Scratch Built: Asp sounding rocket

[Upsrocketman]

Many years ago (mid 80's) my dad built an upscale of an estes ASP sounding rocket. At the time it was the largest rocket he had built at 5.5" in diameter. It was scratchbuilt using pieces he made himself other than the nose cone and body tubes. The rocket served him well flying many flights on mostly I and J motors as well as a few cluster options as it had a central 54mm and 2 outboard 29mm motor mounts.
He left the rocketry scene some 15 years ago, but with his recent retirement he finds himself with some time and a reawakened desire to fly rockets again. He recently pulled the ASP out of his Florida attic with the hopes of using it to certify his L2 once again, but found that the tubes have swollen and the payload section and nosecone no longer fit the booster. I unfortunately recieved a picture some weeks ago of the sawn up pieces of his prized rocket in the trash as he had given up trying to fit the pieces back together and decided that it was no longer worth the trouble.
Before he had destroyed it I happened to ask for several measurements that would be critical to re-creating it. This build thread is dedicated to re-kitting (if that's a word) the rocket that I grew up watching my father fly.

The only photo I have left for reference was taken only days before its demise.

This post is to catalog the process of creating this kit as well as the build once I present the kit to my father. It will be an almost exact re-creation with the exception of a couple upgrades that I will explain along the way.

The picture shows from left to right a Loc Stovi, a 5.5 Loc magnum ( a gift from a fellow rocketeer), a scratch built Wac Corporal, and the booster of the ASP.

 

[Hobie1dog]

That's going to be a great thing to present him with.

 

[Upsrocketman]

I was finally able to get some time to start the process of creating this kit. I found a nice deal on some 1/4" birch ply and bought a bit extra to use for future rocket projects. I drew out the fin templates and measured the depth from the outside of the airframe to the motor tube to determine how long the fin tabs will need to be.

LOC had a 42" pre slotted tube on sale, so I picked one of them up and ordered the other two tubes that will make the booster and payload section.

The motor tubes were a pretty tight fit in the centering rings so I sanded them a bit, just enough to be able to slide everything together. I slid the entire motor mount assembly into the airframe to check all of my measurements for centering ring location and realized that the 4 outboard 29mm motor mounts are about 2" too short to allow the middle ring to clear the fin tabs...

I will be cutting out the fins and sanding them down to their final shape this weekend. Once they are shaped I will begin preparing them for a layer of fiberglass on both sides. If all goes well with the fins we will begin prepping the body tubes for a layer of fiberglass as well.

I've got my work cut out for me as I need to have this kit ready before my dad gets here for LDRS and I still have two rockets to build that I will be flying at LDRS. There aren't enough hours in the day...

 

[Upsrocketman]

I had a chance this weekend to get quite a lot done with the asp kit. I started by cutting out the fins and fitting them in the airframe with the motor tube. I used my belt sander to adjust the fin tabs to the right length.
Once the fins were adjusted and the edges sanded to shape I laid them out on a piece of plywood with a sheet of mylar on top.
I used 3M fiberglass cloth and Smooth-on epoxy to laminate the fins.
I laid out the fiberglass and then wet it out with epoxy and then covered the fins with mylar and flipped the whole thing over to do the other side
Once the fins were laminated, I squeezed out the excess epoxy and pressed the fins between 2 sheets of plywood and put weight on top to help flatten the fins and keep their shape.
Once the fins were curing, I pulled out the booster tube of the airframe and slid a soller composites sleeve over the airframe.
I wet out the fiberglass with the same epoxy as the fins and wrapped it in mylar. I used a plastic putty knife to squeeze out the excess epoxy and left it to cure.
I'll be doing the other two airframe sections this week and the final few parts will be ordered for me to pick up at ldrs.

 

[Ez2cDave]

ASP from "Project Redwing" . . .

 

[Velocity Aerospace]

This sounds like a really cool project. Especially for the sentimental value it holds. I was hoping to go to LDRS to fly my rocket, but it decided to take a core sample of our launch field instead. No LDRS for me this year, but hopefully next year

 

[Upsrocketman]

Well... it's been a bit since I have updated this thread. With Ldrs behind us and several other rockets in the build pile, I am finally getting back to work on this rocket. This project has taken a turn as most projects do.

I showed my father what I had put together and he was amazed. He was shocked that I went through the trouble of wrapping the tubes in fiberglass. Then you could see the excitement start to build as he knew what was ahead. Then he surprised me...

He said "you know, I've been there, done that. I'd be alot more excited to see you build it and fly it. The asp was a cool project when I built it, but I have so many other build projects now, it would get lost in the pile. I would rather see what you change to make it a more capable rocket."

So.......

Welcome to the build thread for my Level 3 project that I am going to call Project Reborn. The original plan of a motor cluster will still be built, but now I am building a second fin can with a 75mm motor mount and 3/8 fins that will have tip to tip glass rather than the fiberglass sandwich on the fins themselves.

Time to go chatvwith my clubs TAP to see what my time-line is looking like. My plan is to launch this at our big field next spring. I will update the thread once i know the status of my designs approval.