D Powered Astron Alpha On Its Way!!!

[TopRamen]

You are getting GOOD at that...

Someone will be along to tell you that you're overbuilding...

Thanks!
It costs next to nothing to practice Glassing at this Scale, and really lets you just get a "Feel" for the Material and its tendencies.

 

[grapetang]

Looking good!

 

[K'Tesh]

TR... You've got my attention...

KUTGW!
Jim

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Excellent 5-Star thread! This is going to be a cool rocket and flight. You should start a pool on which motor will make it disappear for good. I would probably lose sight of it on a C11, but I imagine some people could get it back on a D12. Put an E20 or F44 in it, and I'm thinking it's gone. Reminds me of the sticker I got from Krusty, "Fly 'em like you don't want 'em back!"

 

[TopRamen]

Excellent 5-Star thread! This is going to be a cool rocket and flight. You should start a pool on which motor will make it disappear for good. I would probably lose sight of it on a C11, but I imagine some people could get it back on a D12. Put an E20 or F44 in it, and I'm thinking it's gone. Reminds me of the sticker I got from Krusty, "Fly 'em like you don't want 'em back!"

Thanks!
The great thing about this Rocket is that I could build a bunch of them and lose a bunch of them, and not be out a bunch of money.
I'm pretty excited about the F44 Launch, and that alone is worth the $5 I'll have invested in the Rocket.

 

[TopRamen]

Got my Fins out from under the Book Stack today and sanded off the excess flashing. Prepped the BT to accept the Fins.
They are surface mounted, but since they're also going to be Tip to Tip, I trust they will be quite rigid upon completion.

 

[TopRamen]

I could'nt get my Printer to work today, so I had to go over to my moms house and use hers to print the Payloadbay Fin Guide Templates for making my Foamboard Jigs. Might get around to doing that later. I'de like to have at least one Fin on today.
I'm going to make two, and use whichever one comes out more perfect. Even with the sharpest brand new #11 Blades in a Hobby Knife, I sometimes have issues when trying to cut Foamboard cleanly.

 

[TopRamen]

This Fin Jig will work, but not til' I feel like working.

 

[TopRamen]

Got two fins on.

 

[TopRamen]

Got the third Fin on there.

 

[TopRamen]

Working at such a small scale is frustrating on one level for me. I am used to BT-80 and 8 Fins instead of 3.
Thankfully, I tried something new when making the Fin Jig.
After printing my Template from Payloadbay on 110# Cardstock, I cut the lines BEFORE gluing it to the Foamboard. This allowed me to get MUCH cleaner cuts when making the necessary cuts in the Foamboard.
The result was nice clean cuts without the whatever you call the parts when the Foam bunches up and tears rather than slices. Lesson learned, and I will be doing them this way from now on.

 

[TopRamen]

Last night I got the Nose Cone squared away. I can't get Open Rocket to work on my Computer anymore, even in my other User Accounts on it which are corrupted.
To calculate the amount of weight I'de need to fly the range of motors I want to fly, I simply looked them up and then figured the differences from the 18mm Motors that the Rocket was intended to fly, then added approximately that much, minus approximately what I expect my Recovery Gear to weigh.
For the Nose Weight I found that the Bulkhead with hardware would make up most of it with an extra Washer, then added 4 grams of PC Steel Epoxy Putty to the tip anchored with Toothpicks.
All I need to do now is epoxy the bulkhead in place, then drill a few holes through the shoulder into it and pin it in place with more toothpicks.

 

[nute]

Last night I got the Nose Cone squared away. I can't get Open Rocket to work on my Computer anymore, even in my other User Accounts on it which are corrupted.
To calculate the amount of weight I'de need to fly the range of motors I want to fly, I simply looked them up and then figured the differences from the 18mm Motors that the Rocket was intended to fly, then added approximately that much, minus approximately what I expect my Recovery Gear to weigh.
For the Nose Weight I found that the Bulkhead with hardware would make up most of it with an extra Washer, then added 4 grams of PC Steel Epoxy Putty to the tip anchored with Toothpicks.
All I need to do now is epoxy the bulkhead in place, then drill a few holes through the shoulder into it and pin it in place with more toothpicks.

View attachment 254321View attachment 254322View attachment 254323View attachment 254324

That's a very neat, clean nosecone assembly you got there.

Nate

 

[TopRamen]

Thanks Nate.

 

[TopRamen]

I got some JB Weld Fillets on the Fins this morning. I like JB for this because it sands down so easily and smoothly.
I'm still going to tip to tip the fins, but I found on my last Tip to Tip that the glass cloth tries to slightly rise at the juncture where the Fin meets the Tube. Not a lot mind you, but enough that I had to poke at it more than once as it cured to tuck it back down. I believe that having the tiny fillet surface will give better adhesion of the cloth and resin in the joint as opposed to without it.

 

[TopRamen]

I just got a new computer so I can get started on this one again soon with Openrocket.

 

[TopRamen]

I got my Openrocket Sim done this morning. 1109 feet per second on an F44-8 with anapogee of 2381 ft.
An F32 puts it at 3048 ft.

 

[boomtube-mk2]

But you really need to ditch that plastic nose cone and get yourself a genuine BNC 50K.
They can be had from several dealers including, but not limited to, BMS, Flis, JonRockets and Rocketarium.
Just go to the one that has enough other stuff you want/need so as to justify the S&H costs.

As others have mentioned; if you fly a “Stock” Alpha using a 24mm motor (D) you are going to have to add some additional weight to the nose.
Luckily the BMS version of the BNC 50K, which is sold at various retailers as listed above, has a hole bored into it that will allow you to pour some lead shot into it before gluing in the hardwood dowel.

 

[foamy]

Thanks!
The great thing about this Rocket is that I could build a bunch of them and lose a bunch of them, and not be out a bunch of money.
I'm pretty excited about the F44 Launch, and that alone is worth the $5 I'll have invested in the Rocket.

Why would you go to all this trouble beefing it up just to lose it? Just wondering.

 

[TopRamen]

Why would you go to all this trouble beefing it up just to lose it? Just wondering.

Because I'm having a great time taking the chance. For me that is part of the Magic/Fun of the Rocketry Hobby, that sometimes you have something go not as planned.
I would tire easily of this hobby if I took it too seriously or needed every little aspect of it to be perfect. For me it's all just about having a good time, and even taking risks as long as they don't violate Safety Rules or Common Sense.
If I lose it, I've still learned a great deal, and can build another with stuff on hand.
I bet the sum of this rockets parts cost less than a 3 dollars when you figure it all up.

 

[TopRamen]

But you really need to ditch that plastic nose cone and get yourself a genuine BNC 50K.
They can be had from several dealers including, but not limited to, BMS, Flis, JonRockets and Rocketarium.
Just go to the one that has enough other stuff you want/need so as to justify the S&H costs.

As others have mentioned; if you fly a “Stock” Alpha using a 24mm motor (D) you are going to have to add some additional weight to the nose.
Luckily the BMS version of the BNC 50K, which is sold at various retailers as listed above, has a hole bored into it that will allow you to pour some lead shot into it before gluing in the hardwood dowel.

Sweet! Thanks for the Tip. I would have been against Balsa for the reason that I would just assume they would be solid. Now that You've told me how easy it is to add weight to them I'll tack a few of them onto my next BMS order.

 

[foamy]

Because I'm having a great time taking the chance. For me that is part of the Magic/Fun of the Rocketry Hobby, that sometimes you have something go not as planned.
I would tire easily of this hobby if I took it too seriously or needed every little aspect of it to be perfect. For me it's all just about having a good time, and even taking risks as long as they don't violate Safety Rules or Common Sense.
If I lose it, I've still learned a great deal, and can build another with stuff on hand.
I bet the sum of this rockets parts cost less than a 3 dollars when you figure it all up.

Okay. I don't understand, but then, I don't need to. I was curious.

When I first became a rocketeer as a kid, I'd launch till I lost 'em (biggest motor was the best motor). Same thing in my first incarnation as a BAR only then, I'd work up to losing them. It's kind of like that now, but I always plan on getting them back, but that doesn't always work out. I tend to measure the risk—a big flying field helps with that. I just like to see 'em fly and get them back if I can. If it's out'a sight, then I'm not enjoying the flight that I can't see, though, again, that happens often enough. I guess I'm operating in reverse these days. I was trying to understand your motivation; wasn't being critical. Enthusiasm is a good thing. Thanks for the reply.

Many happy returns.

 

[TopRamen]

It'll fly on a C11 and D12 before I try composites in it, so there will be some successful recoveries. I may even recover it a few times on the composites.

 

[foamy]

Got it. The 'ol "working up to it" method. That, I understand. Good luck.

 

[TopRamen]

I decided it really did'nt need tip to tip, and since the weather was nice enough to paint I went ahead and finished her up this morning.

 

[TopRamen]

Got the pad set up for it, and if the wind would stop, we could go down to the park and get a flight in.

 

[TopRamen]

Here are the numbers from Openrocket. I fitted an 18-24mm Adapter for it so it can start on a B6-4 and included the Sim for that and a C6-5.

 

[Stargate]

I got some BT-50 and a plastic Cone the other day. I was wondering if I'de make a tiny 24mm Patriot Clone, but then I read the Thread where the Folks argued about the exact dimensions of the Fin Template for the Alpha. I looked at the design until it grew on me, and decided I'll make one reinforced with lightweight FG Cloth and Tip to Tip, in 24mm.
I'll go grab an extra NC from the Hobby Store so I can make 2 at the same time. One of them will be flying up to the Rocket Gods on a single use Composite Motor. If I get it back it will be cool. The other will fly on an 18 to 24 Adapter before tasting BP C11s and eventually Ds.:clap:
The project will commence in the next few days.

Ramen,
I like your ideas. You need one of my OOP Vulcan single use 24mm G120's that I have, to stick in your Alpha.

Larry B

 

[TopRamen]

Ramen,
I like your ideas. You need one of my OOP Vulcan single use 24mm G120's that I have, to stick in your Alpha.

Larry B

Thanks.
And thanks for reminding me that I was thinking about a 24mm Minimum Diameter M-104 Patriot!!!
Yeah, I'll bet it would be a gonner on something like a G120:y:

There probably would not be room for the Streamer.
I made the shock cord mount slide down far enough that there would just be enough room to slide motors like black powder E and composite F32 in there.

 

[Stargate]

Thanks.
And thanks for reminding me that I was thinking about a 24mm Minimum Diameter M-104 Patriot!!!
Yeah, I'll bet it would be a gonner on something like a G120:y:

There probably would not be room for the Streamer.
I made the shock cord mount slide down far enough that there would just be enough room to slide motors like black powder E and composite F32 in there.

Ramen,
I just grabbed one of my 24MM Vulcan G120-10s. They are 6 1/4" long + 1/2 " x BT-5 size delay on top.
Don't worry about the Streamer, you'll never find it. LOL

Larr B