Thanks! Need to add some weight to the nose cone and finish this guy off, but in the meantime here's a couple of shots taking it out to a local club launch to get some final critiques and motors (AT F67-4W).
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That's going to look great on the pad. Best of luck for the flight!
F67! How much does that thing weigh?
!Well, it’s on the heavier side. 863g/30.5 oz.
!
Well my mental estimates were certainly way off. An F67 should be great. I actually wish I had a good rocket to fly the F67 in, because it is tremendous bang for the buck.
Good luck on the flight!
So build one. Hold back your usual level of creativity and finishing care and knock together something big and heavy with a little creativity and pretty good finish.I actually wish I had a good rocket to fly the F67 in...
"Ring Warrior 2": My fictional rocket company would probably kit this one, it's a nice straightforward skill level 2, doesn't really resemble anything on the market right now I don't think.
I found myself with some time off work this week and a heavy duty airframe from an unknown origin (56 mm OD, 51 mm ID) so I figured it’s time to move up from LPR to the world of MPR/HPR. Since my kids are just getting into Star Wars, I showed them Lakeroadster’s X-Wing build thread and they were super excited. I decided to go all out and make a bigger version of one. This one is slightly different because the kids wanted it to be Luke’s X-Wing.
I started out by filling the tube and cutting some rather sad-looking fin slots, but a bit of sanding and fillets will work wonders in the final model.
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The tube was a bit rough still and sanding only made it fuzzy, so I made a mixture of wood glue and water (50/50), added a couple coats and sanded it down to get a fairly smooth result.
Next, cut some fins out of 1/8” birch plywood. They’ll still need some touch up and sanding still.
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The nose cone is custom turned out of 4 layers of pink foam. Carved with some rough sandpaper to get the general shape, then refined with some 220 grit. The shoulder is a section of the body tube, cut down to an inside tube coupler and then epoxied in place.
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While I was cutting out the foam, I went ahead and cut out a cockpit. Those front points get a bit flimsy so this was only as far as I was willing to take the sanding without anything else to strengthen it. I will just finish it with some filler and more sanding once it’s affixed to the body where it will have more support.
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And last thing I’ve done this week is work on the winged-motors and mounts. These are only for show on this bird as it’s intended to fly on a single 29 mm motor.
I took two TP rolls and cut them in half to form the large fronts of the engines. Heavy duty card stock was used to create the support structure, and plain card stock was then added as a half circle to fill in the rest of the length of the support structure. Right now, it’s just tacked together with some CA, but white glue or wood glue will be used to bond it all together. An Estes BT-5 tube will serve to attach a BT-20 tube section (not pictured) as the aft part of the engine.
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This bird will fly out at my local club launch site, which is in the desert with a rock hard ground. As such, I’ve elected not to extend the motors aft of the fin/wing as it will just break off on landing.
I’m ordering some custom cut centering rings from the local rocket shop (I suck at cutting circles) and a motor mount tube. So once those get in, I can begin some real assembly. In the meantime, gonna look for some good material for an R2 unit.
Some fun dry fit photos of the pieces coming together.
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We're going to hold you to it ... or hold you to the flames! bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-cough-coughWas hoping to get this one launched today, but no dice. Busy setting up and getting pre-flight checks done for L1 cert. Ran out of time and the winds started picking up to levels I was uncomfortable with for this bird. I will get to launch this one some day!
Good luck, did you get your L1 cert flight in?
We're going to hold you to it ... or hold you to the flames! bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-cough-cough
Sure did! I'm pleased to say it was successful - up and down with a soft landing in a hard field.
Congrats!Sure did! I'm pleased to say it was successful - up and down with a soft landing in a hard field.
I'll hold myself to it as well!!
Another (of many) cases where I am glad to be wrong!two appropriate Star Wars quote, one modified.
The modified one is :
"The Force is (too) strong in this one."
The unmodified one is:
"I have a bad feeling about this."
Those said, I wish you the best of luck!
Another (of many) cases where I am glad to be wrong!
Congrats on a great flight on a really neat rocket!
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