Deep Space Offl (was: My L1 build has an OFFL finish...)

K'Tesh said:

I've built 29mm rockets that are completely capable of certification on. However, they are 2", 2.5", 2.6", and 3" based rockets, all are sleek, and I'd really like to get them back, intact.

This one sims out at at 1180' to 1330' on an Aerotech H73J-6 Reloadable motor. My best (slowest) recovery has it landing at 16.1fps using a PML-PAR-44R (44" parachute).

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I agree with that as my GForce 4" tube 60" tall sims at 1200-1700 depending on the motor I chose (small "H"'s) and it lands nicely with a 42" chute.

Can't wait to see what the "Mystery" rocket is.op:

Looks nifty.

two questions (for now) 1) what are you landing on? and 2) your .ork file says birch for fins and centering rings, do you mean Birch or Birch (aircraft) ply?
Rex

Rex R said:

two questions (for now) 1) what are you landing on? and 2) your .ork file says birch for fins and centering rings, do you mean Birch or Birch (aircraft) ply?
Rex

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1) dunno... Probably launching at Brother's Oregon, so high desert

2) Birch ply/aircraft ply 1/8" fins (papered), 3/16" for the CR

And to the person with the PM message to me...

Oh NO! One build has inspired a related build... Perhaps that 6" version is back in the mix.

Help Me!

okay so not a 'soft' LZ, for grassy areas I would have suggested a somewhat higher descent speed(20fps) although...gluing a half inch coupler ring just aft of your rear centering ring to reinforce the body tube might be something to consider.
not tang, okay I'll wait for the reveal. thought it was likely you intended/planned them to be plywood, now everyone can cross that question off their list. have fun.
Rex

Rex R said:

okay so not a 'soft' LZ, for grassy areas I would have suggested a somewhat higher descent speed(20fps) although...gluing a half inch coupler ring just aft of your rear centering ring to reinforce the body tube might be something to consider.
not tang, okay I'll wait for the reveal. thought it was likely you intended/planned them to be plywood, now everyone can cross that question off their list. have fun.
Rex

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Coupler ring aft of the rear CR... Ya know, I was thinking about that myself. Now for the annoying, annoying news.

I had a perfectly good opportunity to pick up fin material at the LHS today, and was in such a hurry to get to the OROC meeting, I didn't even think about it. Additionally, I had a shot at getting a coupler for the rocket, but I decided that since it doesn't have a joint in the body tube, I didn't need it. D'OH!!!

For the Good News...

I got the body tube today, and the CRs fit.

For the Cool News...

I got to meet Mike Fisher today. He was nice enough to bring the BT and Launch Buttons up from Salem to deliver to me today. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to stick around for the OROC meeting, but he did get to see my Velociraptor downscale in person.

Now, how do I get my hands on the materials for this rocket's Big Brother? 6' OD, 54mm powered, related/upscale of this build? Aw Nuts! What Have I started now?

I'm hoping to have the MM built by the end of the weekend, and installed. However, next week is the end of the summer term, and I'll be on the table in the Operating Room a week from today. Anybody ever tried to build a rocket while healing from a hernia operation? This should be fun... NOT!

Time to call it a night...

All the Best! Stay Healthy!
Jim

Status update....

It took some time to get things worked out with the decals, I'm still looking for someone to make the N/C.

The "bones" of the motor mount are made, and I've been tied up with other issues lately, so no progress on the fins (other than I did score some material for them).



I'm also working on a 1/2 scale downscale of this as well, but I can't bring myself to cut down the nosecone I bought from Semroc, as it's a really nice looking one... Of course, I would be the one scored the last one from them (as per Sheryl).

So what was the NC issue? If needed, I can print up to 11" diameter and almost twice as tall.
Only have ABS on hand right now, but wouldn't suggest PLA for a nose cone anyway.

-Hans

HHaase said:

So what was the NC issue? If needed, I can print up to 11" diameter and almost twice as tall.
Only have ABS on hand right now, but wouldn't suggest PLA for a nose cone anyway.

-Hans

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Many of the quoted prices were too high... The one that I would have went with hasn't been on the forums for awhile, and hasn't responded to emails since July.

If you want me to take a look at it and give it a try for you, just let me know. I primarily use the printer to make jigs and things for my business, not as much for production, so I can always just let it run while I tend to other things. Lets me keep prices a bit lower.

-Hans

I like your Fin Style. That's like my favorite Style of Fin.

chadrog said:

No reason to build a level 3 rocket for a level one certification. You're on the right track, stay the course.

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I agree with chadrog on this one, plenty of motors and plenty of rockets to have and build, choice of any motor is nice but do you only plan on owning one rocket? In all honestly 38mm is the the most common size and bang for your buck cheap cases reloads are fairly inexpensive.

Not a bad choice at all, I cant only think of one rocket (of many) I built that I wish I would have gone with a bigger motor mount. Best thing is to do is build what you can afford to fly, then what ever floats your boat and after that, maybe consider a larger motor selection.


TA

HHaase said:

If you want me to take a look at it and give it a try for you, just let me know. I primarily use the printer to make jigs and things for my business, not as much for production, so I can always just let it run while I tend to other things. Lets me keep prices a bit lower.

-Hans

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Email(s)/PM sent.

TopRamen said:

I like your Fin Style. That's like my favorite Style of Fin.

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I'm pretty fond of that style myself.

I chose it primarily as it's less likely to hit "fin first" and snap something off. I was really impressed with David Douglas' TARC build (tube fins) this year, but I have zero experience with them, and I'm not very thrilled by the look. The concept of keeping things together though floats my boat, as I don't know if/when/where I'd be able to try for a 2nd L1 attempt should this fail.

Just got a reply to one of my emails... A suggestion to use a coupler for the shoulder of the NC. Now that is an idea I hadn't thought of before... I may have a NC soon. Printed the fin patterns out, so I'll be able to cut them out (perhaps tonight).

More To Come...
Jim

Landru came up with a bid and a concept for the NC that works for me... I'd like to thank the guys who offered to help with the NC issue.


Landru's first draft...


And the 2nd draft...


The final product will have a little reinforcement at the conical/ogive junction to prevent me from sanding through it when I work on smoothing it out.

On the fin issue, I just bought some 3/16" dowel and a drill bit so I can pin the plywood together and cut the fins as a single unit, rather than 3 separate pieces of wood.

Cut out the fins, and sanded them to shape yesterday.

I took my paper template from OR and glued it to one sheet of the ply, then pinned the three sheets of ply together by drilling them with a 3/16" bit and using a dowel to keep them together while I cut them with my scroll saw. A little sanding, and they're looking good. As I didn't seal the edge of the papered fin, it came loose, and I'll have to replace it (it looked awful when I tried to glue it down again).





I had been debating about stretching the rocket to the full 34" of body tube, but when Landru's solution to the nosecone's shoulder came up, I decided to use the extra length for the coupler. I cut the body tube down and slotted the tube for the fins...




I also used made a special detail part. Of course this will mean that I need stand-offs for the launch buttons... Such is life.




Since I ordered Landru's nosecone, I needed a coupler, and rather than pay for one (and wait for shipping), I opted to make one from the extra body tube that I had. I made an end cap for it using 1/8" birch ply, and the plug from 3/16" balsa. They're not perfect (as in laser cut) but I'm sure that they'll work.




Now, if I could only get that nosecone, I could cap this off quickly.

Oh, I've opted not to install a baffle, as the internal space for the parachute is kinda cramped, and I don't have the space to put the kinds of gaps between parts that I feel are needed for repeated safe flights... I guess I need a bale of dog barf.

High temps, and now rain have prevented me from painting, and I'm still waiting for the NC to arrive... So, I've been playing with OR and I've got a preview of the final look.

Anyone interested in seeing it?

K'Tesh said:

High temps, and now rain have prevented me from painting, and I'm still waiting for the NC to arrive... So, I've been playing with OR and I've got a preview of the final look.

Anyone interested in seeing it?

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Yep. Let's see it!

ThirstyBarbarian said:

Yep. Let's see it!

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Ok... let's see what you make of these images.



..

K'Tesh said:

Ok... let's see what you make of these images.

View attachment 185191

View attachment 185192..

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It looks good. I'm still not sure the theme or purpose of the custom NC, but we're not supposed to know until we see the final product, right? I can't wait to see it finished!

qquake2k said:

I like it!

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Thanks! I'm awfully glad you like it. I've been a little worried that people wouldn't once it was revealed...

ThirstyBarbarian said:

It looks good. I'm still not sure the theme or purpose of the custom NC, but we're not supposed to know until we see the final product, right? I can't wait to see it finished!

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Thirsty, you're spot on... Once the final product is revealed, we'll see if I succeeded in my goal of Instant Classic (or WORLD DOMINATION!!!)... We'll also see if there was a reason that I chose this environment instead of some of the other options available (or not).

Hmmm... Maybe this one WOULD have been better...

Worked on the NC's shoulder/payload bay the other day... Here's a couple of shots of what I've got so far... To ensure that there were no errors with the bolt pattern, I numbered them... In Chinese.



To hold the rear bulkhead to the shoulder, I'm using some threaded rod coupler nuts epoxied to the inside of the shoulder to allow me to screw the bulkhead in place. I'm planning on cutting the extra length of the eye bolt's shank off, then epoxying the nut in place.

To prevent damage to the bulkhead and loss of the nosecone, I'm thinking that I should drill some holes in the bulkhead and ziptie the can of soda solidly in place to it, rather than having it just held in place by foam. If the soda cannot move, then the force of ejection/parachute deployment should be isolated to the bulkhead, and the nosecone shouldn't have any risk of being damaged by it.

Here's one of the internal fillets that I applied prior to buttoning up the fin can.



And here's one after buttoning up the fin can, with the rear rail button in place (wrong color, should be white)...




I thickened up the bulkhead with basswood to prevent any possible blowout by a drill bit missing the centering ring. I also used a scrap of body tube to strengthen the rear of the body tube. I've also test fitted the body wrap. It fits!

Oh, and just so you know, I've been dropping hints off and on as to the name/design of this rocket. I'm sure that a few will figure them out... after the reveal.

Ahem...world domination is spoken for, however if you've managed to overwork Mark , you have my utmost respect now! Rocket on, brother!

Looks good! Did you resolve your fin issue?
Rocket looks pretty short and fat, so make sure to check your stability before flight.

Are you coming to Sheridan?

AlnessW said:

Looks good! Did you resolve your fin issue?
Rocket looks pretty short and fat, so make sure to check your stability before flight.

Are you coming to Sheridan?

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No, as much as it bugs me, I'm going to have to leave it alone, and try to resolve it with the MK 2 version of it. I discovered that my alignment guide is out of alignment, and all three fins are askew slightly, since they are epoxied in place, I'll have to leave them alone.

Sheridan... unfortunately, no. I've got homework already for this term, and I'm finishing up the incompletes that are hanging over my head.

However, I did get the nose cone from Landru today... minor filling needed, but otherwise looks AWESOME...

Well, that was one of the hardest nose cones I've ever sanded... That PLA plastic is VERY strong.

I started out by "painting" the nosecone with a Sharpie to allow me to see where the low spots were. Had I a need to to do it again, I'd start by sealing the seam and interior with thin CA, as the 3D printed objects apparently have small porous areas between levels and that could be a problem later.



I started with 220 grit sandpaper, but it was going very slow, and clogging frequently, so I switched to 150, and still it was slow.

After 3 hours, I finally managed to get the black sanded off. I painted it again, but this time with a red Sharpie, and sanded it off with 220 grit to get rid of the deep scratches... That took over an hour to sand off.



This has to be the hardest material I've ever attempted to sand... My hands hurt now.

fyrwrxz said:

Ahem...world domination is spoken for, however if you've managed to overwork Mark , you have my utmost respect now! Rocket on, brother!

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I want WORLD DOMINATION!!! And frick'n sharks with lasers on their heads. Submit to me before it's too late!