Rocketry Warehouse Hellfire

Has anyone, aside from Gary T. flown this kit yet? First flight for mine is on Saturday. I was wondering what size charges were used. Right now, I have 2.5g charges. I was thinking of upping it to at least 3.5 to move the forward section, which is heavy and to break the three shear pins up top.

berlinetta said:

Has anyone, aside from Gary T. flown this kit yet? First flight for mine is on Saturday. I was wondering what size charges were used. Right now, I have 2.5g charges. I was thinking of upping it to at least 3.5 to move the forward section, which is heavy and to break the three shear pins up top.

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Well, ground test it and find what you're comfortable with.

Have one, haven't built it yet.

Cool factor--off the charts

Tim, cool factor is way off the charts.

Carvac, I don't think my job would appreciate me ground testing. It won't be nice enough out for that til I go back to work Thursday.

There is 20' of 9/16" TN at each end. The forward section is quite heavy.

berlinetta said:

Tim, cool factor is way off the charts.

Carvac, I don't think my job would appreciate me ground testing. It won't be nice enough out for that til I go back to work Thursday.

There is 20' of 9/16" TN at each end. The forward section is quite heavy.

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Personally, I won't fly a rocket that has not been ground tested.

i was looking at the Hellfire kit on RW site. The upper section with coupler and nosecone shoulder installed only leaves you about 10" of space. 2.5 grams is plenty. Remember when charge goes off the 2 rocket sections move apart not like a ground test where the booster tube is setting on the ground. I have only used 4 grams for 6" rockets with 20" of payload space.
gp

Thanks crossfire. My coupler is a little longer as I had them include a switchband.

3.5g is way to much. 1.5g for upper and lower should be plenty, but as suggested ground test. I also use (2) 2-56 Shear pins in the NC and Av-Bay. Also glad you guys like the kit, my 6" is one of my favorite rockets.

Mine is a bit heavy at 10lbs but here are some of my flights for referencece.

Cd is 0.56

J540R - 3887'
J449BS - 4588'
K740CS - 6537'

Without motor, mine is 8 pounds 12 oz. I have 3 2-56 shear pins because of the added weight in the nose. I will stick to the 2.5g. Thanks guys.

Gary, you coming up on Saturday?

Pete Cmass? not sure yet, what motor? Whats the waiver again?

J350. I think it is 4K.

berlinetta said:

J350. I think it is 4K.

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I'm guessing 2400' lemme know.

CMASS is expecting a large turnout tomorrow because it will be the best weather for an April launch at Amesbury with low ground level winds and an even lower to no winds aloft.

Ground test it at the field before you launch. We don't want it coming in ballistic.

BTW the waiver altitude is 4900' AGL, and I expect several 4000+ flights.

See you tomorrow.

Bob

GaryT said:

3.5g is way to much. 1.5g for upper and lower should be plenty, but as suggested ground test. I also use (2) 2-56 Shear pins in the NC and Av-Bay. Also glad you guys like the kit, my 6" is one of my favorite rockets.

Mine is a bit heavy at 10lbs but here are some of my flights for referencece.

Cd is 0.56

J540R - 3887'
J449BS - 4588'
K740CS - 6537'

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DUDE! thats pretty...

Pete, Should of used the 1.5 like I said, good thing you didn't go with the 3.5g huh. What you get for altitude?

DUDE! thats pretty...

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Thanks Jake

2.5g snapped the shock cord. The booster came in hot, but safely away from everyone. Four fillets needed to be repaired and lightly hammer a fin back in, which is done. I also had to repair a shear pin hole as well (2.5g is too much up top too, lol). All I need to do is replace the shock cord now and I am good.

To answer your question, Gary, I got 2,088 feet. I have video of the up part, which was perfectly straight. For its next flight, I will go down to the suggested 1.5g. Gary, great design. I love it.

Well I am well along now building this kit for LDRS next year. I am really considering putting the drogue in the payload bay on this kit as the booster has more room to hold a main. Have others done this? If not, what size and brand of main did you use to get it in the 6" of payload space? BTW, yes, I know I could open up the nosecone and recover some space in the payload, but I have reservations about using the inside of a standard fiberglass nosecone (as with it's rough internals I have had my recovery bag get hung up in the past).

dixontj93060 said:

Well I am well along now building this kit for LDRS next year. I am really considering putting the drogue in the payload bay on this kit as the booster has more room to hold a main. Have others done this? If not, what size and brand of main did you use to get it in the 6" of payload space? BTW, yes, I know I could open up the nosecone and recover some space in the payload, but I have reservations about using the inside of a standard fiberglass nosecone (as with it's rough internals I have had my recovery bag get hung up in the past).

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Have you considered coating the inside of the cone with Superfil or some equivalent? Wouldn't have to be smooth as a baby's bottom, but reducing any snags could make this a possibility.

patelldp said:

Have you considered coating the inside of the cone with Superfil or some equivalent? Wouldn't have to be smooth as a baby's bottom, but reducing any snags could make this a possibility.

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Yes, but am wanting to save the extra time and effort as I have five new FG rockets I'm trying to get ready for LDRS including a 3/4 scale Nike Smoke. The idea is to get through these small ones (Darkstar Extreme, Madcow 4/5.5" Honest John, Madcow Tomach 54 and RW Hellfire) quickly and have dedicated time for the Nike Smoke come February.

dixontj93060 said:

Yes, but am wanting to save the extra time and effort as I have five new FG rockets I'm trying to get ready for LDRS including a 3/4 scale Nike Smoke. The idea is to get through these small ones (Darkstar Extreme, Madcow 4/5.5" Honest John, Madcow Tomach 54 and RW Hellfire) quickly and have dedicated time for the Nike Smoke come February.

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When I built my gizmo for the parachute duration dragrace years ago, I lined the inside of the nosecone with fiberglass and inserted a balloon and inflated it when the epoxy was wet. It turned out very smooth...didn't even need to sand it.

Well, right now I really want to get my Hellfire back in the air. I put together a J275W for it and it never ended up flying as the altimeter wouldn't read both charges, which were 1.5 grams. I put together new charges with different wires and the altimeter read them both. The wires that weren't being read were the charge wires from Newton's 3rd. The ones that are fine are the ones I had to put together using the wiring I bought from AMW/Pro-X. Now I just have to wait for the first launch I can get to in Maine to fly that rocket/motor combo.

The Hellfire will fly on the J275W on the 26th in Amesbury. The charges are at 1.5g each as suggested. Gonna be a crowd pleaser for sure.