MAD
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- Aug 11, 2013
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Alright, having some trouble on this one...
Tired of shredded balsa fins, so I have taken to paper laminating the surfaces of them.
This is a fairly big low power rocket, capable of engines in the E-range, and I want to say surface mount balsa fins are a bad idea. (I'm no expert, this is all just from research and reading things)
I like a nice rounded leading edge. What I have been doing is rounding said edge first, gluing the paper to side A, folding the paper around the leading edge, and then gluing the paper to side B.
This is not going to work with a Vagabond, due to the fin design not having a straight leading edge...
I'm entertaining a couple of ideas, the most drastic of which is to scrap the balsa fins entirely and to cut out new fins with the same shape from thin plywood on a scrollsaw, with extensions so I can mount them through the fusealage to the engine housing. Yes this would be heavy but I value durability above an extra 100ish feet of altitude.
I would appreciate any input. Thanks for your time
Tired of shredded balsa fins, so I have taken to paper laminating the surfaces of them.
This is a fairly big low power rocket, capable of engines in the E-range, and I want to say surface mount balsa fins are a bad idea. (I'm no expert, this is all just from research and reading things)
I like a nice rounded leading edge. What I have been doing is rounding said edge first, gluing the paper to side A, folding the paper around the leading edge, and then gluing the paper to side B.
This is not going to work with a Vagabond, due to the fin design not having a straight leading edge...
I'm entertaining a couple of ideas, the most drastic of which is to scrap the balsa fins entirely and to cut out new fins with the same shape from thin plywood on a scrollsaw, with extensions so I can mount them through the fusealage to the engine housing. Yes this would be heavy but I value durability above an extra 100ish feet of altitude.
I would appreciate any input. Thanks for your time