PML MR-1

[JAL3]

I did some sanding to reduce the previous, vestigial fillets from the BT.

 

[JAL3]

I also did some sanding and scraping on the root of the fin.

 

[JAL3]

When I tried to test fin the fin back in place, it was getting hung up on insertion so I used an X-acto to clean out the opening a bit more and did a little more sanding.

 

[JAL3]

Some epoxy was mixed and then a quantity was poured into the fin slot so that to root edge would grip some. I also painted some along the slot and then inserted the fin. I aligned it as best I could and poured a bead along one side of the seam with the BT.

 

[JAL3]

I let the epoxy set up for a day and then did the other side of the fin.

 

[JAL3]

The result turned out to be reasonably straight.

 

[JAL3]

I surprized myself and located the original can of paint used to paint the body of my MR-1. I gave it a couple of light coats which covered the epoxy and a few other dings and called it done.

I swear it looks better in person than it does in these pics.

 

[bradycros]

I surprized myself and located the original can of paint used to paint the body of my MR-1. I gave it a couple of light coats which covered the epoxy and a few other dings and called it done.

I swear it looks better in person than it does in these pics.

There's a Big Foot loose in your garage, look at the floor in front of the chair. Third picture. :shock:

 

[JAL3]

There's a Big Foot loose in your garage, look at the floor in front of the chair. Third picture. :shock:

You better believe that SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED let me hear about it when it got tracked into the house too. Apparently, she had just mopped yesterday and was not pleased.

 

[JAL3]

The first flight after the repair job came at the AARG's Hutton launch this past Saturday. I sanded the piston and prepped the rocket with an F42-4. The rocket was checked in and assigned to a pad. It looked itty bitty sitting way out there by itself.

 

[JAL3]

It launched quite well and flew very straight. In fact, I would call this the best its ever flown.

 

[JAL3]

It likewise continued straight as the thrust ended and it coasted to apogee.

 

[JAL3]

In the past when it reached its summit, this rocket has arced over. This time, that did not happen. It just got slower and slower. When it got to its max altitude, the ejection charge went off and it ejected the chute.

 

[JAL3]

The chute deployed properly and it drifted down to land on the flight line, right close to my shelter.

I think this was the best flight this rocket has had and it made me start eying the 29mm CTI hardware a vendor had present. Maybe this rocket will finally get an HPR flight.

 

[JAL3]

The rocket sustained no damage on landing and actually drew applause for its performance. That had never happened to me before.

 

[Gary Byrum]

At this point I need to 'fess up to a blunder. My thought was that the inner fillets did not need to be pretty and I was kind of messy applying them. This led to later problems in getting the aft centering ring back in place. I ground the blobs down as best I could but the ring still wouldn't go in. I used a sander to remove more from the outside and my finger with some sandpaper to work on the inside. It helped but not enough. Then I got the bonehead idea of forcing it. I used a rubber headed mallet to get it started and it did start. It was also aparent that it was never coming out again. I was commited. Then I got dumber. I placed the handle pieces of a pair of piers on the fing and rapped the other end with the mallet. This drove the ring down but also split the wood. It wasn't split enought to be removed but it was pretty awful looking.

Don't feel like an idiot on this one. I did the same stupid thing. I call it stupid because I had planned to get that epoxy out of the way before mounting the aft centering ring and get a good pre-fit but forgot to do any of it. I was literally up against the dry epoxy and the 5 minute setting epoxy already in place. After hammering away at it, I got a pretty good fit. I was worried that I'd break the tube but it didn't. Not w/o some splittage on the CR of course. And I did the same "make up" application you did after it was set.

 

[JAL3]

Don't feel like an idiot on this one. I did the same stupid thing. I call it stupid because I had planned to get that epoxy out of the way before mounting the aft centering ring and get a good pre-fit but forgot to do any of it. I was literally up against the dry epoxy and the 5 minute setting epoxy already in place. After hammering away at it, I got a pretty good fit. I was worried that I'd break the tube but it didn't. Not w/o some splittage on the CR of course. And I did the same "make up" application you did after it was set.

This one is on my "get back into active service list".

Then again, they all are. Even the ones posing as splinters in old shoeboxes.

I feel that God created me to get a certain amount of rocketry done each day. Right now, I am so far behind I'll never die!

 

[Hobie1dog]

Thanks for all the pictures and videos. I just got my kit on Friday and will start on it on Monday. My first kit since 26 years ago.

 

[Gary Byrum]

Doesn't anyone have any comments/advice about my lug idea?

No advice, but here's what I did. When I mounted the lug, I noticed the gap between the aft end of the lug and the tube. I figured with the weight of that rocket, that the length of the lug was necessary for the kind of motors it would be using. But I didn't like the fact that so much of it was just suspended there. I opted to epoxy a shim in that gap and with an epoxy fillet, it's not even noticeable that I did that. The whole lug was then securely glued in place. The first launch was unsuccessful because of chute failure but the lug held on.

 

[Hobie1dog]

I launched my MR-1 on a G80-10T for my Pre-Cert flight last month, and it flew great. Followed it up with a H87 CTI motor and got my Level 1 . Landed in a tree and 4 hours later it survived the fall of the tree we cut down. Really great little rocket.

 

[blackbrandt]

4 hours later it survived the fall of the tree we cut down

 

[Hobie1dog]

If anyone comes across one of these please let me know. After losing mine to the tree gods, I contacted PML to see if they had any parts left over to get a kit together for me but they didn't have anything.