What did you do rocket wise today?

Starting to work on a full scale version of a hellfire missile. Just got the parts together to begin.

Besides putting the launch lugs on a rocket I thought was done I tried to design a two stage rocket in open rocket but failed. I can't seem to get both stages to fire.

-Bob

Bindairdundat said:

Starting to work on a full scale version of a hellfire missile. Just got the parts together to begin.

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Doing a build thread?

snrkl said:

Doing a build thread?

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maybe I should... it is going to be a long one... My brother wanted to do this build for a long time, he is not certified, and I honestly have been lazily putting it off for a long time. I finally bought alot of the required hardware for it (98mm mmt and other recovery hardware) and am looking into getting some of the fiberglass sock... A&P Technology seems to have a variety. they have a 7" sock, and I have a 7" diameter sonotube... maaaaaabye.....

Bindairdundat said:

maybe I should... it is going to be a long one... My brother wanted to do this build for a long time, he is not certified, and I honestly have been lazily putting it off for a long time. I finally bought alot of the required hardware for it (98mm mmt and other recovery hardware) and am looking into getting some of the fiberglass sock... A&P Technology seems to have a variety. they have a 7" sock, and I have a 7" diameter sonotube... maaaaaabye.....

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Soller Composites have a big selection of fiberglass tube/sock. I have used their 3 in diameter. And the tubing does expand and Shrink quite a bit. I believe there 7 in stock is listed to cover anywhere from 3.5" - 11". And they sell the heat shrink that will slide over that and squeeze all the excess epoxy out.

Hey Nike said:

Starting a new build - the "Pseudo Sandhawk" - a sport scale interpretation of the Terrier Sandhawk kit-bashed from an old Estes BLU-97B kit I found in my old stock and a Star Orbiter. I put together the tailcone, trimmed it out for a D/E 24mm motor tube and notched it out for the engine hook. Also centering up and gluing the motor mount in the BLU-97B BT-70 body tube to build up the "Terrier" style booster.

View attachment 365669 View attachment 365670

Here's the idea:

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What program do you use to draw your diagram? Nice!

Today I bought a new piece of glass 8 by 10 put tape on the edges and waxed it, now I'm ready to glue multi-piece fins together and keep them flat while the glue sets. I use the car wax as a release agent.

These were actually taken at a launch on the 27th. I forgot to post them till today. Better late than never, right?

Woah! Launching on a bed of dry corn leaves and stalks, with standing (if cut off) stalks to lose rockets in. Good Times!

Sanded out the motor mount on my old Executioner because I was having trouble getting Es into it. Cleaned it and now it's good to go.

gbh said:

What program do you use to draw your diagram? Nice!

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Thanks! I did that in MS Visio.

ok! I'm down to my last two retainers. Ones going to be a repair. Even with two wraps of 3oz. fiberglass cloth you can still end up with a zipper if the shock cord is to short.

Pulled some wires through this transition. Kinda looking like the Flying Spaghetti Monster lol.

Sweet tweet rocketry wise. I've been working 5-10 hour days and 5-12 hour days for the last year or so.

Sleep is more important.

I think I have decided to get out of the hobby. I have many unopened Estes kits, and no time to build them. I recently moved to the Hampton roads area and have not been able to connect with anyone who shares my passion.

VARm01 said:

I think I have decided to get out of the hobby. I have many unopened Estes kits, and no time to build them. I recently moved to the Hampton roads area and have not been able to connect with anyone who shares my passion.

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I would just put what you have in storage, and take a break. You never know who will pop up.

Got my new NAR card. Just in time for Black Friday...I guess. Or maybe just too soon to avoid Black Friday? Thinking about the DMS K motors and an idea I have for non-pyro deployment...



It is rainy cold and here, and I am sick and injured. I have real work to do, but it exhausts me to even think of it. I am trying to decide what would best serve to beguile my convalescence. I thought to clone a Centuri Black Widow but that will mean looking through the boxes of parts that need to be sorted and cataloged. I will have to clean off my benches, whatever I do, but I have these two out for when I am ready to make a mess again.

Finished up my daughters Semroc Yung Un's Nuke decals (thanks SpeakNoEvil, she enjoyed assembling it and it will add to her fleet ). Worked on the new Coker Pad for the club, just a few parts left to weld on (stake down pads on the legs) and a few holes to drill, its definitely rock solid with a few mods and being made of steel 3"x3"x.083" (14ga) wall. Started a FlisKits Tres to fly with 3x AT18/20 motors I recently acquired.

Bruiser said:

Besides putting the launch lugs on a rocket I thought was done I tried to design a two stage rocket in open rocket but failed. I can't seem to get both stages to fire.

-Bob

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I had the same problem in OR the other day - drove me absolutely crazy. Under the "Motors and Configurations" tab, in the lower right corner, there's a button that says "Select Ignition" (third one from the left). Try setting your ignition of the upper stage to "First burnout of the previous stage." That's what I overlooked.

Just finished designing and 3D printing a Nike Apache rocket. Cool thing about this scale is that an Estes Mini engine fits perfectly in the Apache upper stage.
Hhhhmmmmmm.... maybe a 2 stage with electronically activated sustainer ignition, possibly dual deploy......

My youngest son came by after helping his mother clean out one of her storage units and presented me with a treasure trove of old Estes rockets that I had bought for him and his brothers as Christmas gifts many years ago. They have sat unbuilt for about 25 years. The boxes have some dings but the contents look to be in good shape. Guess I'll have some building to do over the winter.

smugglervt said:

My youngest son came by after helping his mother clean out one of her storage units and presented me with a treasure trove of old Estes rockets that I had bought for him and his brothers as Christmas gifts many years ago. They have sat unbuilt for about 25 years. The boxes have some dings but the contents look to be in good shape. Guess I'll have some building to do over the winter.

Estes Treasure Trove

• smugglervt
• Nov 4, 2018

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Talk about re-gifting, to a rocketeer that is a gift of true love!

rharshberger said:

Talk about re-gifting, to a rocketeer that is a gift of true love!

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So true, now if I could just get one of them interested again to start building with me, that would be great. Unfortunately the youngest is just getting started with his career and lacks the time and the other two are in the military, thousands of miles away. Maybe someday.

Just pulled this of my 3D printer. A Nike Smoke translucent fin can.
I might paint the fins but keep the center clear so one can see the engine hook and engine hook retainer (not shown). I think it turned out great.....

Leo said:

Just pulled this of my 3D printer. A Nike Smoke translucent fin can.
I might paint the fins but keep the center clear so one can see the engine hook and engine hook retainer (not shown). I think it turned out great.....
View attachment 365889

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Really impressive, even the fin airfoil has been sculpted in.

The leaves have been coming down so I figured it’d be a good day to go bushwhacking through the impenetrable forest. Glad I did cause I found my V2 complete with an AT 24/40 case!!!


...and her final flight

I made progress on my RW/Mad Cow Reaper 3. Motor mount built, primary harness attached, motor mount installed, fins attached, and internal fillets injected. This will be my L2 bird.

I spent the afternoon with the local 4H club STEM group. I got to play Mr. Wizard and RSO 31 launches. All on A motors due to our limited flying field, but the kids had a great time and only managed to put three rockets in a tree...

If you have not tried volunteering with a youth group, I highly recommend it!

Finally got to test fire my 98/20480 (not a typo - Rx case) N1030.

Rktman said:

Really impressive, even the fin airfoil has been sculpted in.

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Thanks. As soon I have everything together I will be posting this model on Thingiverse so everyone else can print and build this rocket.