I Won this kit at LDRS this year, and decided to build it last week. It's a simple 4" rocket that looks to be made from LOC parts, and is sold by AMW. It's basically designed to be a motor deploy rocket with a 54mm MMT. But I really don't like to depend on a motor delay for recovery, so I added an avbay to the nosecone.
The kit comes with a polypropylene N/C, pre-slotted Airframe, 3 each 1/4" plywood fins, 3 each 1/4" plywood fin lock centering rings and a 54mm motor mount tube. It also includes one page of instructions.
I read the instructions and set them aside. Started by sanding down the MMT and CR's, then marking where they fit on the MMT. Mixed up some Rocketpoxy and glued a 1/2" kevlar ribbon "Y" harness to the top section of the MMT, fitting it under the top CR. Tied a loop at the top with the knot even with forward end of the airframe. Glued the top two CR's to the MMT and let the epoxy dry. Treated both ends of the MMT and airframe with thin CA, and smoothed it out with a gloved finger.
This kit also has a simple motor retainer, two each 10-32 tee nuts, screws and brackets to hold the motor in. The rear CR has holes to press the tee nuts into, and the screws hold the brackets to the bottom of the CR. I left the rear CR loose and glued the motor mount assembly into the airframe with Rocketpoxy. Then I buttered up the fin root of each fin and inserted it through the slot onto the MMT. All the plywood parts are laser cut and very little sanding was needed to get a good fit. After all three fins were installed, I slid a fin guide I made from a template printed from:
https://www.payloadbay.com/page-Tools.html.
One of the nice things about building rockets in the summer in AZ. is how quick you can get epoxy to setup when it's hot outside, so I set the assembly outside for about 30 minutes to cure. When I brought it back in, I removed the rear CR and squirted some West Systems 105/205 epoxy mixed with chopped carbon fiber into the valley made by the fin attached to the MMT. With the rocket laying horizontal and level, this can be done two at a time, and a quick visit outside got this all done in one day. I even glued the rear CR on after the last set of internal fillets were done.
With the fincan mostly done, I turned my attention to the nosecone/avbay.
This would be a new design for me, mounting an avbay in a plastic N/C. I started by washing it and sanding it inside and out with coarse sandpaper. I found a 1/4" thick plywood centering ring in my scrap pile, it was 5" in diameter and had a 54mm hole in the center. Marked it down to 4" and sanded it down with a disk sander. After a couple of tries, it fit snug inside the N/C against the shoulder. I drilled two 1/4" holes on opposite sides and installed 3" long eyebolts. I dug around in the scrap pile and found a short (7") piece of 54mm blue tube. Then I stole a 54mm Aeropac retainer from another kit in my build pile and glued it onto the blue tube with Rocketpoxy. This is where it got tricky. When I tried to install the blue tube into the CR, the assembly wouldn't fit into the nosecone, and there was very little space between the retainer and the inside of the N/C. So I made up a short "Y" harness from 1/4" kevlar and tied it into the eyebolts. Then I added another short (12") length of kevlar to one side, for the main chute. My plan was to attach the shock cord with the drogue to the "Y" harness and use a cable cutter to open the main. Once I had the shock cord attached to the eyebolts, I glued the CR into the N/C and let it dry, then buttered up the inside hole of the CR and added a patch of epoxy to the outside of the blue tube. Slid the tube into the CR and cleaned up the excess epoxy and set it outside to dry. I checked it about 30 minutes later and some of the epoxy dripped down onto the Aeropack retainer and the "Y" harness. It was still soft, so I cleaned it up and put it back outside.
As you can probably tell, I had the "bit in my teeth" and was building this kit quickly, no time for pictures. I had to fiddle around with the N/C on day two, and started the avbay sled on day three. I cut a 2" by 12" piece of 1/8" G10 fiberglass for the sled, and used a hole saw to cut a bulkhead out of a 3/8" thick piece of plywood. I used a 2" piece of aluminum angle to attach the sled to the bulkhead and fit it into the Aeropac retainer. I had to taper the top of the sled to fit into the N/C. Since the sled was inside the blue tube, inside the N/C, I had to get creative with the switch. I soldered together and Eggtimer WiFi switch and mounted it with a Stratologger CF and an 800 Mah lipo battery. I added a 3 gram charge cup and a small terminal block to the bulkhead, and put a 2" long 1/4" screw through the center hole.
Finally, here are some pictures:
The avbay:
Bottom of the nosecone:
Recovery:
Obviously, I'm not giving all the details of this build, but here are some. The main chute is a Top Flight 45" standard chute, wrapped up in a 12" nomex blanket from Wildman. The cable cutter was originally made by Archetype rocketry, but is currently sold by Prairie Twister:
https://ptrocketry.blogspot.com/p/cable-cutter.html
I make my own drogue pockets from yellow nomex cloth, it holds a 2" by 40" nylon streamer by Top Flight.
The shock cord is 1/4" kevlar and 12 ft. long.
The three static ports are 3/16" in diameter and drilled just above the plywood centering ring.
Final weight is 3 lbs. 13 oz.
A couple more pictures:
When the weather cools down some, I will probably paint it in the classic red/black colors and get Mark at Stickershock.com to make up some stickers.
Our flying season starts in October, so I'm not in a big hurry to finish this.
The kit comes with a polypropylene N/C, pre-slotted Airframe, 3 each 1/4" plywood fins, 3 each 1/4" plywood fin lock centering rings and a 54mm motor mount tube. It also includes one page of instructions.
I read the instructions and set them aside. Started by sanding down the MMT and CR's, then marking where they fit on the MMT. Mixed up some Rocketpoxy and glued a 1/2" kevlar ribbon "Y" harness to the top section of the MMT, fitting it under the top CR. Tied a loop at the top with the knot even with forward end of the airframe. Glued the top two CR's to the MMT and let the epoxy dry. Treated both ends of the MMT and airframe with thin CA, and smoothed it out with a gloved finger.
This kit also has a simple motor retainer, two each 10-32 tee nuts, screws and brackets to hold the motor in. The rear CR has holes to press the tee nuts into, and the screws hold the brackets to the bottom of the CR. I left the rear CR loose and glued the motor mount assembly into the airframe with Rocketpoxy. Then I buttered up the fin root of each fin and inserted it through the slot onto the MMT. All the plywood parts are laser cut and very little sanding was needed to get a good fit. After all three fins were installed, I slid a fin guide I made from a template printed from:
https://www.payloadbay.com/page-Tools.html.
One of the nice things about building rockets in the summer in AZ. is how quick you can get epoxy to setup when it's hot outside, so I set the assembly outside for about 30 minutes to cure. When I brought it back in, I removed the rear CR and squirted some West Systems 105/205 epoxy mixed with chopped carbon fiber into the valley made by the fin attached to the MMT. With the rocket laying horizontal and level, this can be done two at a time, and a quick visit outside got this all done in one day. I even glued the rear CR on after the last set of internal fillets were done.
With the fincan mostly done, I turned my attention to the nosecone/avbay.
This would be a new design for me, mounting an avbay in a plastic N/C. I started by washing it and sanding it inside and out with coarse sandpaper. I found a 1/4" thick plywood centering ring in my scrap pile, it was 5" in diameter and had a 54mm hole in the center. Marked it down to 4" and sanded it down with a disk sander. After a couple of tries, it fit snug inside the N/C against the shoulder. I drilled two 1/4" holes on opposite sides and installed 3" long eyebolts. I dug around in the scrap pile and found a short (7") piece of 54mm blue tube. Then I stole a 54mm Aeropac retainer from another kit in my build pile and glued it onto the blue tube with Rocketpoxy. This is where it got tricky. When I tried to install the blue tube into the CR, the assembly wouldn't fit into the nosecone, and there was very little space between the retainer and the inside of the N/C. So I made up a short "Y" harness from 1/4" kevlar and tied it into the eyebolts. Then I added another short (12") length of kevlar to one side, for the main chute. My plan was to attach the shock cord with the drogue to the "Y" harness and use a cable cutter to open the main. Once I had the shock cord attached to the eyebolts, I glued the CR into the N/C and let it dry, then buttered up the inside hole of the CR and added a patch of epoxy to the outside of the blue tube. Slid the tube into the CR and cleaned up the excess epoxy and set it outside to dry. I checked it about 30 minutes later and some of the epoxy dripped down onto the Aeropack retainer and the "Y" harness. It was still soft, so I cleaned it up and put it back outside.
As you can probably tell, I had the "bit in my teeth" and was building this kit quickly, no time for pictures. I had to fiddle around with the N/C on day two, and started the avbay sled on day three. I cut a 2" by 12" piece of 1/8" G10 fiberglass for the sled, and used a hole saw to cut a bulkhead out of a 3/8" thick piece of plywood. I used a 2" piece of aluminum angle to attach the sled to the bulkhead and fit it into the Aeropac retainer. I had to taper the top of the sled to fit into the N/C. Since the sled was inside the blue tube, inside the N/C, I had to get creative with the switch. I soldered together and Eggtimer WiFi switch and mounted it with a Stratologger CF and an 800 Mah lipo battery. I added a 3 gram charge cup and a small terminal block to the bulkhead, and put a 2" long 1/4" screw through the center hole.
Finally, here are some pictures:
The avbay:
Bottom of the nosecone:
Recovery:
Obviously, I'm not giving all the details of this build, but here are some. The main chute is a Top Flight 45" standard chute, wrapped up in a 12" nomex blanket from Wildman. The cable cutter was originally made by Archetype rocketry, but is currently sold by Prairie Twister:
https://ptrocketry.blogspot.com/p/cable-cutter.html
I make my own drogue pockets from yellow nomex cloth, it holds a 2" by 40" nylon streamer by Top Flight.
The shock cord is 1/4" kevlar and 12 ft. long.
The three static ports are 3/16" in diameter and drilled just above the plywood centering ring.
Final weight is 3 lbs. 13 oz.
A couple more pictures:
When the weather cools down some, I will probably paint it in the classic red/black colors and get Mark at Stickershock.com to make up some stickers.
Our flying season starts in October, so I'm not in a big hurry to finish this.
