Level 3 Project-Black Brant II Scratch

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kenstarr

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Title says it all. Yesterday (3/29/2014) I met with my two TAP's and went over my initial plans, rocketry experience, etcetera. Last July I conceived an L3 idea by upscaling the Cosmodrome Black Brant II to a 6" nominal O.D. and then downscaling it to 3 inches and scratch building that. I was pleased and since January, I have been developing my ideas and tooling up. Now I've had the go-ahead from my advisors I can get building! The brief synopsis is as follows:

-Airframe tube was a 1/8" wall thickness, 6" I.D. cardboard tube from the carpet place up the road. It will be glassed with 2 layers of 8.9oz glass.
-Nose cone will be turned foam like I have done on projects in the past using the router and a rotisserie motor to rotate as I route.
-Fins will be glassed luan panel, glass in the center and a panel on each side with 2 layers of glass over that.
-Tail cone will be similar to the nose cone in turned foam construction.
-AV bay will be custom glassed tube.
-Electronics will be a RRC3 with an Adept DDC as backup.
-Motor will be a CTI 5 grain 75mm blue possibly.

Here is the rocksim file thus far and a screen shot of the project. As always, I invite comments and criticism.
Black Brant II cropped picture.jpg
 

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Excited for this one Ken! I hope it turns out at nice as that 3in.

Who are your TAPs?

Alex
 
Now that's what I call a scratch Level 3 attempt.............
Good for you,,,,,,,,,,
Fantastic plans,,,,
I hope all goes exactly as you plan...........
My greatest hopes for your success...........

Godspeed.............

Teddy
 
Excited for this one Ken! I hope it turns out at nice as that 3in.

Who are your TAPs?

Alex
For my TAPs I am going through Brad Overmoe and Rich Evans as they are local to our club. Don't hold your breath on the speed of this build but I'm hoping to fly at hellfire this year. Just did a 13 hour day at work. Anyhow, my first orders are to make fin stock and glass the airframe sections. Details will assuredly follow.
Ken
 
Here are a couple of pictures of the starting stages of my rocket. At this point, there is not really much to take a picture of unless sheets of foam, luan, rolls of fiberglass, and epoxy are your thing. Nonetheless I have a motor mount completed using the ol' motor-casing-as-a-mandrel trick I'm especially fond of. The picture shows only 2 sleeves but I did wrap those with 6 layers of 4 oz boat glass.
Motor Mount Making.jpg
I also had the babe pose with the raw airframe tubing courtesy of Jensen Flooring at a cost of NO DOLLARS or cents whatsoever! I will cut 2 sections to the approximate width of the 8.9 oz glass I will be using and get those completed and renamed "semi-raw airframe tubing".
Raw Airframe.jpg
-Ken (and The Babe)
 
Very cool you found 6" carpet tube . Like the stuff , I use 4" and 4.25" I have 4.5 and 3" but have not used it . Good luck
 
Actually it's not carpet tube although it came from a carpet store. It contained some sort of metal pieces that you use to hold down linoleum(?) or something. The guy pulled out the remaining few strips and gave me the tube. It has a wall thickness of .125" and an internal diameter of 6" giving an outer diameter of 6.25". Not too heavy duty but that's OK, hence the 8.9 oz mil-spec glass I will be using.
-Ken
 
Can't wait to see how this turns out. Your daughter is lovely. Best wishes for your L3.

I doubt I will ever get L3, but I can live vicariously through others. :wink:
 
Here is getting started on the fin stock Friday. My "table" consists of 2x4's, sawhorses, and a 2'x4' sheet of 3/4" MDF which will become just the back side of my compression tool. Using US Composites 3:1 laminating epoxy and 2 layers of 4 oz boat and tooling glass I layed up one side, placed the other side on it, placed another 3/4" sheet of MDF over the whole setup and then compressed to the best of my ability.
Luan Sandwich.jpgHigh Tech Compression.jpg
Today I pulled the sides off the fin stock and got started on the airframe and one side of the fin stock. I really had to think out my process and layout of workspace. Here is the work schematic I came up with late last night.
Workspace Layout for L3 project.jpg
-Ken
 
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Got busy Saturday on fin stock and airframe glassing. If it weren't so darned cold the process would be expedited somewhat with the epoxy curing. Anyway, here are some pictures of the setup just like in the schematic. Might I say, sawhorses and an abundance of 2x4's are the handiest thing ever!
DSCN0914.jpg DSCN0915.jpg DSCN0916.jpg
The finished airframe has a weight of .0831 lbs/inch if anyone wonders. Just have 2 more pieces of airframe to glass. One of the small pieces will get only one layer then cut to become a coupler and glassed with another layer.
-Ken
 
Made a teency bit of progress. Yes, I traced the fins on to the completed fin stock! Should be able to cut them out this Friday after which I will pin and sand edges to final dimensions. Outside edges will be rounded for convenience as well as appearance.
Fins Ready to Cut.jpg
Special, huh. Once I have all the parts built it be more like assembling a kit... that I built! Hopefully this weekend I can finish glassing the other airframe parts and get started a bit more on the fin can unit.
-Ken
 
More progress has been made! Got the rest of the airframe glassed, coupler tubes glassed (one layer of glass and tube to be slit lengthwise and reglassed), and fins cut out. Nothing really too photogenic. Fins look kinda cool though. Gave them a rough cut out but left the through-the-wall portion full length until I get the CR's cut for the motor tube. I used little C-clamps and pins made from dowels to keep them tight. To keep the pins in place, I hammered little wedges into the center of each pin. Worked real swell! I will be adding a hardwood half round edge to the fins for aesthetic reasons as well as making them easier to give the final glassing.
-Ken
 
Actual Real Work has been done on my rocket. Where shall I start... got all the airframe pieces glassed, fins cut out, tail cone made and some extra work done on the fins. I will start with some photos and explain each one briefly.
Stack of Fins.jpgGot each fin cut out and used C-clamps to keep them together while I did some sanding to make them all even. and while I drilled holes to pin them.

Ready to Drill.jpgTo lighten the fins, I decided to use a hole saw liberally upon the stack-o-fins. Also, the super deep root(?) edge is to be cut to fit shortly.

Fin Lite.jpgThe Swiss Cheese of fins. Each fin will be laid out on parchment paper and 2 part expanding foam poured in. Wound up looking like a fresh batch of assorted muffins.
Tailcone Beginnings.jpg Tailcone Concept.jpg It Has Rings.jpg
So the tailcone caused me a bit of ponderment. Originally I was going to turn it on the foam machine like the nose cone but ultimately I decided to print out a template on Rocksim, put that on cardstock, stick a cut centering ring in each end and fill it with foam. Paper was peeled off and the bare foam was covered in light weight spackling stuff in preparation for fiberglass. The aft end of this here aft end will have a thin plate of carbon fiber and an aeropack bolt-on retainer. Even as it is, I'm still pretty impressed with my workmanship and paper folding/foam pouring skills!
For the Fin Can unit, all I have left is to apply the half round dowling and give another layer of glass to them, then assemble including the wasp wast section. Let me say it has been quite helpful to have built this rocket already in a 3" diameter model!
-Ken
 
Ken,,,
Very, very impressive techniques,,,,,,,
Some great ideas,,,,,,,,,
Seriously cool........

What are the overall dimensions of this rocket,,,
and what are your hopes for all up weight...........

Teddy
 
Ken,,,
Very, very impressive techniques,,,,,,,
Some great ideas,,,,,,,,,
Seriously cool........

What are the overall dimensions of this rocket,,,
and what are your hopes for all up weight...........

Teddy
Rocket will be 126" from tip to tail although in actuality, the nose cone will probably lose several inches because I will have it substantially rounded UNLIKE the 3" model I built last year and subsequently impaled my hand on.
Overall weight is expected to be under 70 lbs but where almost EVERYTHING is being built from scratch, and in some cases, even the scratch is almost made from scratch, or so it seems.

Here are several more pictures of work done. Checked the ol' email and said I had a package delivered so went to the mailbox and sure enough, a very sexy looking bolt on Aeropac retainer. Behold! Combined with the nearly complete tailcone and motor tube I think it looks "pretty sweet I guess".
Retainer On.jpg The Swiss Cheese of Fins.jpg
Fins were filled with 2 part foam which was cut and sanded and a very thin layer of fluffy spackle applied to seal up the foam. Also note the half-round dowel edging. All exposed edges will be round for ease of glassing. Once the edge is finished I will give the fins another layer of glass. They will get the final layer as a tip-to-tip once the completed fin can is in the airframe.
-Ken
Oh yeah, looks as if I may be purchasing a kevlar harness from you Teddy!
 
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Today I'm pleased to announce a fin can has been constructed! Made it a bit harder because I have a through-the-fin centering ring and through-the-wall tailcone. I've also come to the conclusion I'm more of a "git r' done" type of guy as my techniques are nowhere near as polished as someone, say, John Coker. Someday maybe I'll be at the stage with various fancy jigs although it's no excuse I haven't built my Tmacklin fin alignment unit yet. Enough jabber, pictures or it didn't happen.

DSCN0931.jpg DSCN0932.jpg DSCN0933.jpgHere are some pictures of the slotted tail cone. Note the crude cutting of slots. IF I had a jig AND an indexing table/head oh wow it could be so nice and precise. Hey, this works though!

DSCN0934.jpg DSCN0935.jpg DSCN0936.jpg DSCN0937.jpgSo because I don't have a fin alignment jig I am using foam board templates. Took me awhile to figure out how to temporarily hold them on then I realized, HOT GLUE! Worked like a charm. Basically what I'm doing here is tacking the fins in place with 5 minute epoxy after which I will lay a layer of glass and laminating epoxy as the fillet internally. Let's just say, if I knew how well that durn hot glue held, I may have used that to tack the fins on!

DSCN0939.jpg Here she is in all her glory! A completed fin can! As for the motor retainer, that will be added near the end of the project to keep it all nice. Also there will be a thin carbon fiber plate down there as well mostly for cosmetic reasons.

Right now I have the fin can sitting in the garage with part of an airframe tube stuck on to the top of the fins to give me that big rocket feeling when I walk out side :D
Next operation will be cutting tubes to appropriate lengths and setting up for the nose cone which I am really quite excited about!
-Ken
 
Progress made thus far is simply adding the final layer of glass on the fins and thereby giving them the internal fillets. Got one set done yesterday, another today, and will finish that tomorrow. Hopefully I can do the nose come this weekend!
But...
Now I see Feckless Council is back at it, I hope I don't drool too much over his latest project.
Ken "Boss Rockets"
 
I am most pleased to announce that the fin can is FINished, tubes have been cut to length, and the nose cone was made over the weekend! The real beauty is the nose cone. Took a long time and I wished I had a CNC router cause that would have been trick! I've seen several pics on the internet with a "similar" setup as mine but with that fancy CNC mochine I can only dream about. Regardless of the lack of sophistication, a nose cone was fabricated to my pleasure and here are the pictures to prove it.

Nose Cone Fab (1).jpg Nose Cone Fab (2).jpg Nose Cone Fab (3).jpg
I made a crudely scale drawing of the nose cone to determine how many rings I would need and the radius thereof. Note my handy-dandy circle cutter for the dremmel tool! It just so happens that the threads on the dremmel match PVC close enough to make a screw-on device. For the purpose of cutting foam, it works perfectly with the appropriate bit. After each piece was cut out, it was placed on a 1/2"-13 threaded rod along with the NC shoulder and the whole kebab hooked up to the rotisserie motor. Mmmm, foam. The rotisserie was a tat bit to slow for my liking but it worked just fine.

Nose Cone Fab (4).jpg Nose Cone Fab (5).jpg Nose Cone Fab (6).jpg Nose Cone Fab (7).jpg
Get some dust collection yeah! Using an overabundance of masking and electrical tape I was able to hook up the vac hose to the router. Left plenty of dust but compared to the last time I did this, what happened at the workbench, stayed at the workbench-as opposed to ALL OVER the garage... Once the NC was cut, I took it off the rotisserie, pulled off the remaining bit at the tip and now I just need to glue in the coupler and glass the foam. Hopefully I can get that done in the next several days.

Next project is to set up the AV bay. In all my tube cutting, I also slit some lengthwise for couplers, such as the nose cone, and the AV bay. I need to glass it and make the caps for the ends, sled, bla, bla bla.
-Ken
 
Ken,,,
I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I am with this build.....
We all build nice rockets,,,,,,,,
Out of pre manufactured rocket parts...........

Your skill with your hands
combined with an off the chart imagination
is a combination beyond description............

Bla, bla, bla, you say ????????

Are you kidding ??????????

Ken,,,
I have no doubt in your quality of workmanship
or attention to detail,,,,
This bird WILL fly............
But M impulse is nothing to trifle with.........
Please,, do me a favor,,,, I'd really like to see this rocket fly a couple of times..........
Put it up on a few gentle flights before you make your certification attempt...........

Keep up the great work Ken,,,,,,
My greatest hopes and prayers are with you............

Teddy
 
All things considered, I would REALLY like to put it up on an L something-or-other before the actual certification as you suggest. Other than the flight part, biggest concern is the landing. Hard Salt. Canna be having the fins get broken! As I told my TAP's, I'm not in a rush. Yes I have goals but haste makes waste! Thanks for the advice Onebadhawk.
-Ken
 
Looking Good!

I only know of two color scheme's for the BBII, the one that Estes reproduced with their BT-55 scaled kit,


realblkbrant.jpg


and the one that has black and white fins.

Black_Brant-II_rocket-01.jpg


Which scheme are you planning on?
 
Not sure, but probably with the all black fins. I will have to ponder that ONCE I have it finished :)
It's a pretty easy paint job either way. I may use a sparkly black, and/or I may use some iridescent flake on the white just to jazz things up a bit. But then I may just paint it stock. Tempted to name it Black Brandt also. Stickers will be by Stickershock of course :)
-Ken
 
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