What did you do rocket wise today?

o1d_dude said:

Launched my Goblin 5.5" on an AT I366R at the April Fools Day launch at Snow Ranch.

Hit 1882' and it simmed at 1900' so I was only 18' off.

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Not bad. My KK simmed to 1738' and Saturday's flight reached 1745' so I over-shot by 7'

TangoJuliet said:

Look up at my post #16475. I had to order it on Amazon. I couldn't find it at HD or Lowe's in Mobile, AL, where I live or in Houma, LA, where I work! So far, I absolutely love it for finish fillets on LPR/MPR. I still use TBII for initial fin attachment, or 30 minute epoxy where needed.

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I have an old bottle or 2 at the homestead. It works great, I just haven't built anything that I would have wanted to use it in a while so it has been misplaced. Fat Daddy's fillets are Gorilla glue and wood flour, for example.

I will probably have to order it, but I'll give a look locally first. Waiting for it to arrive is not a big deal, I can't paint until I get home anyway...
Good thing about ordering is I can us AMEX points from the Company card to make purchases on Amazon.....
I think the last time I found it on the shelf was at an Ace Hardware, but that has been a couple years ago.

My local Ace has it, it's where I bought mine recently.

Zeus-cat said:

Drove over to Wapakoneta, OH to do some demonstration launches at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum with other members of the Wright Stuff Rocketeers (NAR #703). It was rocket day at the museum and people would stop by to watch before or after they visited the museum. The museum hosted a build and fly in the afternoon so we helped 10 or 12 kids to launch their first rocket.

Crimeny, it was cold out there. I launched 6 rockets. I would guess the guys in the club put up 50 or 60 in total. The field is slightly larger than a postage stamp, so mostly A, B and C motors and even a few D motors. The trees grabbed one of mine, but I knocked it loose with a pole. Another guy climbed a tree to get his rocket, but we knocked it loose with the pole before he got halfway up the tree. The Holiday Inn Express roof claimed one, but we pulled one off the carport at the front of the hotel after the rocket floated all the way over the hotel.

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I just heard that the guy who lost his rocket to a rocketing eating hotel got it back. A maintenance guy from the Holiday Inn Express went up on the roof and got it back this afternoon. Good thing as it started raining late today.

noffie79 said:

Nice! My girlfriend is building the same thing (not stretched) for her L1. Gonna fly at MWB as well.

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That's awesome Ryan, I remember reading your post about that, hope to have mine flyable by MWB. It will be good to see you there.

Fun Fin time, I'm not smoothing the fin edges - I want a nice square edges for maximum air whistle.



Also started on the black Saturday Wildman 3" punisher - 54mm hole. Pretty much following CJ's tutorial - thanks Jim
- washed all components
- marked frame, AV and NC
- Epoxied Switch band

Had a few adult beverages & soldered up my first Eggfinder Rx LCD. Including the reading & photo browsing, it took about 2.5 hours. It needed a little pot adjustment to make the LCD viewable, but it worked the first time.

Eggfinder is next, then an Eggfinder Mini (sometime after it ships, I guess).

Went to the doctor for shoulder pain I've been having for 6 months. Dr. thinks it's a pinched nerve in the neck. This is rocket related, because I think I did it when pulling a rocket out of a tree at Bong last year.

Testing on the Polecat BBIII is complete. All I need to do now is make it to a launch, get my written test done, and fly it.

[video=youtube;a1DEklu2YN8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1DEklu2YN8[/video]

I received a mysterious box at the front door, from this "Penrose Colorado" place.

Flyfalcons said:

Testing on the Polecat BBIII is complete. All I need to do now is make it to a launch, get my written test done, and fly it.

[video=youtube;a1DEklu2YN8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1DEklu2YN8[/video]

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That was way cool, do it again...do it again...do it again!!!

Glued the lower centering ring in place on the MDRM. Ran a sealing/hardening bead of glue along the aft edge of the fins. That's pretty much all I can do for now. Guess it is time to start another something..

Flyfalcons said:

Testing on the Polecat BBIII is complete. All I need to do now is make it to a launch, get my written test done, and fly it.

[video=youtube;a1DEklu2YN8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1DEklu2YN8[/video]

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Triple the length of that shock cord.

CORZERO said:

Triple the length of that shock cord.

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If you don't have a longer harness Ryan and you are at our May launch I can probably loan you my 25' kevlar OneBadHawk harness.

Bought a Quest Tomahawk last year as a precursor to my Level 2 rocket (modified Loc Cruiser). Little rocket: Tom, Big L2 rocket: Long Tom

Built it with my girlfriend before I moved off to work and she moved for Optometry school. I sent it with her so she could decorate it, and I Finally Got it Back on my trip to visit her last weekend!

Since she was going to Opt. school, she decided to draw the Optic Tract on it, so now its pink and has eyes. Thinking of renaming it OpTom


The fins got a little messed up in my suitcase on the return flight, but its nothing I can't fix.

CORZERO said:

Triple the length of that shock cord.

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May I ask, why? I know there is a thumb rule of 4X-5X the length of the rocket, but I was under the impression that is just a suggestion to help keep the "blow it out or blow it *** crowd from snapping cords. That video looks to me like he has a charge appropriate for the length of cord he has.....

(Not being a smarta$$, trying to learn something)

I'll throw my hat in with T-Rex too.

Never really liked the super-long cord "'rule'" as a solution to all recoveries.

Flyfalcons said:

Testing on the Polecat BBIII is complete. All I need to do now is make it to a launch, get my written test done, and fly it.

[video=youtube;a1DEklu2YN8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1DEklu2YN8[/video]

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That's a great looking rocket. Good luck on the L2 flight! As far as the harness, since that's your main, I think you'll be fine. If it were for the apogee deployment, I'd definitely go longer. I like the look of a longer recovery system when it comes down anyway.

Finished my One-way comms wireless launch controller... Finally!

Purchased 3 bottles of FFFFg, I traveled 4 hours to get there, so I will not return for few years.

I soldered an Eggfinder tonight. I did a quick smoke test inside to make sure the red light blinked. I took it outside & plugged it in again. It got a lock within 30 seconds with 6 satellites and picked up a 7th about 10 seconds later. The Mini is next!

T-Rex said:

May I ask, why? I know there is a thumb rule of 4X-5X the length of the rocket, but I was under the impression that is just a suggestion to help keep the "blow it out or blow it *** crowd from snapping cords. That video looks to me like he has a charge appropriate for the length of cord he has.....

(Not being a smarta$$, trying to learn something)

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Because it will help you to stop wrecking your rocket and reach L2.

xyz

CORZERO said:

Because it will help you to stop wrecking your rocket and reach L2.

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Thanks for the info there Richard!! I'll be sure to lengthen my shock cord before I fly the next time!

CORZERO said:

Because it will help you to stop wrecking your rocket and reach L2.

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But -why- that specific length? I'm familiar with up-or-out, zippers, shredded chutes, etc. Keeping the airstream clear, enough time / space to open, etc.

But 3x-5x still makes no sense to me. That's a huge range! And the same rule of thumb multiplied by the difference between a Big Daddy and a Mean Machine?

What -does- make sense to me is ensuring the length of the tether from the end of the airframe to the beginning of the shroudline is >~2.5x the length from the beginning of the shroudline to the apex of the flaked gores.

T-Rex said:

May I ask, why? I know there is a thumb rule of 4X-5X the length of the rocket, but I was under the impression that is just a suggestion to help keep the "blow it out or blow it *** crowd from snapping cords. That video looks to me like he has a charge appropriate for the length of cord he has.....

Click to expand...

I wouldn't necessarily triple it, but to me, it should be longer- maybe twice as long.

Reasons:

1. I'm one of the blow it up or blow it out crowd Personally i'd rather know that my chute is coming out one way or another for safety reasons, and that the shock cord won't snap due to a short length.
2. Longer cord means easier recovery when caught in a tree. Yes it could be more painful due to it being draped over multiple trees, but longer shock cords tend to allow you to have a section that's easier to grab. I don't think I've ever had a recovery where it would have gone much better if the shock cord was shorter.
3. Longer cord means the rocket is stretched out over more ground. Where I usually fly (Bong), there's lots of bushes, trees, etc. More square footage of rocket coverage on the ground means I'm more likely to stumble across it or see the cord stretched over something. No guarantees, but it does make it more visually "spottable".

I did some quick mental math, and I'd say all of my HPR capable rockets (flying G on up) have shock cords that are 4-5x the length of the rocket. I'm using kevlar cords.

FYI- the only drawbacks I can see to longer shock cord is that it's more expensive, and that it's more stuff to pack into the body tube.

Over the last week or so;
I've sanded the BT down to the Wizard from Hell replacement and is ready for fins.
Just about finished up sanding the Scrambler fins down, little touch up required before mounting.
Finished touching up the main fins for the Bullpup 12D and got them mounted, adding fillets now.
Got quotes for decals I don't have money for yet from StickerShock (Thanks Mark).
2 coats of TBIII on the Wizard fins, sanded and added one more coat to finish them off.
Put together an order at eRockets for parts I still need for the scrambler (don't have the money for that either)
including a nose cone for an original Estes Ranger a really nice TRF member sent me to build.
The nose cone was eaten partially by mice. I could probably save it with a once or so of wood putty...
but I'd rather replace it and keep the eaten up one for display.
Today the #1 thing I need to do is find a way to get my camera to work without batteries via USB cable.
I have some stuff to sell here on the forum to generate revenue for the parts and decals mentioned above.

placed an order with Madcow for a couple aeropack adapters

Briefly considered using my company email to request a quote from OATK for what is the equivalent of an X158,000 motor.
For curiosity and entertainment's sake of course

In case you've gotten bored with browsing Aerotech or Cesaroni's offerings lately:
https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/propulsion-systems/docs/2016 OA Motor Catalog.pdf

Drove eight hours, checked into a hotel in Easton Maryland. Bring on LDRS36!!!

Slathered CWF on MDRM fins.