maxvelocity
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- Joined
- May 16, 2011
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I have been wanting to build an 18mm version of my Crow rockets for quite a while now. Minimum diameter carbon fiber rockets with 7:1 fiberglass Von Karmen nose cones, single deploy at the top. Built for high altitudes and speeds. Once I saw the new 18mm longburn motors come out I knew now was the time. I had my buddy Ryan turn me a 7:1 VK plug for the nosecone and got to building. Yesterday I sprayed the cone with a few thick coats of primer so I can wet sand it nice and smooth in preparation for making the mold. I also layed up the body tube with two layers of carbon fiber and Raka epoxy. First thing this morning I pulled the tube off the mandrel and it came out very nice. It is now back on the mandrel curing fully. The rocket will use right around 10" of body tube possibly less once I figure out how everything is going to fit. The deployment and tracking as well as telemetry will be handled by a Telemini. The fins will be 1/32" carbon fiber plate. I haven't yet decided how I will do the coupler but I will likely measure the wall thickness of my tube and then turn a mandrel out of aluminum so that when i lay up the two layers it comes out to right diameter for a coupler. I am going to try to keep this as light as possible so that I can use the longburn motors without any issue. Right now with a few guesses on weights and lengths it sims to around 3100 feet on a D24. If I get close to 3000 I will be very happy. In fact I am making 3k my goal for this project. Tonight i will print out a template of the nosecone and trace it on to some G10 for my parting board. I am hoping I can have the mold finished by Friday and get my first cone popped out by next Monday. I plan to fly this rocket at our October Skies launch oct. 18-20 so I still have some decent time. Here is a picture of the plug before primer. More pictures tonight.