L1 Cert-ASP WAC Corporal

[hermannj]

It took me almost a year but I obtained my L1 cert today with lots of help from my fellow club members. I flew the ASP WAC Corporal on an Aerotech H195T New Blue Thunder with a 10 second delay. I was really thrilled to see how well my JL chute release (set at 400 ft) worked.

 

[mccordmw]

Congratulations! Beautiful rocket. Any videos of the flight?

 

[Handeman]

Congrats on the L1!
I'm just got my second JLCR, lost the first on the fourth flight. They are great, but I've found that I can set it to 100 ft and it works great since the chutes open so fast after being released. Unless the wind is down and you want to watch the chute float for a while.

Any thoughts on L2 yet?

 

[qquake2k]

Congratulations on the L1! Nice looking rocket.

 

[pyrobob]

Yes, great looking rocket!

 

[ksaves2]

What? You copied "MY" rocket!! Just kidding and congratulations. I like the big ASP WAC so much I built two of them.
One yellow like yours and one with the white scheme. I took advantage of that large nosecone coupler to stuff a Magnetic Anomaly
Detection unit in there for apogee "every time" deployment. I lost the white one because Stupidhead here didn't mark the rocket with
the amount of BP needed for deployment and I undercharged it after I hadn't flown either in a long time! The MAD unit survived but the rocket didn't.

My yellow one is still flying after 13 flights and now using the JLCR too. I don't have to worry about sizing a delay with the MAD unit
so I've been using my own two grain Research H-160'ish motors to fly it.

I've had my share of zippers in the past so took the trouble to design for the MAD deployment. You'll have to be careful with getting your
delays dialed in and I suggest you sim the heck out of many motor combinations at different wind speeds.
You can also consider pointing your launch rail/rod a few degrees downwind so the weathercocking leads to a curved path to a low energy
deployment of the main. With the JLCR you'll have much more leeway as the main doesn't open at apogee with a jolt. That helps a lot.
I was flying mine as apogee only long before the JLCR was available. I also walked a lot farther with my recoveries.
The open lip of the body tube still doesn't have any dings on it from the harness and the white/black WAC was pristine before its demise.
It's a great rocket.

Kurt

 

[The_Lone_Beagle]

Great looking rocket! Mine is in my build pile, although I started sealing the nose cone (I keep knocking it over and screwing with the point, dadgummit).

I had an 18mm WAC Corporal in my 1970's-80s flying days, the old Estes type. I liked the white & black color scheme.

 

[ksaves2]

Great looking rocket! Mine is in my build pile, although I started sealing the nose cone (I keep knocking it over and screwing with the point, dadgummit).

I had an 18mm WAC Corporal in my 1970's-80s flying days, the old Estes type. I liked the white & black color scheme.

Oh, one thing I did was get some spring steel from McMaster Carr. I think it was .032 or .040 something like that. Had my brother shear it in 1/4 " strips. I use a torch and put a ninety degree bend up on one end and bend a curled knob down on the
aft end. The "up" end goes through a notch in the forward centering ring and is against the forward side of the ring. I notched the inside of the boat tail for the strip and I have a spring steel retainer a' la old Estes style for RMS motors.
I'll post a picture later. Kurt

 

[hermannj]

Congratulations! Beautiful rocket. Any videos of the flight?

Someone in my club took a video so I'll link to it when he posts it to YouTube.

 

[hermannj]

Congrats on the L1!
I'm just got my second JLCR, lost the first on the fourth flight. They are great, but I've found that I can set it to 100 ft and it works great since the chutes open so fast after being released. Unless the wind is down and you want to watch the chute float for a while.

Any thoughts on L2 yet?

Haven't really thought on the L2 yet. I really want to learn more about doing the sims and drilling the proper delay.

 

[hermannj]

Oh, one thing I did was get some spring steel from McMaster Carr. I think it was .032 or .040 something like that. Had my brother shear it in 1/4 " strips. I use a torch and put a ninety degree bend up on one end and bend a curled knob down on the
aft end. The "up" end goes through a notch in the forward centering ring and is against the forward side of the ring. I notched the inside of the boat tail for the strip and I have a spring steel retainer a' la old Estes style for RMS motors.
I'll post a picture later. Kurt

I wanted to do 38mm using the Madcow retainer but the boat tail was too soft so the retainers pulled right out. I ended putting in the 29mm adapter and using the Estes screw on retainers.

 

[hermannj]

What? You copied "MY" rocket!! Just kidding and congratulations. I like the big ASP WAC so much I built two of them.
One yellow like yours and one with the white scheme. I took advantage of that large nosecone coupler to stuff a Magnetic Anomaly
Detection unit in there for apogee "every time" deployment. I lost the white one because Stupidhead here didn't mark the rocket with
the amount of BP needed for deployment and I undercharged it after I hadn't flown either in a long time! The MAD unit survived but the rocket didn't.

My yellow one is still flying after 13 flights and now using the JLCR too. I don't have to worry about sizing a delay with the MAD unit
so I've been using my own two grain Research H-160'ish motors to fly it.

I've had my share of zippers in the past so took the trouble to design for the MAD deployment. You'll have to be careful with getting your
delays dialed in and I suggest you sim the heck out of many motor combinations at different wind speeds.
You can also consider pointing your launch rail/rod a few degrees downwind so the weathercocking leads to a curved path to a low energy
deployment of the main. With the JLCR you'll have much more leeway as the main doesn't open at apogee with a jolt. That helps a lot.
I was flying mine as apogee only long before the JLCR was available. I also walked a lot farther with my recoveries.
The open lip of the body tube still doesn't have any dings on it from the harness and the white/black WAC was pristine before its demise.
It's a great rocket.

Kurt

I loved this rocket but had a lot of trouble building it. I messed up slotting the tube and also trying to use a 38 mm retainer. Also the balsa that comes in the kit for laminating the fins is very soft so it gets damaged easily.

 

[hermannj]

Thanks!

 

[Handeman]

Haven't really thought on the L2 yet. I really want to learn more about doing the sims and drilling the proper delay.

Those are all great things to work on, but you might want to consider DD, even with L1. I've found that electronic deployment is much more consistent then motor ejection and tends to be much easier on the rockets. My rockets that have the most flights tend to be electronic deployment. Just food for thought...

 

[John Beans]

It took me almost a year but I obtained my L1 cert today with lots of help from my fellow club members. I flew the ASP WAC Corporal on an Aerotech H195T New Blue Thunder with a 10 second delay. I was really thrilled to see how well my JL chute release (set at 400 ft) worked.

congrats!

 

[ksaves2]

Those are all great things to work on, but you might want to consider DD, even with L1. I've found that electronic deployment is much more consistent then motor ejection and tends to be much easier on the rockets. My rockets that have the most flights tend to be electronic deployment. Just food for thought...

Correct but I've found with the JL chute release there is more leeway with early and late ejection of the restrained chute pack. With apogee only main chute, yes getting the delay drilled correctly is more critical to avoid zippering.
Or end up like me. I plugged in LOC cardboard 4" tubes on a 3FNC in Rocksim and it turned out a stock J350M turned in a nominal flight. When flown, it worked perfectly though I had to walk a ways to recover. Large rocket though
was easily seen. Kurt

 

[ASP]

Congrats on the cert flight! Would love to see the flight video!

Andy/ASP