What did you do rocket wise today?

[bad_idea]

Went to the local chapter NAR launch for the first time. Which is at NASA Houston. Kinda cool.

I want to attend that launch someday. Maybe after I get my cousin in Houston to build some of the old kits I gave him.

 

[goose_in_co]

Since the snow is now melting, instead of accumulating, I had some time to work on the rockets today
I was able to get the decals on the TK-31 Star Blazer


I will be trying out another clear coat option as I am out of Future, and the replacements are not as good.

Then the Estes Expedition received fins, farings, motor mount, and transition.



The nose cone also got a coat of primer, but there is no picture for that.

 

[kuririn]

Order arrived this morning from BnB Rockets.
WMD set. (Weapons of Micro Destruction).
6 military scale missiles, mini engine powered.
So I built one this afternoon: AGM114 Hellfire.


One down, five more to go.
Laters.

 

[BrendanH69]

Spent some time testing the Altus Metrum EasyMini v3.0 to simulate my anomalous flight and lawn dart last weekend with the 38mm “The Lawgiver”.

I sent some basic info to the Altus Metrum “contact us” page and got speedy replies back. Since I’ve not found the rocket to check the physical evidence, I’ve only been able to give them flight behaviour observations.

The flight was on a Pro24 sparky G100. Good launch but quickly vectored right to about a 45 degrees climb then flattening out at about an estimated 800 feet. Watched it come in ballistic in the distance, fully intact, so both the apogee event and the main event failed to either ignite or to shear the single 2-56 nylon shear pins for the lower airframe or the nose-cone separation. Both BP charges were 0.35gms (ground tested well with 0.25gms), both BP ignitors were MJG Technologies J-Tek 7 eMatches, the battery was a Dualsky ECO 520.1S 3.7V LiPo.

After contacting the Altus Metrum guys, the conclusion regarding the altimeter functionality was that:

• The EasyMini would still have detected the launch (uses barometric sensing) despite the lower than expected apogee.
• The actual apogee should still have triggered the apogee ignition. Altus have reviewed a flight log where the apogee was only 35m above ground and it still triggered.
• The main (set to 700feet) should still have triggered, either at that altitude or a short duration after the apogee ignition if the actual apogee was lower than the setting for the main. They do this to ensure each igniter gets sufficient charge to work and to protect the airframe from the stresses of a simultaneous drogue and main deploy.
• They advised that my LiPo might have had a discharge protection circuit built into it which may have stopped the ignitors from getting sufficient current to fire. Their recommendation is to either use their special LiPos or a 9V battery.

So, to explore the theory that maybe the LiPo failed to fire the igniters, I’ve performed two ground tests with a spare EasyMini v3.0. I used the same type of set-up as the flight:

• One 1S Dualsky ECO 520 battery (1.92Wh, 3.7V, 25C).
• Both tests used a pair of MJG Technologies J-Tek 7 eMatches fitted to the Apogee and Main outputs. All were cut to the same lengths as was used in the Av Bay, and resistance checked to between 1.2 and 1.4 Ohms.
• One test was with the Lipo battery fully charged at 4.0V, as seen on the charger control screen and as reported by the EasyMini beeps.
• The other test was with the battery reporting 3.8V (EasyMini beeps only).
• Testing was done in my vacuum food-saving tupper-ware box, the air extracted by hand pump.
• In both tests, the apogee and main ignitors successfully fired at approximately the points they should have, so no apparent firing restriction from the LiPo.

 

[Gastrok]

Finished building an Apogee Zephyr today. Nice kit, but honestly the centering ring spacer things adds unnecessary complexity, in my opinion.

I started it yesterday afternoon, so it was a quick build, even though I wasted a bunch of time doing unspeakable things to the rear centering ring to get it into place. I had a very sloppy start with the internal fillets which I paid for later. I'm not sure it's going to get the standard Zephyr paint job. Still pondering.

 

[sriegel]

Primer on the steampunk Triffid

 

[SolarYellow]

I opened the Estes Centuri kit and started converting it into a stretched two stage (24mm-18mm) instead of the original single stage 18mm design. The included transition made that very easy to do. It should get 2500’ on E12-C6 combo according to OR.

View attachment 608499

Did you ever fly this?

 

[RocketTree]

Did you ever fly this?

I got as far as priming it, but haven’t decided on the paint scheme. Open to suggestions! Always a backlog at the painting process.

 

[Antares JS]

Wyrmling repair fillet, side 2.

 

[bjphoenix]

Today was our larger local club launch. We had a lot of ARC teams doing practice flights and qualification flights- here is one.

 

[kuririn]

Aim-4 Falcon.
Two down, four more to go.

 

[KenECoyote]

Started making custom graphics for my Loc 4"... (guess lol)

 

[goose_in_co]

Sprayed the clear coat on the TK-31 Star Blazer, pretty pictures later, after all, you really can't see the clear

Took off the tape, and filled the spirals and joints on the Expedition, Sanded it and applied another coat of CWF to spots that needed it. I see more sanding in my future on this one. It is a surprisingly solid rocket once assembled this far.

 

[miket6000]

After finally getting the body tube for the Big Burtha into a suitable state using the prime-sand-prime-sand... method, I thought I'd save cutting up the instructions for the Bertha and just reuse the fin marking guide from the DRM. After neatly sanding through the primer and glassine layers along the fin lines, I realised my mistake (DRM has 3 fins, Bertha has 4) so just sanded through the glassine for the bottom 100mm of the body tube and glued on the fins.

Having tried both primer and Timbermate I think the answer probably lands with a combination, Timbermate for the main spiral and primer for the secondary spiral.

 

[Hobie1dog]

read a couple of old HPR magazines

 

[tfischer]

Finally removed masking on the Aspire and attached motor retainer on the H160. Working through the paint queue.

 

[dmaaero]

Big ole jet airliner,
take me on outa this town.

 

[Cape Byron]

My Estes stock finally arrived! Only five days late thanks to the courier…

Checked everything over, as you do.

One of these things is not like the others…

 

[miket6000]

My Estes stock finally arrived! Only five days late thanks to the courier…

Checked everything over, as you do.

One of these things is not like the others…

View attachment 636057View attachment 636058

Bonus body tube, yay!

 

[Antares JS]

Sanding sealer on wood parts for BOSS and Der Squared Max, and built a mini Square in the Air.

 

[kuririn]

AGM-78 Standard Missile.
3 down, 3 more to go.

 

[goose_in_co]

Photographed the Star Blazer clone. Pictures are here: Estes - Star Blazer Gallery (0831)

I tried a new clear coat, and I need to experiment some more to see if I like it.
I sure miss the old Future.

 

[KenECoyote]

Lay-up is close to final design on my Loc 4" Goblin!

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Any opportunities to modify to beef it up?

He plans to replace the plastic holder with a bolt and wingnut.

 

[krislhull]

Pulled a kit out of my build pile, and started my first new build in over a year...

Ordered the parts for what will become my largest build yet, and will be my main project for Sod Blaster late this summer.

 

[tfischer]

Watching paint dry on these boosters before next masking step: Apogee Zephyr, Dragon Fat Boy XL, and Aerotech Aerobee-Hi. Some of the most fun rockets I've built.

 

[kuririn]

Nord AA-20
4 down 2 more to go.

 

[teepot]

Yesterday I walked out of the garage headed to the garbage can. Looked at the sky. The Sun had set maybe 45 minutes before. Turned around and ran into the house and called my wife to come here quick. Her quick and my quick are not the same. What I saw was the contrail of a rocket launch from Vandenberg. We saw a SpaceX launch a couple of years ago. The picture doesn't do justice to what the eye sees. With the Sun over the horizon the curls of contrail glowed from within. It was quite a sight.

 

[Long_Gone]

Making a vacuum chamber today to test my homemade altimeters and my eggtimer ion I just got yesterday, still needs to be assembled no problem for me.

 

[jqavins]

View attachment 636318

The bending and that one gap make it look like a white aurora.