bike on the stationary trainer? Bike...or rocket....or....bike....or...WAIT A SECOND! Why not both?
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(Note: This was not a sweating suffer-fest on the bike, in which case I wouldn't be able to multitask like this. The bike has been awaiting setup for months. This was just a "spend some time spinning and getting back into it" ride.
 
some of hints 1) this is only one phase of the project, 2) I certainly hope it is unstable, 3) there is a scarlet fish in one of the pictures. :)
Rex
 
ding, ding, we have a winner! what you see is the booster section, the sustainer will be a mostly stock big bertha(which will be a 1st for me :)). OR says it ought to stage @ 40' max alt. 500' on a pair of B6's :) ATM the working name is Bbig bertha.
Rex
nose cone is from the sustainer.
 
the nose cone is a 'red herring' - a distraction to throw people off the 'scent' of the truth. to mislead folks into thinking that this the complete rocket, when it is only part of the whole :).(guessing that you didn't read many murder mysteries :)).
Rex
 
Recovered the nose cone and parachute for my daughter's mini Bandit. Just needs a shock cord and it'll be good as new.
 
ding, ding, we have a winner! what you see is the booster section, the sustainer will be a mostly stock big bertha(which will be a 1st for me :)). OR says it ought to stage @ 40' max alt. 500' on a pair of B6's :) ATM the working name is Bbig bertha.
Rex
nose cone is from the sustainer.

The vent holes in the extended motor tube gave it away. Are you also going to have some vent holes in the booster outer body as well to avoid premature separation?
 
Finished my LOC Viper III.
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First flight will be on three D12-5's.
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It came in 3.6 oz. overweight with a cold air baffle, kevlar shock cord and a 24" Top Flight chute. I used a bit of JB weld to hold a short piece of 6-32 all thread in the gap between motor mount tubes, with a washer and wing nut for motor retention. No internal thrust rings, so I added 1/4" masking tape to the D12's.


 
Finished my LOC Viper III.
001.jpg


First flight will be on three D12-5's.
003.jpg


It came in 3.6 oz. overweight with a cold air baffle, kevlar shock cord and a 24" Top Flight chute. I used a bit of JB weld to hold a short piece of 6-32 all thread in the gap between motor mount tubes, with a washer and wing nut for motor retention. No internal thrust rings, so I added 1/4" masking tape to the D12's.



Real nice. Are those the LOC vinyl decals?
 
I expanded the tool collection. Ordered a Wen 4214 drill press. 12" swing, larger bench top. Actually want a bench top as I am going to build a table on wheels so I can move it around as I see fit.
 
I'm to vent the interstage via holes in the centering rings, that should partially depressurize the gap once it gets moving. using an engine hook per stage for 'plug and go' staging...should be an interesting 1st flight.
Rex
 
Congrats hobie1dog! That's an awesome feat.

Today for me: fillets on the 29MD build. Proline 4500 sure is pretty for fillets. I sure wish I had a data sheet on it so I knew more than "it's great."
 
Stickered 😡 and decaled my Hi-Flier, Yankee, and Lynx.
ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1484263532.850290.jpg
The peel-and-stick are horrible, but the water-slide decals for the Lynx were almost worse! I've done a fair amount of plastic modeling over the years and I've never seen decals made as poorly as these were. Typically, only the specific marking on the decal sheets are registered to slide off the backing paper they're printed on. This entire sheet was one large decal! Needless to say, I've got a bit of trimming to do once it's dried more. 😡

I also got primer sprayed on my Big Daddy.
ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1484263832.684774.jpg

I'm going to depart from my norm of finishing rockets per the face card and make this one look like an artillery round. 😉
 
Really bothers me about Tripoli, having to pay so much money each year, and not even getting a monthly magazine, and have to go through the recertification process if you lapse in your membership. :mad:
 
I am one of the people who has really taken advantage of the Tripoli rules change allowing NAR people to attend launches, so it only felt right that I kick into the coffers a bit. Besides, I have a bunch of decertified motors to burn, and the easiest way is at a Tripoli research launch, one of which I will be attending tomorrow. Also, as a chemist it is basically inevitable that I end up making my own motors, and I must admit the itch to try is getting stronger...after the L3 project is complete I think I may start mixing.
 
Really bothers me about Tripoli, having to pay so much money each year, and not even getting a monthly magazine, and have to go through the recertification process if you lapse in your membership. :mad:

Bi-monthly for NAR, to be fair. Tripoli is getting better with their online communications, there's a (bi-?)monthly newsletter being emailed now, that's something at least. As a member of both, I do think your $$ goes a bit farther with NAR, the other thing I really prefer with NAR is the 3-year membership option, it only saves a few bucks but it's so much less hassle to not have to renew every year (and fewer membership cards to print/send/receive, etc). I keep considering the lifetime membership option also, the cost feels high but I'm sure I'll end up spending that much in membership renewals (not planning on dropping out any time soon), so I really should just bite the bullet and save in the long-term. I won't comment on the re-cert, I can see pros and cons to each approach.
 
Really bothers me about Tripoli, having to pay so much money each year, and not even getting a monthly magazine, and have to go through the recertification process if you lapse in your membership. :mad:

NAR and TRA each have something unique to offer. I belong to both. The Sport Rocketry magazine is a nice benefit of NAR membership. The TRA insurance and ability to safely learn to make rocket motors are nice TRA benefits.
I've never understood the concern people have about redoing a certification. If a person did it once, it should be easy to certify again. If it's not easy to certify again then maybe that person shouldn't be certified.
 
NAR and TRA each have something unique to offer. I belong to both. The Sport Rocketry magazine is a nice benefit of NAR membership. The TRA insurance and ability to safely learn to make rocket motors are nice TRA benefits.
I've never understood the concern people have about redoing a certification. If a person did it once, it should be easy to certify again. If it's not easy to certify again then maybe that person shouldn't be certified.

If you live on disability income like I do, then having to spend more money on something you already did, just to satisfy the regulating board of an organization is hardship.
I realize that most people in this hobby have lots of discretionary income, just look at the proof on here. I think 70.00 per year membership is too much too IMHO
 
NAR and TRA each have something unique to offer. I belong to both. The Sport Rocketry magazine is a nice benefit of NAR membership. The TRA insurance and ability to safely learn to make rocket motors are nice TRA benefits.
I've never understood the concern people have about redoing a certification. If a person did it once, it should be easy to certify again. If it's not easy to certify again then maybe that person shouldn't be certified.

I think why most people are concerned is because the L3 process is lengthy and P.I.T.A., while I understand the reasons for the first one requiring a lot of paper work and oversight, a re-cert flight really needs to be nothing more than a successful flight since you have already proven that you could do the paperwork process already. Also most people don't just "lose" the knowledge to be L3 certified simply because they didn't pay their membership or decided to take a couple of years off.

I am with Hobie1dog on the finances issue as well, many fliers on TRF have larger budgets of fun money, most of us don't. For me L3 type motor flights are a once a year (most years) splurge, and L2 flights are limited as well, but I still enjoy the opportunity to make them.
 
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I am with Hobie1dog on the finances issue as well, many fliers on TRF have larger budgets of fun money, most of us don't. For me L3 type motor flights are a once a year (most years) splurge, and L2 flights are limited as well, but I still enjoy the opportunity to make them.

When I went to the Club launch 3 years ago after a 15 break, I looked around to see lots of people into LPR and wondering why they were shooting off 15.00 rockets with 5.00 motors in them. Now that I became unable to work and quickly ended up on disability and poor, I wonder if I will ever have the funds to get back into the hobby. Even having a motor for my Level 2 rocket, I still have to buy another motor to re-certify L1, join Tripoli, join the local club, so there is 150.00 .
I know the Ole saying, "if you wanna play, you gotta pay"
 
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