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Thanks Nute!! Here it is finished(other then clear) just got to tie parachute & shock cord on which I'll wait till I test clear coat on this copper. It's tall!! looks like I might be flying it on remeberance day(nov 11) I'll keep you posted on how it does with its first flight.
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I wish I had the time and patience to get such a nice paint job on my rockets. I rushed my Argent to get it ready, and used tape for some of the stripes ( I went with the original paint scheme)
Will this be your first launch with the larger composite motors?
 
No, not my first composite motor launch, I've shot 3-4 off this summer with my buddies rocket. All we tried so far is estes brand f26,f50, no g's yet as I'd have to order them cause no where stocks them. but I do plan on sticking a g in Copper Top, maybe even a h if my buddy gets his level 1 cert.
 
Nice, composite propellant should be a controlled substance; I've found it to be highly addictive:wink:

The F26s are nice, I flew my Argent on one, I love those smokey motors personally! The G motors are seriously cool, Estes has the G80 and G40, I haven't flown either, but the G40 should be fun!
It looks like it should fly nice, an F50 oughtta give it a nice ride.
 
ya I like the smokey motors too. So it looks like I'm going launching this weekend, my buddy(co-founder of cranbrook rocket club) is coming down with his new creation, it was a estes magician with a 24mm motor mount, he conveted it to a 29mm motor mount, the motor mount is size of bt & fins are attached to mm. Other mods are we put a longer, stronger shock cord on it, he added a swivel to each the shock cord & parachute.
Recommended first flight: D9, he using f50, he was talking about using a smaller chute so it doesn't get carried away since we think it will go pretty high, I really want to put my cam & altimeter on it, but I'm not going to cause I'm afraid it will be gone, if anyone can run a sim for it that would be cool, I tried but I could not find the estes magician nor do I know how to use the rocket sim software yet. I'll get him to wiegh it when he gets here in the morn.
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I've got a rough openrocket file, can you tell me the empty weight, and where the CG is?
looks like your probably gonna be in the 2000 ft. range with an F50!
 
F50 puts it to 2380 ft, and about 8 sec. of delay is good.
just for fun, a G80 puts it to over 3300 ft, and the largest 29mm motor, an I243 puts it to over 6000 ft at mach 1.75!
 
Thanks alot nute! that info is awesome, it prob saved his rocket, as it we were getting our first snowfall & were thinking of shooting it on the f50, but with that info we found out cloud line was at 1900' so we would've lost sight of it, and thats never good. So with that said we didn't shoot any rockets last weekend since it was snowing & I'm a snow contractor so I got busy real fast, but again with that said I got alot of time I'm sitting around waiting for the snow to accumulate...so I figured what better way to keep busy while I wait for snow then to build another rocket. So I went to my hobby store & bought the biggest one they had in stock, it is a estes air commander. It is a 2 stage kit that is powered by c-11 or d size motors, I plan on making it work on e's...atleast for the main stage. The store only had 2 of these kits & both had 2 tubes squished(same tubes) so I assume it came from estes like that, they are both motor tubes so I dont think it will affect the model. Here is a few pics, including one of me plowing a residential house.
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Anytime, CRC, glad to help!
I didn't realize you were in Canada, for a minute there I wondered where it was snowing...
The air commander looks like an interesting build, probably a real high flier. if you plan on converting it to take the heavier E motors you may have to add a bit of nose weight to keep it stable. Theoretically it would just the difference in weight between a D12 and an E9.
 
Ya I was wondering of I'd have to add nose weight, we will see when the build is done(not that I know how to tell if & how much weight I'd need) I am adding a bit of weight near the nose cause I'm making a payload bay instead of just gluing nose together. I'm actually really liking this kit sofar.
So what I've done sofar is:
built fins
Add a small trifold shockcoard to payload bay tube & nose cone, I used a E-engine mount in the rocket instead of the shorter c-11/d engine tube it came with.
The booster will be stock(c-11/d) as I didnt have the parts is convert that to E size
I rounded all the fins, filleted the booster fins
I only got 3 fins on sofar & 1 wood strip, soon it will be time to think about paint :D
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I'm going into paint with me converted air commander, big prob is when I was installing the e engine mount in the rocket, the engine mount seized with the glue, I could not get it in any further. I started to destroy the bt,coupler & engine mount so I had to stop trying to get it in(all this in a matter of 60sec) the booster does not fit into the bt as a result. I'm hoping it will still work since it just barely connects & the engines will be taped together kinda.
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That stinks about the glue seizing. Other than that she looks real nice! I had the same problem on my vagabond putting the two tubes together. I think it'll work fine, someone launched an air commander at our last club launch. Flew great on, I believe, C11-0 to D12-7. Great flight, real high despite the relatively conservative motor choice. If you ever put an E in the upper stage you may want to get a spotter, you're probably gonna hit 2000. I can run a sim when I get home if you like.

Nate
 
C11-0 and d12-7..hmmmmm I'll be going d12-0 and e12-6 with it. That would be awesome if you could run a sim of it with d & e motors, thanks I'm going to go tape it up and lay down the first colour. I'll post pic of it in a few hrs, after I get some paint on & tape off.
 
That is gonna be a really cool flight!
assuming it turns out kinda heavy at 5 oz, and you give it a really nice smooth finish, OR is saying a bit over 2400 ft! did you bevel the fins? that can add significant altitude. in this case from about 2200 ft. to about 2400 ft.

Nate
 
Nice 2200-2400' My fins are rounded more then beveled(see pic above) I'm curious as to what the finished weight will be. Thanks again Nute for running the sim for me.
I got some paint on, hard part is not touching it for a day :( Tomorrow if I got time I'll put the next colour on.
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CRC said:
Nice 2200-2400' My fins are rounded more then beveled(see pic above) I'm curious as to what the finished weight will be. Thanks again Nute for running the sim for me.
I got some paint on, hard part is not touching it for a day :( Tomorrow if I got time I'll put the next colour on.
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No problem, CRC
The paint scheme is looking cool, and I totally agree about having to not touch it! Personally I always wanna do a dry fit, see how everything is gonna look, etc.
as far as the weight goes, estes says it's only supposed to weigh about 3.5 oz, but I've found that the kits almost always turn out heavy.

Nate
 
What does everyone think, will a 6sec delay be ok for this rocket? I'll be using an e12-6 and when I use booster I'll use d12-0 with the e12-6
 
CRC said:
What does everyone think, will a 6sec delay be ok for this rocket? I'll be using an e12-6 and when I use booster I'll use d12-0 with the e12-6
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A lot of this will have to do with your final weight of the rocket, but it looks like, based partly on sims, that 6 sec. delay will be a bit short, mostly in the single stage configuration, when the perfect delay is a bit over 6.25 secs. in the 2 stage configuration, about 8 secs. is ideal. You'll probably be okay with the 6 sec. delay depending on final weight.

Nate
 
I got my new rocket finished other then clear & a reflective stripe I'm adding to the top(about 2" below nosecone) Looks like I might get to fly it this weekend(in the snow?) I'll dig out the triple beams in the morn & weigh it. I also added a swivle to the chute. The C is for Canada :)
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I managed to get out flying this weekend, flew Copper Top(argent) & Canadian Commander(air commander) first flights. It was cold so our rocket cam,altimeter & even 1 cell phone died from the cold so footage was limited, also my buddy flew and lost his modified rocket, we learned that while the swivles we installed are great at keeping chutes untangled, they are bad cause they fly forever with a perfectly open chute! We both reached well over 2000' so that good as well as our prototype invention also worked great(I'll post more info as we develope it)
Anyway fast forward to monday morn....I got this in the mail. Here is a few pics :wink: Time to go buy some superglue. Fist impression of my first non estes kit...I'm glad I picket this kit, cause it looks awesome!!! Glancing through the pieces & instructions I'd say Gary(the kit designer it says) did an awesome job designing this kit!!!! I dont think I want to change anything. only thing I wonder is if I should use epoxy is some places insted of CA glue, I'm worried the CA will be brittle when I fly it in the cold, any input anybody?
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I've been flying a couple Aerotech rockets built to the instructions for a few years (couple flights per year), and have had no issues.
 
CRC said:
I managed to get out flying this weekend, flew Copper Top(argent) & Canadian Commander(air commander) first flights. It was cold so our rocket cam,altimeter & even 1 cell phone died from the cold so footage was limited, also my buddy flew and lost his modified rocket, we learned that while the swivles we installed are great at keeping chutes untangled, they are bad cause they fly forever with a perfectly open chute! We both reached well over 2000' so that good as well as our prototype invention also worked great(I'll post more info as we develope it)
Anyway fast forward to monday morn....I got this in the mail. Here is a few pics :wink: Time to go buy some superglue. Fist impression of my first non estes kit...I'm glad I picket this kit, cause it looks awesome!!! Glancing through the pieces & instructions I'd say Gary(the kit designer it says) did an awesome job designing this kit!!!! I dont think I want to change anything. only thing I wonder is if I should use epoxy is some places insted of CA glue, I'm worried the CA will be brittle when I fly it in the cold, any input anybody?
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Congrats on succesful flights!
I like the name you gave to your Air commander!;)
At a launch a little while back, one of the club members flew an Aerraux for a great light on an F27R, from what I hear and have seen it's a great kit, will look forward to watching the build, as I am hoping to get my first Aerotech kit for Christmas.
was the rocket that drifted away the Magician?
 
chadrog said:
I've been flying a couple Aerotech rockets built to the instructions for a few years (couple flights per year), and have had no issues.
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Good to know, I read somewhere here that a guy has a arreaux he flew over 100 times, I wonder how that was build. Have you flown them in below 0c/freezing temps?

nute said:
Congrats on succesful flights!
I like the name you gave to your Air commander!;)
At a launch a little while back, one of the club members flew an Aerraux for a great light on an F27R, from what I hear and have seen it's a great kit, will look forward to watching the build, as I am hoping to get my first Aerotech kit for Christmas.
was the rocket that drifted away the Magician?
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Thank you nute, I just finished the video from our last 2 launches, I'll upload it to youtube soon & post a link here. Yes it was the Magician that drifted away, really we might of been tracking just the nose cone since he said F-it & used his F50-4 even though I told him to save it & get a F-50-8 or atleast a 6 sec delay, but nooo he had to fly it. We dont even really got any footage of it as it took off like a bullet & was over 1500' in a blink of the eye. I was the far back camera but my phone turned off due to the cold so that vid got deleted. You will see in the vid. I will be sure to post pics of this build.
 
CRC said:
Good to know, I read somewhere here that a guy has a arreaux he flew over 100 times, I wonder how that was build. Have you flown them in below 0c/freezing temps?
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No, but pretty darn close - single digits.
 
CRC said:
I managed to get out flying this weekend, flew Copper Top(argent) & Canadian Commander(air commander) first flights. It was cold so our rocket cam,altimeter & even 1 cell phone died from the cold so footage was limited, also my buddy flew and lost his modified rocket, we learned that while the swivles we installed are great at keeping chutes untangled, they are bad cause they fly forever with a perfectly open chute! We both reached well over 2000' so that good as well as our prototype invention also worked great(I'll post more info as we develope it)
Anyway fast forward to monday morn....I got this in the mail. Here is a few pics :wink: Time to go buy some superglue. Fist impression of my first non estes kit...I'm glad I picket this kit, cause it looks awesome!!! Glancing through the pieces & instructions I'd say Gary(the kit designer it says) did an awesome job designing this kit!!!! I dont think I want to change anything. only thing I wonder is if I should use epoxy is some places insted of CA glue, I'm worried the CA will be brittle when I fly it in the cold, any input anybody?
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I built mine using a combination of CA (superglue) and 15min epoxy. I've flown it three times (once in chilly weather) and it's preformed flawlessly each time. If you intend to fly non-Aerotech/PSII motors in her, you will have to remove the engine block & clip and use a screw on retainer like the Estes Pro series II ones or an Aero Pack (which is what I used on mine).
 

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rocketgeek101 said:
I built mine using a combination of CA (superglue) and 15min epoxy. I've flown it three times (once in chilly weather) and it's preformed flawlessly each time. If you intend to fly non-Aerotech/PSII motors in her, you will have to remove the engine block & clip and use a screw on retainer like the Estes Pro series II ones or an Aero Pack (which is what I used on mine).
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Great info, thanks. I do want to get an aerotech 29mm reloadable casing one day soon. Can I use that with the engine hook?(since I already glued it in) other then that I will prob only use estes psII f-g motors. Where did you use epoxy on yours?

Fuse Eh! said:
Nice touch; looks great!
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Thanks.
 
CRC said:
Great info, thanks. I do want to get an aerotech 29mm reloadable casing one day soon. Can I use that with the engine hook?(since I already glued it in) other then that I will prob only use estes psII f-g motors. Where did you use epoxy on yours?
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I assume your talking about the 29/40-120 casing? If so it will work in all Aerotech kits without modification. Not sure if that's still the case with the Rouse-Tech HPR cases. I know for a fact that CTI motors will not really fit unless you do the modifications I did (the 29/40-120 will still work fine with these modifications).

Another thing to consider is adding a short length of Kevlar shock cord from the eyebolt on the motor mount to just above the top of the booster, as it will help protect the elastic cord from being damaged (and if the elastic gets damaged it will be easier to replace).

I used CA for assembling the motor mount, and epoxy for the fins, fin fillets (both internal and external), and the coupler (though I think I used CA for the bulkhead that goes on top of the coupler).
 

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