level 2 scratch built or maybe not

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Squawsach

Squawsach

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I was thinking about scratch building my Level 2 rocket and I was looking around at kits for ideas. Binder design has an Excel dual deploy kit with 38mm motor mount. It looks just like the design I had floating around in my head and I was going to build my design with dual deploy and a 38mm motor tube. The Binder design Excel dual deploy kit is $129.00. I don't think I could gather the parts for that price.

I know nothing about Binder Designs. Do they make a good kit?
 
Getmore said:
For L2 I went with a 54mm motor mount. With 38mm you are limited.
Click to expand...
+1 on what Bill said. With the 38mm mount the largest motor you can fly is a J, with the 54mm you can go with a K or an L. :grin:
The Binder design Excel 54mm dual deploy kit is only $10.00 more at $139.00. You can always adapt down but not up. :wink:
BTW Binder makes great kits.
 
Same here a 6.5 times upscale of the estes hi flyer also in 38mm . Many people told me I should build it 54mm . I plan on building another one at 54mm or even 75mm I can adapt down
 
Squawsach said:
I was thinking about scratch building my Level 2 rocket and I was looking around at kits for ideas.
Click to expand...
What ideas are you looking for in kits? If you're planning to scratch-build, a better source of ideas might be real missiles or sounding rockets, or even fantasy scale. Kits are good for beginners who don't want to design or collect/manufacture the components, but once you get into scratch-building, I don't see why you would start with a kit; design options become unlimited!
 
JohnCoker said:
What ideas are you looking for in kits? If you're planning to scratch-build, a better source of ideas might be real missiles or sounding rockets, or even fantasy scale. Kits are good for beginners who don't want to design or collect/manufacture the components, but once you get into scratch-building, I don't see why you would start with a kit; design options become unlimited!
Click to expand...


Thanks guys. I will be using a 54mm motor tube in my level 2 cert rocket. I find that looking at different rockets can sometimes spark a little inspiration. I'm not looking to make a copy of a rocket. I'm just looking for lines or features I may want to incorporate into a scratch design.
 
Squawsach said:
Thanks guys. I will be using a 54mm motor tube in my level 2 cert rocket. I find that looking at different rockets can sometimes spark a little inspiration. I'm not looking to make a copy of a rocket. I'm just looking for lines or features I may want to incorporate into a scratch design.
Click to expand...

I do the same thing. I get a lot of inspiration for my scratch builds from kits. I also use existing designs as "reverse inspiration" sometimes, meaning that I design differently or opposite to the design.
 
Squawsach said:
Thanks guys. I will be using a 54mm motor tube in my level 2 cert rocket. I find that looking at different rockets can sometimes spark a little inspiration. I'm not looking to make a copy of a rocket. I'm just looking for lines or features I may want to incorporate into a scratch design.
Click to expand...

Smart move on the 54mm. I scratch built my L2 rocket with a 54mm MMT and have been very happy with it. I'm sure it would have be a closet queen if I had put a 38mm tube in it.

What are your goals for your L2 build, besides the obvious one of obtaining your L2 cert?
My L2 goals were:
  • Refine my av-bay design techniques. I built a functional bay for my L1 rocket, but learned enough to never design one like that again.
  • Learn how to fiberglass paper tubes.
  • Learn how to do tip2tip fiberglass on fins while keeping a good airfoil and smooth paint.
The rocket turned out a little heavy at 10 lbs without a motor but it has been a work horse. It's taken a ton of abuse and just keeps on ticking. I'm getting ready to do a third paint job on it because the paint is getting really beat up with 18 flights on it and I had to glass a new tube for the payload and it needs paint also.

I don't really regret glassing the LOC tubes I made mine out of, but it didn't quite break 10K ft on a Pro54 L935 like I had hoped. It probably would have if I had not glassed it. I'm sure it would have handled the Mach 1.2 on that flight. I'm not sure it would have handled all the abuse and hard landing it's survived so far if it hadn't been glassed.

Good luck on your build!
 
Handeman said:
Smart move on the 54mm. I scratch built my L2 rocket with a 54mm MMT and have been very happy with it. I'm sure it would have be a closet queen if I had put a 38mm tube in it.

What are your goals for your L2 build, besides the obvious one of obtaining your L2 cert?
My L2 goals were:
  • Refine my av-bay design techniques. I built a functional bay for my L1 rocket, but learned enough to never design one like that again.
  • Learn how to fiberglass paper tubes.
  • Learn how to do tip2tip fiberglass on fins while keeping a good airfoil and smooth paint.
The rocket turned out a little heavy at 10 lbs without a motor but it has been a work horse. It's taken a ton of abuse and just keeps on ticking. I'm getting ready to do a third paint job on it because the paint is getting really beat up with 18 flights on it and I had to glass a new tube for the payload and it needs paint also.

I don't really regret glassing the LOC tubes I made mine out of, but it didn't quite break 10K ft on a Pro54 L935 like I had hoped. It probably would have if I had not glassed it. I'm sure it would have handled the Mach 1.2 on that flight. I'm not sure it would have handled all the abuse and hard landing it's survived so far if it hadn't been glassed.

Good luck on your build!
Click to expand...

I will continue to scratch build rockets but my level 2 rocket will be a Binder Design 54mm Excel DD. I liked the looks of it and asked about the kit on a different thread. The guy who made the kit chimed in to answer my questions. It's kinda difficult not to show a little love to a company that is right here on RF and is listening.

My goals for my level 2 build

*Build a very sound and attractive rocket. When I say sound, I mean tough without being a flying brick. I am going to try to build with integrity without using an entire quart of epoxy. I'm looking to be more elegant in my building of the rocket and the paint is going to be first class.

*Learn dual deploy. Maybe my cert flight isn't the best time to discover if I got the DD thing correct but that's when I'm going to do it.
 
Squawsach said:
*Learn dual deploy. Maybe my cert flight isn't the best time to discover if I got the DD thing correct but that's when I'm going to do it.
Click to expand...

You have to use DD the first time on some flight. If you want to learn DD, I don't see why it can't be on the cert flight. My first DD flight was my L1 cert flight on a Loki moonburner to 4200 ft. The thing is, I did so much ground testing that I was very comfortable with the altimeter that the biggest issue was assembling the Loki motor. It was my first snap ring case.

I know most people will tell you to go low and slow and simple on cert flights, but I really think you should fly the cert the way you intend to fly that rocket. If you build a 54mm MMT rocket with DD and intend to fly it on K motors, then you should do that for your cert flight, IMHO.
 

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