L2 Build Terminated

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And furthermore...you'll probably figure out how to unf**k whatever it is that went wrong in time.

Marriage is better than ever and...tangentially, rocket flew fine.

Again, this rocket has some gottchas but it's worth the challenge in the end.
 
I went through 3 of the 5 pages and have trouble understanding what went wrong so bad that discouraged continuation? Can someone summarize? Feel free to PM if not desiring to post publicly. I built a Dominator 4 v1 with a boat tail retainer and indeed it was a devil.
I tried and succeeded in getting the centering rings just right so the fin tabs ultimately abutted against them while maintaining the proper
overhang of the aft end of the mmt. Some pictures on a Dominator 4 I was going to use for an L3 attempt but decided against it because I
didn't feel I had enough room in the upper bay for an appropriate parachute. Plus I was going to use two Featherweight magnetic switches.
The upper bay is flush mounted to the sustainer with a thrust ring in the forward sustainer to take the loads. Room for a chute is at a premium and I was too far along to redo the upper bay or buy a longer upper bay body tube. It will fly but not as an L3 attempt rocket.

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Getting everything lined up when epoxying the mmt assembly in the rocket is challenging to get the right overhang
of the mmt out the aft end and still have the forward centering ring just line up with the forward start of the slot. I didn't mount the aft ring until internal fillets were laid with a silicone tube swaged to a syringe to inject the 4525. I used Duralco 4525IP epoxy and it works for the fillet material as shown too. The one view is of the McMaster Carr metal jacknuts that are great for glass rockets and mounting the rail buttons. I used a bit of plywood for a standoff.

In the motor mount end, I had to drill the hole for the jack nut all the way through the motor mount tube, inserted the jacknut and screwed it down. The jacknut retracted to the outer wall on the aft rail button and all is fine there. I had done that on a 4" Wildman Rocket previously so no sweat there. (I'm going to use it for the L3 attempt as it's more conventional albeit with a longer upper bay tube.).

In the end, I had to sand just a wee bit of the aft end of the motor mount tube in order to be able to screw the retainer flush with the end of the rocket. It was close so I didn't have to do much sanding.

I really sympathize with the poster if the retainer was a hangup as it is pretty involved especially if doing it for the first time. I was building this project over several years and thought long and hard on trying to pull it off. The thing left is to J&B the threaded retainer portion and work on the dreaded electronics sled. I went back to planning the attempt with a 4" Wildman as it is stock except for a longer upper bay tube to carry a larger main chute.

Why the two rockets? Both were on like $200.00 specials years ago and I couldn't resist. I've got two 7.5" Smok'in
rockets "collection of parts" for an Honest John and Nike Smoke that were on special 2 for 1 I bit at too. Those have to wait. Kurt
 
Money is always talked about and can be a deal breaker in a bad situation.
I hope he works through it on better terms.

It's funny how this popped up this way.
I just found the invoice e-mail from RW.

Dated March of 2011.
Kit was on special $249.00
they also introduced the Star Chute for $64.00, Which I also bought.

I'm just finishing up the Fincan now... 2 layers of CF tip-to-tip.
I converted mine to MD.

JD
 
Money is always talked about and can be a deal breaker in a bad situation.
I hope he works through it on better terms.

It's funny how this popped up this way.
I just found the invoice e-mail from RW.

Dated March of 2011.
Kit was on special $249.00
they also introduced the Star Chute for $64.00, Which I also bought.

I'm just finishing up the Fincan now... 2 layers of CF tip-to-tip.
I converted mine to MD.

JD

Oooops,

You're right JD, it was $249.00 not $200.00. Anywho, it was a heck of a lot more economical than the current rendition of the rocket. The upper bay tube is a tad longer now. That Starchute is really a work of art isn't it? I bought the small one and then purchased the larger one a year later. I found out after I bought the bigger one, there isn't enough room to jam it all in. Doesn't bother me though because I can use the chutes for future projects and the woman who made them originally passed away unexpectantly. I want my main to bring an L3 attempt down "extra soft" for extra insurance of a successful touchdown. Kurt
 
People love drama. No need to dig up a thread just to go and delete all your post. It will die on it's own if you stop feeding it. It's like the people who post "I am out of here, never to come back again, screw you all." If you feel that way, just leave. Nobody needs an announcement.
 
No drama intended! It is simply that this won't be the rocket I'll attempt an L2 cert, and there will be no conclusion to this build, whether it flies or not.

As for deleting the material, it is a personal decision that comes from a commit between me and another here on the forum.
 
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No drama intended! It is simple that this won't be the rocket I'll attempt an L2 cert, and there will be no conclusion to this build, whether it flies or not.

As for deleting the material, it is a personal decision that comes from a commit between me and another here on the forum.

Really, not trying to rub salt in a wound but what is the problem summary? Folks here might have some tips to help you and others out in the future. Was it something about the motor retainer? Did something get epoxied out of alignment?

I bought a Talon 2 early on when I started out and got really ticked at the "chintzy" instructions. Let it sit for 18 months without starting on it while I dealt with easier HPR designs and tackled it again when it seemed it wasn't so bad after all. Beautiful rocket I core sampled first flight because I missed a leg on the
ematch for the apogee charge and the main shockcord broke when it blew. The OOP Parrot altimeter didn't do "selective" continuity. The continuity beep was the same whether one match has continuity or both matches do. (I modified it for DD and a longer tube)

I did my L2 with a 3FNC 4" diameter LOC cardboard tubed thing I did on Rocksim. Just shove a J350M in with motor deployment and let 'er go. No delay drilling necessary. You're welcome to the rocksim file. Very simple rocket I used to get the L2 out of the way so I could fly during Research launches which was a rule requirement at the time. I was really angry because I would not have been able to fly certified H or I motors as an L1. That's water under the bridge that's not an issue anymore. An L2 rocket doesn't have to be a complex DD ship. Kurt
 
I did my L2 with a 3FNC 4" diameter LOC cardboard tubed thing I did on Rocksim. Just shove a J350M in with motor deployment and let 'er go. No delay drilling necessary. You're welcome to the rocksim file. Very simple rocket I used to get the L2 out of the way so I could fly during Research launches which was a rule requirement at the time. I was really angry because I would not have been able to fly certified H or I motors as an L1. That's water under the bridge that's not an issue anymore. An L2 rocket doesn't have to be a complex DD ship. Kurt
Exactly - my L2 was a Binder Design Excel Plus, J350W, motor ejection, single deploy. Keep it simple. THEN that next day I set it up with the electronics/dual deploy and flew a 54mm J275W. A cert flight is a simple mission, so keep it that way. Same goes for my L3 - cert flight with the M1297W, then later on I moved on to the bigger stuff, longburns, etc.
 
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