PML 1/4 Patriot build thread

just got the kit from Hawk Mountain in perfect condition, packaging was good, everything was there. I'll start off by saying some stuff about the kit, and then some other time ill start with the pictures.
I got the kit with Quantum tube, and the tubing is kind of cool. its very strong, but bends a lot and comes right back to shape, its not hard like phenolic. The kit comes with everything you need to build it, but ill change some things. instead of epoxying the piston strap to the motor mount, im going to put a forged eye bolt and quicklink on the top centering ring. Also, im changing the open eye bolt that comes for the payload section, with a 5/16 U bolt and mounting plate. i will install 3 8-32 t nuts in the aft centering ring for motor retention, and ill put a 1000 pound swivel and quick link for the parachute.
speaking of parachutes, the one that comes with the kit is a VERY nice 48 inch 6 panel rip stop chute. mine is red and white panels. it has a small spill hole in the top. It seems very strong.
the centering rings were a bit weird, they are 4 ply (???) plywood, and are cut pretty nicely, but need to be sanded to fit more loosely, as they are too tight like they are stock. The tube coupler was a little tight, and needed some sanding, as with the piston (obviously). The motor mount tube is very short, only 8 inches long, but very nice quality phenolic. The fin were nicely cut, made of .063 G10, they fit the fin slots perfectly.

The motor mount tube is very short, only 8 inches long, but very nice quality phenolic.

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This is the one part I would change if I built my 1/4 again. I would make this 13" long so you can fly it on a J350.

Just an idea.

Alex

Originally posted by SARocketMan
This is the one part I would change if I built my 1/4 again. I would make this 13" long so you can fly it on a J350.

Just an idea.

Alex

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Why would you need anything more than 8" to fly a J350?

well I was able to start building tonight, and i got a lot done.
ill explain what i did before each picture.
This is the Payload section. I changed the open eye bolt that comes with the kit for a 5/16 U bolt like i said before, and i used 4 small sheet metal screws to secure the nose cone.
as i started building this kit, I realized that this is one big, heavy rocket. im sure mine will weigh more than the 50 ounces pml claims when im done.

Here we have the piston assembly all done. i changed the nylon piston strap with 7 feet of 1/4" tubular Kevlar from giant leap. I did this so i wouldnt have to worry about the nylon degrading and breaking. i also added a 1/4" quicklink.

This is the motor mount with the top centering ring installed. i added a 1/4" forged eyebolt here, as you can see.

Here is that awesome 48 inch parachute with swivel and quicklink installed

The kit comes with 12' of really nice purple/white 9/16" tubular nylon.

here are the G10 fins and launch lugs ( i scuffed 'em up real nice )

and finally (for tonight) we have the rocket starting to come together. The motor mount is allready installed in this pic

You may want dual deploy, drifts way out there on windy days. PML Patriot is cool, had one in 38mm and weighed a bit over 5 pounds dual deploy and lost it after about 5 flights because I forgot to arm the altimeter. Next project was the Endeavour in red, white and blue.



Mark

Seems to be coming togethor nicely! Keep up the good work,

Karl

Why would you need anything more than 8" to fly a J350?

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You don't, but I'd just feel better with 13'' I don't like having 5'' of my motor just sitting there.Thats just me.

Alex

Almost done!
this is the booster all done, while waiting for the epoxy pool in the rear centering ring to cure. You can see the 3 t nuts for motor retention.

its a little easier to see the epoxy pool and motor retention in this picture
only thing left is the launch lugs.

and here is the rocket stacked for the first time.
man is that thing heavy!

WOW looks good I am thinking about doing a PML Patriot and not doing dual deploy but use a single event alt to deploy the chute at whatever distance I want. Yes I would put a 38mm MMT in it looks good can't wait for flight pics.

thanx, Ben

it has a 38mm mount stock

Great job! Looks nice and clean, good luck

Originally posted by outasight13
it has a 38mm mount stock

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I thought it was 29mm ?? Well then.........

I will do a 54mm in it

thanx, Ben

its in the painting stage right now, ive finished primering the whole rocket ( the white primer serves as the color coat for the main body tube and nose cone, after it is clearcoated), painting the fins red, and the upper section yellow.
i have my US ARMY decal printed out, and all i need is some black monokote from the lhs for the stripes.

Originally posted by outasight13
Here is that awesome 48 inch parachute with swivel and quicklink installed

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That parachute sucks. The vent hole is much larger then it should be, but PML probably uses a large vent to reduce the opening shock caused by the absurd packing technique they suggest. I am currently building the Patriot and I plan to sew a patch over the vent hole and pack the canopy properly, which should result in better openings and softer landings...

what are you talking about?
yeah sure the spill hole is a little big but the parachute is really good quality.
The packing method is called a *suggestion* for a reason, because they suggest it. you dont have to call them bad parachutes because of how they recomend that they be packed
There arent many manufactures that give you a high quality rip stop panel chute with a kit.....

Originally posted by Rocketeer
The vent hole is much larger then it should be, but PML probably uses a large vent to reduce the opening shock caused by the absurd packing technique they suggest.

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The vent hole also helps reduce drift. PML is in Michigan - flying in the midwest is almost always a windy experience, and drift is a huge issue.

here it is in its current state. The finish is flat because i havent clear coated yet (waiting for tomorow to put on the monokote).
The nose cone is being primed and clear coated now, hense why its not in the picture.

nice

Originally posted by outasight13
what are you talking about?
yeah sure the spill hole is a little big but the parachute is really good quality.
The packing method is called a *suggestion* for a reason, because they suggest it. you dont have to call them bad parachutes because of how they recomend that they be packed
There arent many manufactures that give you a high quality rip stop panel chute with a kit.....

Click to expand...

a) The vent is not ‘a little big’. Its over 20% of the area of the canopy. This is a very bad design. The purpose of a vent is to reduce oscillation, which isn’t an major issue with a canopy this size. The problem with an over sized vent is it could prevent the canopy from inflating (Or staying inflated), especially in a low speed opening or decent. They even state that their parachutes are “intended for drogue applications.” Drogues are for higher speed applications used prior to main canopy deployment, not for final decent, but real drogues are made with reinforcement because of the loaded encountered at higher speeds.

b) It is not a ‘good quality’ canopy. The panels are held together with a single needle stitch and there is no span reinforcement at all. A ‘real’ parachute would use a double needle stitch, would have at span reinforcement and the shroud lines wound extent over the apex to the other side rather than be tacked to the fabric with no reinforcement tape.
Granted, this parachute is really a toy, and probably never be subjected to much of a load (unless someone uses a motor with a short delay). But I was replying to your comment about the parachute being ‘awesome’, which it is not. Just because the canopy has panels does not make it good. In fact, because of the way it is stitched together it is not as strong as a canopy make from a single piece of fabric. I haven’t seen a HP kit manufacture provide anything but nylon chutes, and the good mid power manufacture do as well, so on a kit this size, nylon is expected.

c) PML’s pakcing instructions not suggestions – they are manufacture‘s recommendations, and they are some of the worse recommendations I have seen.

And btw, the vent was not added to reduce drift, not even according to PML. If you want to reduce drift then you increase the decent rate, and to do that you reduce the size of the canopy, not increase the size of the vent.

But enough about their lousy parachutes. Your paint job looks good and I’m curios how you made the decals for the ‘US Army’
Did you use the paper that Tango Papa sells?

thanks for the info about parachute construction, though i still feel this parachute is just fine for what i will be throwing at it.
i used clear label paper for the decal.
You can get 25 sheets for 20 bucks at Staples, its Avery brand, comes in full size sheets.
i printed it in Arial Black font because it looks the closest to the real thing.

Of course PML chutes are good quality - they're among the better chutes out there. They can take a 75mph opening shock easily, will ALWAYS open when packed as reccomended (and even if they're not packed as reccomended), and the spill hole size is not actually that large. It's a little on the big side, but it's definitely not "way oversized" or "pointless".

thanks for the support cjl, lol