Upscale Starship Vega

Just the opposite you want a huge chute those fin pods are prone to easy damage.

For a variety of reasons, I am FINALLY getting around to launching this rocket for the first time on Saturday. It will go up on a 38mm I285R. I will have about a 10 to 1 thrust to weight ratio and expect about 1,250 feet.

I'm using the biggest chute I can stuff in the payload bay. However, I will not be surprised if one or more of the 5/16" dowel legs snap upon return. My plan is to replace them with ¼” stainless rods with internal threads.

I’ll post vides/pics. Wish me luck!

Good luck with the flight! I was told my 1/2" dowel legs would snap on landing, but they do just fine.
I am using a 70" Top Flight chute in mine, but it is cardboard, not FG..

Hi Chris. Look forward to see it fly. See ya at the field.

Please post vids especially on landing. Ive found its not the dowels but the tubing surrouding the dowels that takes the abuse. I used spring loaded landing gear in my up scales

The maiden launch of my Starship Vega did not go particular well. It sure looked pretty on the pad...



After the countdown, she lifted off (straight as an arrow) with a distinct Red Flame from the I285R reload. It was really cool during the burn phase. Unfortunately, at about 600-700 ft, things got squirrelly. I believe one of the landing pods dislodged causing a main fin to flutter and break free.

Adding salt to the wound, I videoed the flight with my Canon EOS Rebel and somehow had it out of focus. Here's the crappy video...

[video=youtube;_ANSTa61fiI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ANSTa61fiI&list=UUlpeO6TkqR9AA-tYQbieDXw[/video]

Clearly, I underestimated the drag/stress on the landing pods. Also, I think I need to stick to longer burn / lower AVE thrust motors. A 5-to-1 thrust to weight ratio would have been a better choice.

The good news is, it will be relatively easy to fix. I plan to add a lot more reinforcement on the rebuild.

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As long as I'm sharing my woes of the day, I also put up my HyperLOC 1600 on an M1500G. The flight was picture perfect...

[video=youtube;DWePWzoMxS4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWePWzoMxS4&list=UUlpeO6TkqR9AA-tYQbieDXw[/video]

It reached 9,850 ft. We heard the drogue separation at apogee but lost sight of it until about 2000 feet. The main deployed perfectly (right over the southern tree line)...



It was at least 100 feet up in a tree. Using my wrist rocket (slingshot), fishing line, rope, and a whole lot of determination, I got it down (3 hours later - with zippers in the mainframe and payload bay)!

On the bright side - both rockets will fly again and I have a couple rocketry projects on my plate now.

Sorry to see you have a tough day Chris. My brother wasn't doing good with the heat so I had to bail out before your M flight. Get them fixed and let's see them fly again.

Bill

Bummer but glad its fixable! if you need replacment decals they are covered under my crash protection warranty... replacements are 1/2 price!

those big fins are really tough to do especially if they go fast! good luck with the rebuild!

Sorry to hear of the injuries. I hope both patients are back on the flight line soon!!!

csoechtig said:

Actually, that is a good point. Fiber-glassed rockets fare better with tree and/or swamp recovery.

One other I forgot to mention... using Fiberglass on thin plywood is a great way to ensure they are perfectly FLAT. Here is what I've done with the 6 of the 9 fins (so far)...

• Lay 1 sheet of Parchment paper on top of pane of glass
• Organize fins to maximize space and still leave room for Dremel work
• Apply two layers of Fiberglass 2 layers of 5.79 oz fiberglass (using West Epoxy)
• Apply 1 sheet of peel ply (for a nice smooth finish)
• Lay 1 sheet of Parchment paper on top of peel ply
• Place second pane of glass on top (with added weight to ensure fins lay flat)

View attachment 162840

• Let Dry
• Flip over and repeat for other side

Here they are... perfectly flat and tough as nails.

View attachment 162859

Next, I need to cut them out with a Dremel (diamond blade preferred). Then, apply a little filler for minor imperfections and sand them.

Click to expand...

Sorry for changing the subject back to a previous topic, I'm little behind on the rest of the thread, but I saw your post on fiberglassing fins and had a question. I'm about to start glassing fins on a rocket of mine. Do you leave the parchment paper attached to the fins once they are done? And if not, Would it make a difference using wax paper instead of parchment paper? Thanks!

RAHagen said:

Sorry for changing the subject back to a previous topic, I'm little behind on the rest of the thread, but I saw your post on fiberglassing fins and had a question. I'm about to start glassing fins on a rocket of mine. Do you leave the parchment paper attached to the fins once they are done? And if not, Would it make a difference using wax paper instead of parchment paper? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Parchment paper will easily peel off. You do not want to leave it attached to the fins. Wax Paper should work fine as well.

Good Luck.

sorry about the fin hope its easily repairable. You really have to watch the thrust on these rockets as the caliper is about 4-1 on the fins they stick out there quite abit. I build a slot in the body tube and bolt the fins on. Easy to remove, replace, and transport.

She’s alive!!!! I’ve made all the repairs to my Vega upscale and am ready for flight #2. I was hoping to put her up last Saturday, but the launch was scrubbed due to rain.

After evaluating damage from flight 1, I believe drag on the landing pods caused the shred. One of the pods completely disconnected from a main fin (in flight). The other two were cracking and loose. The reason this happened was because the pods are made of balsa. In fact, I could see where a thin layer of balsa wood chipped off the disconnected pod. Once the pod disconnected, I believe it created excessive fin flutter on the oversized main fin causing it to dislodge from the mainframe (even with through the wall mounting).

Here’s how I went about the repairs…
1. Removed the other two landing pods
2. Applied strips of Fiberglass to the landing pods where the Balsa wood meets the main fins
3. Reattached the pods and further secured them with epoxy fillets
4. Reattached main fin
5. Used Wildman’s technique of injected fillets for all the main fins
6. Replaced the wood dowel landing gear with ½ aluminum tubing
7. Masked off decals and touched up paint

The rocket weighs about ¾ lb. more than it did before (8.5 lbs. on the pad). I have a lot more confidence with the ‘UP’ part this time and have an I211W teed up and ready to go. This motor produces an average thrust of 45 lbs equating to a 5.3 to 1 thrust to weight ratio.

I-211 should be a better choice on a 3" vega. I have used I-284 on a 4" vega with no shredding.

Flew my Starship Vega on an I211W last Saturday. All of the reinforcement worked beautifully. It peaked at 1,100ft with drogue at apogee and Main at 600ft. My biggest concern was the touch-down. The rocket weighs about 8.5lbs. Even with the modified nose cone, I can only fit a 60" chute in the payload section.

As you can see in the video, the flight was very nice and the DD worked as planed. At first, I thought the chute did not deploy all the way, but it did. It was just undersized for the rocket.

I have slight damage to 2 of the landing pods. it should be a relatively easy fix. Next time I am going to reconfigure the recovery so it comes down in 2 pieces under 2 separate chutes.

[video=youtube;kKVUzOEcpY8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKVUzOEcpY8[/video]

Nicely done!

Mine does very well on a 70" Top Flight chute. That being said, mine is cardboard, I fly single deploy and I have to fold it VERY carefully to make it fit.

qquake2k said:

Nice flight! Could you increase the size of the drogue to slow the descent rate?

Click to expand...

Thanks Quake,

I don't think a bigger drogue will help the situation. I'm either going to configure the rocket to descend under 2 separate chutes (one chute for the Nosecone, Payload, and AV bay and a bigger chute for the mainframe.

Or, I'll rig the rocket for single deploy.... (one Drogue charge with motor deploy as back up). I can easily pack a 78" chute in the mainframe.