Level 1 Certification Success With Estes Leviathan

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ksm2001

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2011
Messages
322
Reaction score
27
Yesterday our Edmonton Rocketry club had our “Fire & Ice” High power launch. I decided to go for my Level 1 Certification flight using my Estes Leviathan on a CTI H87-9. Launch, flight, recovery and post inspection all successful. I was very excited and nervous to say the least in hoping a successful certification. I took the video and after the drive home had to take a look to really observe the flight.

[YOUTUBE]O_9X3Va1I-Q&feature[/YOUTUBE]
Ken
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the HPR club! Prepare to have your wallet deflated!
 
Congrats on Level 1.
Good looking bird, I would have never thought of using an Estes bird for High Power.
I do fly upscales of old Estes designs and I love them.

Estes made the coolest Rockets around for many years.
 
Congratulations!


(Dig the paint job, too!)


Later!

--Coop
 
Congratulations. I did my Level 1 this fall and am now making several vendors very happy. :)

I go to the south-eastern part of Alberta every summer to do field work. It's hot but I think I prefer it over your cold winters! :eyepop: Looks a bit chilly in your video.
 
Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the comments.
I've seen other postings on level 1 flights with the Estes pro series so I figured I'd use a small H and go for it since the opportunity was here. Originally I was going to wait until I had my Darkstar Jr built and fly it this summer at another high power launch, but talking to the guys from our club I decided to try the Leviathan for level 1 and use the Darkstar Jr for Level 2. And yes I can see myself having a lighter wallet now, the only downfall but worth the excitement lol.

Ken
 
Congratulations. I did my Level 1 this fall and am now making several vendors very happy. :)

I go to the south-eastern part of Alberta every summer to do field work. It's hot but I think I prefer it over your cold winters! :eyepop: Looks a bit chilly in your video.

The temperature yesterday was a balmy +2C, for us that's warm at this time of the year lol. Actually it was quite nice, almost 0 wind on the ground and only a few mph at 500+ ft. The 1.5' deep snow did made for a good retrieval workout so the temperature helped us fliers. I prefer warm summer weather also but the next high power launch in Alberta isn't until July at Rock Lake southern Alberta 6 hrs from here.
 
Love the winter flying! Our club has a New Years Day launch in Western NY. This year it was 23F (-5C), and 14mph winds brought the wind chill down to -5F (-21C) and there was a foot of snow on the ground. We had a nice fire, lots of hot cocoa, chili, coffee, and other hot soups to go around. Our event even featured "snowmobile recovery" for those rockets that drifted with the wind. Apart from some Estes 24mm BP motor failures, it was a great day. Everyone had fun.

Congratulations on your L1 and your rocket is gorgeous. Those building and painting skills are going to come in handy for your L2.
 
Last edited:
Congratulations on your Level 1 Certification. :handshake:

I obtained my Level 1 with a Leviathan also because I realize the value in keeping things simple. I was really nervous that day so I can empathize with you! Keep us informed on your Dark Star Jr Level 2 build so we can live vicariously through you.
 
Congrats on your L1!!! That looks like some pretty deep snow to contend with!
 
Congrats! Nice paint job too! I'd like to get my L1 on my Leviathan if the weather would ever cooperate. It's either raining, too wet, or too windy!
 
Thanks guys for the kind replies.

A few things I had to do to be able to fly it on an H was to put a 1/8" vent hole in the body tube, I used Kevlar to tie the shock cord and chute to instead of the nose cone eye and had to add nose weight. 3 oz to get it to a 1.33 cal. Without it would be under 1 cal or at least mine was since I built it with a baffle. I was thinking how to fasten the weight without having to modify the nose cone and didn't want to cut into it or have weights hanging loose inside banging around.

This is what I came up with and the weights can easily be removed when flying F & G's since the Cal is above 1 then.
Each weight is a 1oz stick-on lead wheel weight that I put heat shrink tubing around. A hole is drilled in the middle of each to allow a 6/32 machine screw to go through.
I cut a 1/8" thick piece of hobby plywood to a width that just goes through the existing nose cone hole.
In the center of the plywood is a 6/32" blind nut to hold the machine screw.
The small screws on each end are small servo screws just to hold the plywood in place when the weights are removed.
Just a tip I wanted to add if anyone wants to use this idea.

Adding-Nose-Cone-Weight.jpgAdding-Nose-Cone-Weight2.jpg
 
Thanks guys for the kind replies.

A few things I had to do to be able to fly it on an H was to put a 1/8" vent hole in the body tube, I used Kevlar to tie the shock cord and chute to instead of the nose cone eye and had to add nose weight. 3 oz to get it to a 1.33 cal. Without it would be under 1 cal or at least mine was since I built it with a baffle. I was thinking how to fasten the weight without having to modify the nose cone and didn't want to cut into it or have weights hanging loose inside banging around.

This is what I came up with and the weights can easily be removed when flying F & G's since the Cal is above 1 then.
Each weight is a 1oz stick-on lead wheel weight that I put heat shrink tubing around. A hole is drilled in the middle of each to allow a 6/32 machine screw to go through.
I cut a 1/8" thick piece of hobby plywood to a width that just goes through the existing nose cone hole.
In the center of the plywood is a 6/32" blind nut to hold the machine screw.
The small screws on each end are small servo screws just to hold the plywood in place when the weights are removed.
Just a tip I wanted to add if anyone wants to use this idea.

View attachment 118638View attachment 118639

That's a really great idea!

The only issue that I see is that the weight at the base of the shoulder is less effective than putting it at the tip of the cone. Therefore, you'll need to use more lead to get the same effect as less at the tip. Not sure the magnitude of this difference.

Your finished product is very clean. Great to see more uses for heat shrink tubing. Love that stuff.
 
Congrats! Nice paint job too! I'd like to get my L1 on my Leviathan if the weather would ever cooperate. It's either raining, too wet, or too windy!

Build a bigger rocket that is really a L1 rocket and use that instead of the Leviathan for your cert. Something about 4 - 6 lbs will get a lot less altitude on a small H and you don't have to be so concerned with wind. If you make it 38mm you can fly I motors on the calm days. The Leviathan is a MPR. You can cert with it on a baby H, but if you really want to fly the full range of H & I motors, you will have to get something bigger anyway. Why not just build it to cert with?
 
Build a bigger rocket that is really a L1 rocket and use that instead of the Leviathan for your cert. Something about 4 - 6 lbs will get a lot less altitude on a small H and you don't have to be so concerned with wind. If you make it 38mm you can fly I motors on the calm days. The Leviathan is a MPR. You can cert with it on a baby H, but if you really want to fly the full range of H & I motors, you will have to get something bigger anyway. Why not just build it to cert with?
No worries.....I'm gonna get thru my Piranha build, then turn my attention to my Fantom. I'd like to get it built by mid March. Shouldn't be much of a problem, looks pretty straight forward.
 
Thanks Dan for your comments.
I agree, the weight placed at the base of the shoulder would require more than if it was at the top part of the nose cone to achieve the same cg, but only did this as temporary so I had a rocket to fly my level 1 certification with. Its going back to flying F40, 52 and G64 now.

As I mentioned on post #9 I flew the Leviathan for my Level 1 Cert because I already had it for some time and the opportunity was here now instead of having to wait until this summer or possibly next year. Personally I wouldn't fly it on a bigger H in fear of shredding fins or even to many times on a small H. But I would recommend it if someone has one and its built well if they want to go for a level 1 Cert. But I'm really looking forward to flying the higher range H's in the Darkstar Jr once its built.

Those $$$$ signs just started getting into my vision now, is that normal? lol.

Ken
 
Someone yelled "Open your wallet" when I got my cert. So yeah... it's normal.


Heheh.


Later!

--Coop
 
Build a bigger rocket that is really a L1 rocket and use that instead of the Leviathan for your cert. Something about 4 - 6 lbs will get a lot less altitude on a small H and you don't have to be so concerned with wind. If you make it 38mm you can fly I motors on the calm days. The Leviathan is a MPR. You can cert with it on a baby H, but if you really want to fly the full range of H & I motors, you will have to get something bigger anyway. Why not just build it to cert with?


In Canada L1 is a H impulse.
L2 would be a I
L3 covers J, K, and L
L4 covers M and higher.

So he actually did build a rocket within the L1 specs.
 
Someone yelled "Open your wallet" when I got my cert. So yeah... it's normal.
--Coop

always someone with a wise comment, but true in this case. :lol:

Thanks rpedro
I was glad I managed to get the video and keep an eye on the rocket at the same time. I just pointed the camera in the general direction and hoped for the best, it was to bright out to see what was on the camera screen.
 
Last edited:
Congrats. The new Estes pros really make a level 1 easier and adds more choices. M
 
Thanks guys for the wonderful comments.

Chuck, yes the Estes Pro Series are tough enough to fly on lower impulse H motors for level 1 certification and affordable before moving up and emptying the wallet as many have mentioned.

I'm just in the priming stage of my Estes Pro Series II, Mega Der Red Max that my wife and kids got me this past Christmas and was thinking of flying that on a smaller H also. I fiber-glassed the balsa sheeted fins for added strength in case I want to try it. You could say the HP bug has set in :facepalm:

Ken
 
Last edited:
Back
Top