3/16 semi-scale patriot

[Rex R]

got a few parts from Estes the other day...to build a patriot. should be about 40" long when complete and do somewhere about 1000' on an F52.
Rex

 

[chadrog]

Tuned in!

 

[AfterBurners]

Those are nice looking fins

 

[Rex R]

thank you, think it took about 4hrs start to finish to make them (mostly drying time). as I was running this through OR, I was thinking that Estes must have used every trick in the book to get theirs stable w/o adding nose weight...turns out they used most of them , thought my fins were light at 3g, the Estes version used cardstock fins(with a balsa rib)....
Rex

 

[Rex R]

got a little more done, the warhead section is essentially done.
Rex

 

[chadrog]

got a little more done, the warhead section is essentially done.
Rex

What's your warhead of choice?

 

[Rex R]

well given the doggers and birders...I suppose that only leaves 'Hush-a Boom' .
Rex

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Cool!

I'm thinking, if I eventually build the second Leviathan kit I got at the Fry's sale, I might do something similar with it --- paint it in Patriot livery and make a payload section. I probably would not reshape the fins, so it would not be a scale Patriot, but it would be "Patriotic."

I'l be interested to see how it turns out.

 

[Rex R]

leaving the fins stock would certainly make life easier, since you wouldn't have the stability issues that I'm having to cope with. easiest way to make a payload section involves an additional tube coupler and a plywood bulkhead(which you'll have to probably make). I would suggest securing the nose to the payload bay with a 2-56 screw or two.
Rex

 

[AfterBurners]

Cool!

I'm thinking, if I eventually build the second Leviathan kit I got at the Fry's sale, I might do something similar with it --- paint it in Patriot livery and make a payload section. I probably would not reshape the fins, so it would not be a scale Patriot, but it would be "Patriotic."

I'l be interested to see how it turns out.

I thought Fry's wasn't going to sell these rockets anymore? I like to get too and the MDRM

 

[AfterBurners]

Rex you do really nice work

 

[Rex R]

lol, thank you. I'm thinking that was one of the easier bits...now for the tricky part, the fin can. they are sooo much easier when you have precut fins etc. spent some time 'adjusting (and indexing)' fin slots to match the fins. a Dremel w/ a sanding disk works wonders for that .
Rex

 

[chadrog]

well given the doggers and birders...I suppose that only leaves 'Hush-a Boom' .
Rex

:grin:

 

[Rex R]

todays progress. got the initial stage of the fin can done, tomorrow I will start doing all the fillets(what fun, whoopee).
Rex

 

[Rex R]

finish doing all the fin fillets...and now it is mostly done .
Rex

 

[Rex R]

put 3 coats of paint on it and said, good enough. the moment of truce has arrived .
Rex

 

[Rex R]

dry weight 564g (19.9 oz.). so it went for it's maiden flight yesterday(April 26). sent it up on an F52-6 blue thunder, winds were a little strong at times but, didn't seem to affect the up portion much. it did a little tail slide just before deployment (OR said about 1000'). I used a 30" chute to try and protect the balsa fins so I had a bit of walking to do to retrieve it (about 700' down wind of the pad). must have hit a rock after it landed, the body has a missing paint chip. the chute shelf and baffle did their jobs .
Rex

 

[gerbs4me]

Great job on the Patriot!

 

[Rex R]

thank you kind sentient. think I've managed to find the 'right' motor on my first try.
Rex

 

[Rex R]

chadrog got a video of the flight, 17sec point of this video, https://youtu.be/685br1UCyI4
thanks Chad,
Rex