What did you do rocket wise today?

[Lt72884]

Engineering programs often don’t really teach project management well. That can led to trouble in 5-10 years when senior management decides that a good engineer will be a good project manager.

One thing we did at my old job that was really helpful was to write each task in a sticky note, then arrange them on a whiteboard with dependencies drawn in. For example, designing in OR comes before drawing centering rings in CAD, which comes before cutting centering rings, etc. Using sticky notes makes it easier to add tasks and dependencies that you missed on the first go-round.

that sticky not idea is a great idea.


thanks for that

 

[KenECoyote]

Good grief... control line... wow. Fox engines... K&B... man o man... am I old...

The Estes catalog I remember most from my youth is the 1985 with the SR-71 on the cover, so you can carbon-date me from that.

I had good luck with the K&B Sportster series. Ran awesome, started super-easy, made my flying buddies with other engines jealous. Of course, they were big, dumb and heavy low-performance motors, too. Mostly, they were what I could afford at the time. Would definitely get other stuff instead.

I just can't care about electric flight, even if the performance is the same or better. The fire makes it good!

I recall those! To carbon date me...

My first nitro RC vehicle was a Kyosho Datsun 10 (chain 4WD) with an O.S. .10 airplane engine (they provided a heat sink to clamp to the head!).

It was advertised to be able to "climb a 45 degree slope!" However, it was a dog and the instructions said to take a straight run before hitting the 45 slope (uh... that's a jump lol)

 

[KenECoyote]

Ordered the McNamee X-15A-2 builder's kit.

Could you provide link to that? I'm curious and didn't see it on a quick search.

 

[jqavins]

the gantt chart i used was a complicated template for excel. It was super bloated and just messy. I have not had the opportunity to use a real gantt chart, but the link posted above looks very promising and looks like it flows well. I used MS project once about 3 or 4 years ago for a simple project and the UI was not my favorite.
I use a WBS and other types of process mapping, just have not gotten into gantt charts as much as i should haha

The nicest ones I've encountered link the WBS items the the Gannt chart. Each row on the chart has its unique WBS ID and, ideally, they are hyperlinked in both directions.

 

[KenECoyote]

Ordered the McNamee X-15A-2 builder's kit.

Could you provide link to that? I'm curious and didn't see it on a quick search.

I'm a doofus!

This is @BigMacDaddy here and he also sells on FB as Robert McNamee.

I've also just ordered his X-15 set and have been messaging with him as recently as last night.

What happens when I'm trying to do a dozen things at work while browsing TRF in-between!

 

[Joekeyo]

Spent the better part of the day masking the lower body of the Saturn 1b. Didn't get the Model Rocket Build blog masking technique quite right. I have burnished cellophane tape in all the right places...I think. I will let it sit overnight and check it again before shooting it. No hurry. I've got this far with no big hiccups.

 

[Lt72884]

The nicest ones I've encountered link the WBS items the the Gannt chart. Each row on the chart has its unique WBS ID and, ideally, they are hyperlinked in both directions.

Ok, now im curious. When you say "nicest ones" are you referring to an excel template or gantt software in general?

thanks

 

[jqavins]

None of the above. I'm referring to the chart. I don't remember what the software was. Any software that will do this (and isn't hard to use) is fine. Don't confuse the tool and the product.

 

[rharshberger]

Installed some fishing line leaders that will secure the recovery shock chords and take the heat of the BP ejection charges for the 1st and 2nd stages of my Saturn V.

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Good luck with those leaders, I quit using them after 3 broke on 3 separate rockets, I can look but iirc they are not a good grade stainless and are not anti-corrosive enough.

 

[Tobor]

Installed some fishing line leaders that will secure the recovery shock chords and take the heat of the BP ejection charges for the 1st and 2nd stages of my Saturn V.

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If you find yourself using leaders a lot, you might invest in a wire rope crimping tool, so you can make leaders any size/length.

I just bought 15ft of 1/16" Galvanized wire rope from Home Depot today. To crimp the aluminum ferrules, I use lug crimpers.

 

[cwbullet]

Make 200 igniter blanks.

 

[lakeroadster]

Good luck with those leaders, I quit using them after 3 broke on 3 separate rockets, I can look but iirc they are not a good grade stainless and are not anti-corrosive enough.

Do you remember what motor's you were using them with, what the weight of the rockets were?

 

[rharshberger]

Do you remember what motor's you were using them with, what the weight of the rockets were?

Estes Mean Machine ,full length couplers and baffle, Estes equivalent 24mm BP charge in AT 24/40 E28T
Scratch 2 stage SA-3/S-125 Pechora, Estes C6-5 and C6-3 (iirc, as I didn't want both ejection charges going off at the same time).
Stock built clone of the Estes Blue Bird Zero, again with Estes 24mm BP charges but using the AT 24/40 cases.

None had more than 5 flights on them after being built when I re-re-re-re-BARred in 2015ish, none have been repaired yet either, and its been over 6 years. I thought the "stainless" fishing leaders were a great idea for LPR rockets, I don't think that way anymore, now they all get 800lb kevlar and I haven't had an issue since.

 

[lakeroadster]

Estes Mean Machine ,full length couplers and baffle, Estes equivalent 24mm BP charge in AT 24/40 E28T
Scratch 2 stage SA-3/S-125 Pechora, Estes C6-5 and C6-3 (iirc, as I didn't want both ejection charges going off at the same time).
Stock built clone of the Estes Blue Bird Zero, again with Estes 24mm BP charges but using the AT 24/40 cases.

None had more than 5 flights on them after being built when I re-re-re-re-BARred in 2015ish, none have been repaired yet either, and its been over 6 years. I thought the "stainless" fishing leaders were a great idea for LPR rockets, I don't think that way anymore, now they all get 800lb kevlar and I haven't had an issue since.

Thanks.

Did they fail at the crimp locations?

 

[rharshberger]

Thanks.

Did they fail at the crimp locations?

After confirmation....the answer would be yes they failed at the crimp locations, FYI I also use longer kevlar harnesses with taped z-folds to mitigate shock loading the harnesses. I found all three rockets, one the leader is totally missing, the other two the leaders were still attached but the entire crimp end was missing including the ferrule, but I still had the snap link attached to the harness.

 

[gdjsky01]

Am I older than you? I lust after O.S. Engines.

I don't lust after ANY two stroke Model Airplane engines. Modern electric is so much better. In every way other than I guess sound.

 

[gdjsky01]

Absolutely. But it turns out I have enough of a parts pile to do what I want to do without breaking into kits. Especially since a lot of the cones will end up being printed due to specialized functional requirements.

I think I have 70 nose cones. 50 body tubes of BT5 to 3.9inch. Transitions... couplers. There is no need to break into my 400+ stash of kits (95% of which were bought over 15 years ago).

 

[gdjsky01]

For me, Enya made engines before she sang Orinoco Flow.

But the sound of Enya is 100% better.

 

[gdjsky01]

The Estes catalog I remember most from my youth is the 1985 with the SR-71 on the cover, so you can carbon-date me from that.

Well since Herman's Hobbies on Dewey Avenue in Rochester NY had blue tube engines (and 18mm Shorties at that), I think I get you beat.

 

[gdjsky01]

Finished off the Bad Boy Rocketry Panavia Clone. 3FNC. But nice kit.

 

[gdjsky01]

And finished off the Apogee Quickdraw

 

[Old School Doug]

Haven't posted for a while but that didn't stop me from building, sanding, painting, etc.
Put the final paint coats and finishing touches on from left to right....Phantasm, Time on my Hands, upsized Solar Grapple, and Spin Cycle III. The Phantasm should be interesting. It's a slightly modified BT80/24mm based on a plan in an issue of Apogee's newsletters. Time on my Hands is just a throw together build from spare parts. The Solar Grapple is upsized to a 29mm from an original 24mm that has had more than a few rough landings. Lastly the Spin Cycle III is a canted fin big brother to a smaller version also built a while ago. It replaces the Spin Cycle II which was lost on its maiden flight somewhere in the far north end of the lagoon at Bong. I downsized the motor from a 29mm to a 24mm to help keep it in the same county.

 

[SolarYellow]

Finished a rebuild of a rocket that had too much paint the first time. This time, I used Econokote for the BT and sanded and painted the nose cone with a gram scale.

Dropped the weight from 116.9g to 94g, a reduction of 19.6% overall, with no motor loaded. It's 14% less with a D12-7 loaded. Should be a little bit better flier now.

 

[jqavins]

In every way other than I guess sound.

And the smell. And the other nostalgia factors. If you're into that stuff. (I'm not.)

 

[prfesser]

Gave the fins on the 2-stage 29mm MD a coat of sanding sealer.

 

[rocketgeek101]

Finished christening my new Ender 3 S1 Pro by printing out one of my fully modular rocket designs. The print quality of this machine is awesome, and a significant step up from my original Ender 3. This was printed with Overture and Polymaker PETG using a 0.24mm layer height. About 3 days of printing total for all parts. No glue. Everything screws together.

 

[Ulexis]

Started project Fat Boy. Who knows where it will end up. I have a lot of FB kits from mmx to 7.5". The Dragon 4" will be first. Mostly worked on OR file, it looks as if it will require very little nose weight with a zero mass transition added to the aft end. Most motors are .9 plus cal. Will be adding some aft mass with epoxy and paint tho....TBD.

 

[Tobor]

And the smell. And the other nostalgia factors. If you're into that stuff. (I'm not.)

I love the smell of "Glow Fuel" burning in any model engine. I remember breaking in my Webra T4-40 (4-Cycle Rotary Valve) engine in my apartment, I was like 21 at the time..... nuf said.

A T4-40

 

[Hobie1dog]

Sprayed 3 primer coats on the Fat boy/Diablo rocket. Naturally 10 more spots appeared that need to be filled and sanded ...AGAIN.

 

[Williamhimka]

It was finally warm enough outside to paint so i decided to prime my 6" Ultimate Wildman booster section today. I'm desperate for design ideas...If anyone wants to help, you'll be highly appreciated