- Joined
- Aug 13, 2014
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This will be my first post on these forums so I will start with a brief introduction. My name is Brian Schwartz. I am a mechanical engineer and work designing automation machinery. I also have experience in machining (cnc and manual including 2 years in the guitar industry), welding, electronics and, software development. My primary hobby is combat robotics, I build killer robots ranging from 1 pound to 340 pounds. I also run the Chicago Robotic Combat Association and put on an annual competition at the iHobby Expo. As a general rule I over do everything and I build things to be rock solid.
As to my experience in rocketry, as a kid my brothers and I build lots of Estes and scratch built rockets and eventually my father started flying high power. We traveled with him to a number of local launches but then he fell out of the hobby for a while and so did we. A few years ago my father started building again and has gotten my daughter involved with a number of Estes kits and a mid power US Rockets Banshee. After our recent trip to LDRS 33 at which I purchased my daughter a Sirius Eradicator and I joked about getting my level one cert with it, my father gave me a stratologger for my birthday with the comment "Now you have to build something". I got a copy of RockSim and got started
True to my nature I immediately moved away from building a kit. Looking for a challenge I wondered if it's possible to build a single rocket that would span all three certification ranged (large I to a small M) but the additional requirements of a level 3 made this unrealistic. So I decided to build a bullet proof rocket that would fly on anything from an H to a full K or small L. What I have come up with will hopefully be my level one and level two rocket. The specs are as follows:
Length: 65.5"
Diameter: 2" transitioning to 3"
Airframe: PML pre-glassed phenolic
Nose: Fiberglass 5:1 Von Karman
Fins: 3/32" G10 Nose, 1/8" G10 tail
Motor retention: Aero Pack 3" to 54mm Tail Cone retainer & 38mm adapter
Avionics: Perfectflite StratoLogger + Missleworks RRC2, and an Eggfinder GPS each with their own 120mAh 7.4V lipo battery and Featherweight magnetic switch
Recovery: Fruity Chutes TARC 16" drogue, Fruity Chutes Iris 30" main with a Tender Decender
Lugs: 1010 rail
Weight: Estimated 4.5 pounds without motor depending on quantity of epoxy, paint, and recovery lines
CG: 33.1" from nose without motor calculated by Solidworks
CP: 49" Rocksim, 45.5" Barrowman
Planned Motors: Everything from an H242T to a K1050W
Here are some pictures of the solid models:
Front View
Back View
Section View (Shown with an I600R)
Nose Avionics
Avionics Bay Section
Open Avionics Bay
As to my experience in rocketry, as a kid my brothers and I build lots of Estes and scratch built rockets and eventually my father started flying high power. We traveled with him to a number of local launches but then he fell out of the hobby for a while and so did we. A few years ago my father started building again and has gotten my daughter involved with a number of Estes kits and a mid power US Rockets Banshee. After our recent trip to LDRS 33 at which I purchased my daughter a Sirius Eradicator and I joked about getting my level one cert with it, my father gave me a stratologger for my birthday with the comment "Now you have to build something". I got a copy of RockSim and got started
True to my nature I immediately moved away from building a kit. Looking for a challenge I wondered if it's possible to build a single rocket that would span all three certification ranged (large I to a small M) but the additional requirements of a level 3 made this unrealistic. So I decided to build a bullet proof rocket that would fly on anything from an H to a full K or small L. What I have come up with will hopefully be my level one and level two rocket. The specs are as follows:
Length: 65.5"
Diameter: 2" transitioning to 3"
Airframe: PML pre-glassed phenolic
Nose: Fiberglass 5:1 Von Karman
Fins: 3/32" G10 Nose, 1/8" G10 tail
Motor retention: Aero Pack 3" to 54mm Tail Cone retainer & 38mm adapter
Avionics: Perfectflite StratoLogger + Missleworks RRC2, and an Eggfinder GPS each with their own 120mAh 7.4V lipo battery and Featherweight magnetic switch
Recovery: Fruity Chutes TARC 16" drogue, Fruity Chutes Iris 30" main with a Tender Decender
Lugs: 1010 rail
Weight: Estimated 4.5 pounds without motor depending on quantity of epoxy, paint, and recovery lines
CG: 33.1" from nose without motor calculated by Solidworks
CP: 49" Rocksim, 45.5" Barrowman
Planned Motors: Everything from an H242T to a K1050W
Here are some pictures of the solid models:
Front View
Back View
Section View (Shown with an I600R)
Nose Avionics
Avionics Bay Section
Open Avionics Bay
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