Thank you to everyone for your input, I appreciate all of it.
I should have known that this topic could easily expand into other concerns, so I should have been a bit more specific in order to limit the discussion to the tubing. The project is actually my L3 and the reason I wanted to keep it at a casual level is because I respect my TAPs input and my personal preference is to get their input before it goes out to the public forum. Having said that I am not experienced or smart enough to go to them with a well enough thought out plan. Essentially I want to present a plan that will stand up to scrutiny and evolve as the discussion evolves. This is not just because it is an L3, but because it is a relatively ambitious and risky L3 that may raise eyebrows, so I want to ensure that I can support my ideas and ultimately get buy-in.
So here are a few details. It is a scratch 4" MD, 4 fin, conical nosecone design with carbon plate fins (thickness TBT) and a 1/3, 2/3, full T2T planned (layup method TBT), with a high temp epoxy (TBT) on the leading edge of the fins. I have purchased some of the basics, the first being 60" and 30" CF tubes and a 12" coupler from Rocketry Warehouse which was not his heavy gauge tubing, just regular. I also grabbed a conical nosecone, as a matter of design preference, and all of which were all originally meant for a different project. When I decided what I wanted to achieve for my L3, I thought I would try to use the tubing I had. Since then I have picked up 1 of the 2 Altimeters (Marsa54LHD 100G version) have not decided on the backup, and the CTI 98mm 6XL case with tailcone. I have also decided that Kate will be on-board for real-time telemetry/tracking, a camera will be in the airframe facing out. and I will use CO2 for primary and a traditional BP backup charge for both main and apogee.
Beyond the choices above I have a preliminary design which has been simmed in both OR and RASAero to ensure it stays within the waiver, and maintains 2 Calibers of stability, etc. I have also downloaded AeroFinSim but have yet to get into it, which will help me with the final fin design, plate thickness and layup decisions. I just picked up a copy of SolidWorks to learn and use to design my AV bays, recovery components as well as any other components that will benefit from CAD, and if required to perform some analyses on any component where there may be a concern. Other choices I am leaning towards are that this is not likely to take place until 2019 at Airfest.
I have reviewed every possible N5800 launch on this forum, as well as anything I could find on the web and YouTube, all in an attempt to get as much of a feel for this motor as I can...and it deserves a lot of respect. In doing so I am happy with my preliminary choices, 4 fins, the fin size the realization that the fins ripping off is a contributing factor for failure, etc. However I am starting to question using the tubing that I originally purchased for a much less extreme purpose and less extreme motor choices. I have no issue saving that tubing for another project at this stage if it is not up to this task.
So the purpose of this thread for me was not to make this about my L3, not to get into the nuts and bolts about leading edge and aero heating and erosion, 3 fins vs. 4 fins, etc., I will save those for future threads as well as possibly a build thread. I was looking to make this thread a sole subject thread in order to get a feeling if I am being short-sighted on using the tubing, just because I already own it, or should I roll my own, or look for another off the shelf solution such as the Wildman tubing mentioned. Not to ignore the obvious, which is in order to make a proper evaluation numbers would help, but so would anecdotal experiences from those who have survived this motor. Unfortunately I don't have any specs on the existing tubing except that it was purchased from Rocketry Warehouse so I am assuming that it is the same stuff that Madcow is now offering. If anyone has any specifications on the tubing then great, and no I have not tried to reach out to Curtis, or Mike but I may if this does not yield and results.