Post a photo of your recently completed project(s)

[rlhatcher]

Recently finished this Madcow Sea Wolf

 

[Tyler P]

The Mini Mosquito is a very different rocket from the one in question.

In any case, I won't derail this thread any further. I stand by my previous assessment.

You're probably right on that. I didn't realize it was 10". That would definitely straighten out.

 

[jqavins]

I drafted this a couple of hours ago then got busy and forgot to hit Post. Sorry if we've moved on; I still think it's worth saying, because "tumble" was a misstatement from the start and he's talking about featherweight recovery.

IMHO this rocket is unsafe to fly in this configuration. Technically it violates NAR safety rules by having no recovery system.

This is from the NAR website:

Rockets can be recovered by many techniques, including parachute, streamer, glider, helicopter, featherweight, tumble, and nose blow for starters... Featherweight recovery can be used on a very small, light rocket. At apogee the spent engine casing is ejected from the model. The model then flutters to the ground like a feather. Unfortunately, the engine casing is also subject to the law of gravity and therefore, being comparatively dense, will fall to earth more rapidly. This is not a problem if you don’t happen to be standing under it when it lands.

On the other hand, the safety code states:

Recovery System. I will use a recovery system such as a streamer or parachute in my rocket so that it returns safely and undamaged and can be flown again, and I will use only flame-resistant or fireproof recovery system wadding in my rocket.

So itlooksas if the safety code and NAR's own other advice may conflict. Featherweight is certainly a thing that a number of kits use.

The open questuon is whether or not this rocket is light enough. And all that said, adding a streamer is pro a ly a better idea.

 

[Wm Reid]

What I’m saying is that it *will* lawndart unless you’ve taken steps to ensure it is unstable on descent. Just from looking at it, that will be quite stable on the way down, even more so if you’re ejecting the motor which will bring the CG forward.

IMHO this rocket is unsafe to fly in this configuration. Technically it violates NAR safety rules by having no recovery system.

Thanks Neil,

I’ll pop the top off and see if I can add a streamer. My thoughts were that it would flutter or tumble down like other small rockets we have...no harm intended. One of the many reasons I joined this group...for the collective knowledge.

Thanks again,

Reid

 

[neil_w]

I’ll pop the top off and see if I can add a streamer. My thoughts were that it would flutter or tumble down like other small rockets we have...no harm intended.

No worries. It is possible that this very light rocket could be slowed down (and destabilitized) just by putting the nose cone on a shock cord. That is called "nose-blow" recovery. Need to test to see for sure. A streamer would be best if possible.

 

[Wm Reid]

No worries. It is possible that this very light rocket could be slowed down (and destabilitized) just by putting the nose cone on a shock cord. That is called "nose-blow" recovery. Need to test to see for sure. A streamer would be best if possible.

The nose does have a shock cord on it...when the engine goes it will pop the top off...I forgot I didn’t glue the top on [emoji854]

I’ve done a couple of other small rockets that way and they have tumbled down without harm.

I love this forum, thanks!



Here is my ‘Micro Bertha’...same idea, the nose pops off and it kind of straggles down. [emoji6]

 

[rocketace]

... Anybody know how much weight I would need in the nose if I put a 18mm motor mount and went with a C6?....I bet a lot!!...

Not as much as if you make it H capable with a 29mm mount! I have flown mine many times on F & G for some great flights. Just use Openrocket or Rocksim to help figure out how much nose weight to add. I haven not flown it on an H yet...too afraid to lose it.

 

[Wm Reid]

Gotta go with Neil on this. At 10" it's too long and stable to tumble. Even the much shorter Semroc Li'l Hercules needs washer weights on the fins in order to tumble. Otherwise it will come down nose first and ballistic. Hopefully not on someone's head. (Don't ask me how I know). Either break apart recovery (mid point separation with a tether) or streamer recovery will suffice on this one.

The nose will pop out on a shock cord to break it up...I went to double check...

I appreciate the feedback [emoji6]

 

[jqavins]

Here's the last blow I'll deliver to this dead horse: a varient on nose blow is to cut the body tube on half, glue a coupler to one side only, and glue the nose cone in. I don't actually know if that gives a lower, higher, or the same decent rate, but it seems like it ought to be lower when each half is unstable by itself as well as being tethered together.

 

[Tyler P]

Here's the last blow I'll deliver to this dead horse: a varient on nose blow is to cut the body tube on half, glue a coupler to one side only, and glue the nose cone in. I don't actually know if that gives a lower, higher, or the same decent rate, but it seems like it ought to be lower when each half is unstable by itself as well as being tethered together.

That's the way I'd do it.

 

[Brian-Tampa]

This my latest build, it's a beefed up LOC EZI-65.
I plan on using it for my Level 2 certification next month,so I built it a little sturdier than my first EZI-65.
Lots of extra epoxy on the centering rings.

Bondo Glazing & Spot putty for spirals
Exterior fillets were mainly for show, the fins are really epoxied well on the inside to the MMT, aft centering ring, mid centering ring and inside of main airframe. Plus fins were coated with wood hardener prior to priming.
Leading edges of fins were rounded over with an 1/8" dowel epoxied in place then filled in with wood filler and sanded.
2 coats of sandable filler primer sanding between coats 220grit, 400grit and then 600 grit
3 coats of "Traffic Cone Orange" & "Gloss Black" sanding between coats 220grit, 400grit and then 600grit
3 coats of Gloss Clear Coat after decals were applied.
Weighs in at about 75 oz dry. (I know it's a little on the heavy side for an EZI-65)
The pictures off of my phone do not do this paint job justice.

Equipment:
60" Rocketman chute
Jolly Logic Chute Release
Jolly Logic Altimeter 3
Aeropack 54mm motor retainer with 38mm adapter
20' One Bad Hawk harness
36" short lanyard with protective sleeve
Rocketman 24" Kevlar chute protector
1010 rail buttons

Flew twice at Jan. 18th Plant City, FL Tripoli launch.
Both times she was off the rail straight as an arrow.
Two great flights with perfect recoveries on Aerotech H550ST for both flights to break her in.
10 second delay worked wonders
I don't know what I hit in altitude, my Altimeter 3 died and has since been sent back for a replacement.
Next month I'll open her up with an I280DM and see what she can do.

Clear skies and great flights!

Brian
TRA #19075

 

[Tyler P]

This my latest build, it's a beefed up LOC EZI-65.
I plan on using it for my Level 2 certification next month,so I built it a little sturdier than my first EZI-65.
Lots of extra epoxy on the centering rings.

Bondo Glazing & Spot putty for spirals
Exterior fillets were mainly for show, the fins are really epoxied well on the inside to the MMT, aft centering ring, mid centering ring and inside of main airframe. Plus fins were coated with wood hardener prior to priming.
Leading edges of fins were rounded over with an 1/8" dowel epoxied in place then filled in with wood filler and sanded.
2 coats of sandable filler primer sanding between coats 220grit, 400grit and then 600 grit
3 coats of "Traffic Cone Orange" & "Gloss Black" sanding between coats 220grit, 400grit and then 600grit
3 coats of Gloss Clear Coat after decals were applied.
Weighs in at about 75 oz dry. (I know it's a little on the heavy side for an EZI-65)
The pictures off of my phone do not do this paint job justice.

Equipment:
60" Rocketman chute
Jolly Logic Chute Release
Jolly Logic Altimeter 3
Aeropack 54mm motor retainer with 38mm adapter
20' One Bad Hawk harness
36" short lanyard with protective sleeve
Rocketman 24" Kevlar chute protector
1010 rail buttons

Flew twice at Jan. 18th Plant City, FL Tripoli launch.
Both times she was off the rail straight as an arrow.
Two great flights with perfect recoveries on Aerotech H550ST for both flights to break her in.
10 second delay worked wonders
I don't know what I hit in altitude, my Altimeter 3 died and has since been sent back for a replacement.
Next month I'll open her up with an I280DM and see what she can do.

Clear skies and great flights!

Brian
TRA #19075

Well built and looks great!

 

[CoronaDuke]

OK. So here's mine. I was given 3 mailing tubes used to ship classroom-size Periodic Table posters. I fiberglassed the tubes and used 2 plus to build 'No Indigo'. She stands 73.25", weighs in at 6.8 lbs; is dual deploy using a LOC Precision 3" avionics bay; has a 54mm motor mount and MadCow motor retainer. The tube fins are epoxied to the body tube and to each other and also bolted to the body tube. It has 10/10 rail buttons on the 'red' strip and the nose cone is salvaged from a previous non-repairable disassembly! The maiden flight will hopefully be in the next few months; and, as of now, will be on an Aerotech I245G (using a 54/38mm adapter), with a predicted altitude of 1,100 ft.

 

[dhbarr]

OK. So here's mine. I was given 3 mailing tubes used to ship classroom-size Periodic Table posters. I fiberglassed the tubes and used 2 plus to build 'No Indigo'. She stands 73.25", weighs in at 6.8 lbs; is dual deploy using a LOC Precision 3" avionics bay; has a 54mm motor mount and MadCow motor retainer. The tube fins are epoxied to the body tube and to each other and also bolted to the body tube. It has 10/10 rail buttons on the 'red' strip and the nose cone is salvaged from a previous non-repairable disassembly! The maiden flight will hopefully be in the next few months; and, as of now, will be on an Aerotech I245G (using a 54/38mm adapter), with a predicted altitude of 1,100 ft.

Best of luck, fellow toober!

 

[mbeels]

OK. So here's mine. I was given 3 mailing tubes used to ship classroom-size Periodic Table posters. I fiberglassed the tubes and used 2 plus to build 'No Indigo'.

Beautiful, and I like the name! I never could see the difference between indigo and purple, though. However, "No Indigo" sounds better than "No Purple"!

 

[Brian-Tampa]

OK. So here's mine. I was given 3 mailing tubes used to ship classroom-size Periodic Table posters. I fiberglassed the tubes and used 2 plus to build 'No Indigo'. She stands 73.25", weighs in at 6.8 lbs; is dual deploy using a LOC Precision 3" avionics bay; has a 54mm motor mount and MadCow motor retainer. The tube fins are epoxied to the body tube and to each other and also bolted to the body tube. It has 10/10 rail buttons on the 'red' strip and the nose cone is salvaged from a previous non-repairable disassembly! The maiden flight will hopefully be in the next few months; and, as of now, will be on an Aerotech I245G (using a 54/38mm adapter), with a predicted altitude of 1,100 ft.
View attachment 404403 View attachment 404405 View attachment 404406 View attachment 404407

Super nice build!
Although, I have never built one I am a big fan of tube fin designs.
It must have been a bear to paint. Looks like a lot of masking time went into the paint job!
Wishing you a great maiden flight.

Clear skies and great flights!

Brian
TRA #19075

 

[Greg Furtman]

OK. So here's mine. I was given 3 mailing tubes used to ship classroom-size Periodic Table posters. I fiberglassed the tubes and used 2 plus to build 'No Indigo'. She stands 73.25", weighs in at 6.8 lbs; is dual deploy using a LOC Precision 3" avionics bay; has a 54mm motor mount and MadCow motor retainer. The tube fins are epoxied to the body tube and to each other and also bolted to the body tube. It has 10/10 rail buttons on the 'red' strip and the nose cone is salvaged from a previous non-repairable disassembly! The maiden flight will hopefully be in the next few months; and, as of now, will be on an Aerotech I245G (using a 54/38mm adapter), with a predicted altitude of 1,100 ft.

Is the bottom rail button inside the red fin tube?

 

[jqavins]

This my latest build, it's a beefed up LOC EZI-65.
I plan on using it for my Level 2 certification next month,so I built it a little sturdier than my first EZI-65.
Lots of extra epoxy on the centering rings.

Nice. EZ-I65 is a good kit for an L2 attempt, or at least I think so and hope so, since it's what I've got 3/4 built for mine. All epoxy construction. And a PML 4 inch to 75 mm boat tail; the Aeropack 54 mm retainer actually fits inside the boat tail, and mostly disappears.

OK. So here's mine...

I like it!

I never could see the difference between indigo and purple, though. However, "No Indigo" sounds better than "No Purple"!

That's because the meanings of words shift over centuries. When Newton said "blue" he meant a greenier color than we mean (which is why everybody knows the sky is blue even though it's a greenish blue) and when he said "indigo" he meant what we'd call blue today (which is why denim pants dyed with indigo are called blue jeans.) Have you never noticed that a rainbow has a large and pronounced cyan region? So when he wrote "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet" he meant what we would call "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Violet (or purple)".

So I guess that rocket ought to be called "No Cyan", but "No Indigo" sounds cooler.

 

[mbeels]

When Newton said "blue" he meant a greenier color than we mean (which is why everybody knows the sky is blue even though it's a greenish blue) and when he said "indigo" he meant what we'd call blue today

Interesting, that makes sense.

So I guess that rocket ought to be called "No Cyan", but "No Indigo" sounds cooler.

Yup!

 

[Brian-Tampa]

Nice. EZ-I65 is a good kit for an L2 attempt, or at least I think so and hope so, since it's what I've got 3/4 built for mine. All epoxy construction. And a PML 4 inch to 75 mm boat tail; the Aeropack 54 mm retainer actually fits inside the boat tail, and mostly disappears.

I like it!

That's because the meanings of words shift over centuries. When Newton said "blue" he meant a greenier color than we mean (which is why everybody knows the sky is blue even though it's a greenish blue) and when he said "indigo" he meant what we'd call blue today (which is why denim pants dyed with indigo are called blue jeans.) Have you never noticed that a rainbow has a large and pronounced cyan region? So when he wrote "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet" he meant what we would call "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Violet (or purple)".
View attachment 404450
So I guess that rocket ought to be called "No Cyan", but "No Indigo" sounds cooler.

Joseph,
Sounds like a sweet build. I would like to see pics of the boat tail.
I kinda overbuild this EZ for my L2 attempt. Lots of extra epoxy.
All of the centering rings have about 1/8" of epoxy layered over each. See the aft end pic with the 54mm retainer.
I did the mid and forward rings from the top. I let it trickle down thru a rolled up tube of wax paper.
After I was satisfied I had enough on the ring, I rolled the airframe around to let the resin wick up the inner walls for a more secure bond.
The fin assembly is rock solid, plus I really overdid the inner fillets as well on the fin to MMT joints as well as the fin tangs to centering ring joints.
I probably added 8-10 oz to the overall weight with the extra epoxy, but I want it to be able to handle a decent size 54mm motor.
I really the the EZ design, I would really like to build another up the road all glass, probably extend the payload section 12-16" and set it up for dual deploy.
My original EZ wasn't built this rugged, but I hit 3759' with that rocket on an I280DM at a launch a few months ago at Plant City Florida
That was a stock build, unfortunately I lost that rocket last month on a pre-mature chute deployment at about 3600-3700'.
With a 10 to 13 mph wind that rocket must have drifted pretty far. I never did recover it.
Plus I lost an Altimeter 3 and a Chute Release too. Bummer day for me.
This new rocket has a tracker in it, which with the two flights I have on it so far has worked perfectly.
I plan on tearing a hole in a cloud next launch in February with an I280DM just to see what it can do.
In March we have a 2 day event, that's when I plan on going for my L2 certification with it.
Still debating what DMS motor to use for that flight.
I would really like to see your EZ when it's finished. Must look super cool with a boat tail.

Clear skies and great flights!

Brian
TRA #19075

 

[John Taylor]

No worries on the EZI65. It will do just fine. I got my level two on a 20 year old EZI that had been stored in the attic for 16 years. I flew it on a DMS J270. It did great as I'm sure yours will.[emoji41]

 

[John Taylor]

The CP on the EZI65 is 46.55" from the top. Just insure the CG if forward of the CP by at least 1 caliper(4") minimum. Not too much or it could me overstable.

 

[CoronaDuke]

The body tube - on the No Indigo - was masked as each color was applied. The tube fins were painted before attaching to the body tube and were masked where they were going to be epoxied. And yes the lower rail button is inside the red tube fin. I googled 'Mood Indigo' to get an idea for fonts. There were several associated with the song that looked good; chose one and then searched for a font that came close - 'Snell Roundhand'.

Thanks for the nice comments.

 

[Brian-Tampa]

It's amazing the paint jobs you can get out of "rattle cans".
Just takes patience, time and lots of tape.
And I almost forget, good surface prep and decent paint helps too!
I can only imagine how long the "NO INDIGO" paint job took!

For my build, I used 2 coats prime, 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of gloss clear coat.
I used Tamiya masking tape for the first time and the black to orange transition line on the fins was super crisp.
Best tape I have used so far. They have two styles in several widths.
One is for straight runs and the other is for curved surfaces.
Just have to make sure it's down tight to the surface to prevent "creep".
Once I have it where I want it, I use an old 1" wide ink roller to make sure it's down tight to the surface.

I'm sure "NO INDIGO" will fly as good as it looks.
My compliments to a very complex paint job that is definitely an eye catcher.
Looking forward to hearing maiden flight results!!!

Clear skies and great flights!

Brian
TRA #19075

 

[Andy Greene]

The Callisto needs a maiden and the Riley flew last weekend.

 

[Brian-Tampa]

The Callisto needs a maiden and the Riley flew last weekend.

Andy,
Nice looking build on the Callisto. Paint scheme is pretty cool.
Are you gonna fly it next month at Plant City?
If you do, I'll be there to see it.
Looking at the motor retainer, I see you set it up for 38mm instead of the stock 29mm version.
Lightweight rocket like that with a decent 38mm should be a real cloud ripper!
I am actually looking at the PML Callisto or Phobos as a future build.
Right now I am debating whether to go for for my L2 either in February or March with my EZI-65
Wishing you a great maiden on the Callisto!

Hope we don't have as many igniter problems next month!

Clear skies and great flights!

Brian
TRA #19075

 

[jqavins]

I would really like to see your EZ when it's finished. Must look super cool with a boat tail.

As ai said, it's only 3/4, but here it is so far.

 

[neil_w]

As ai said, it's only 3/4, but here it isn't so far.

Fixed.

(images broken)

 

[Brian-Tampa]

As ai said, it's only 3/4, but here it is so far.
View attachment 404622
View attachment 404623
View attachment 404624

Joe,
That boat tail really dresses up the aft end of your EZ.
Gives it that "finished" look.
It's going to a sweet looking build when you're done.
Keep the pics coming as you make more progress.

Clear skies and great flights!