What did you do rocket wise today?

Onebadhawk
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snrkl said:
Wowzers - I dropped the 3rd stage of my Lego SaturnV trying to disconnect the 1st stage to show the kids and then spent 40mins finding all the pieces and reassembling it.. Looking at yours, it looks as though its on a ledge over a set of stairs maybe?

If so, I doth my cap to your bravery sir...

;)
Click to expand...

Try having the first stage roll off the car seat and hit the ground in a car park when you open the door :(. Been there, done that...
 
Everything since Jan 3,2019: Re-joined HARA; Attended 1st HARA meeting in more than 10-years; Started building a low power kit (XROX Aerospace MK3A); Completed the av-bay for my old 4" Extreme Performer, to include adding all recovery hardware. Decals are next!
 
Eric said:
Built another Proton, LCD RX w/GPS, and a Quark. The Quantum and Proton take some time. But the Quark parts are really small......
Click to expand...

I have half a dozen Eggtimer kits to assemble, but am waiting on a practice kit since my electronics-soldering "skills" haven't been used in a decade or more.

Wondering...would some of the kits, or portions of them, be amenable to home reflow soldering? Sparkfun claims that the "reflow skillet" is a winner:
https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59
A solder mask would be relatively expensive but it seems that some acceptable work can be done without one.

Best -- Terry
 
prfesser said:
I have half a dozen Eggtimer kits to assemble, but am waiting on a practice kit since my electronics-soldering "skills" haven't been used in a decade or more.

Wondering...would some of the kits, or portions of them, be amenable to home reflow soldering? Sparkfun claims that the "reflow skillet" is a winner:
https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59
A solder mask would be relatively expensive but it seems that some acceptable work can be done without one.

Best -- Terry
Click to expand...
I think Cris does mention that his kits can be assembled with a hot-air system. Not sure about the Reflow ovens though, or skillet. I just use a medium-sized Weller station. It's adjustable and has a nice fine conical tip that I use. The eggtimer quark, for its price it's a great practice piece. But it does have the smallest components. If one of your kits is an LCD-RX, I would say start with that just to get you back into hand soldering.
 
prfesser said:
I have half a dozen Eggtimer kits to assemble, but am waiting on a practice kit since my electronics-soldering "skills" haven't been used in a decade or more.

Wondering...would some of the kits, or portions of them, be amenable to home reflow soldering? Sparkfun claims that the "reflow skillet" is a winner:
https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59
A solder mask would be relatively expensive but it seems that some acceptable work can be done without one.

Best -- Terry
Click to expand...

I have a good Weller temperature controlled soldering station and a hot air reflow station, but I thought I might try a toaster oven.
 
Flew Goldenrod the Estes Mammoth on a G33 yesterday (thanks for the rubberband Turbulent!). Weathercocked a bit with the Mellow motor's low thrust
I also experienced the phenomenon of a triggered chute release but no chute unfurling. I'll have to examine my setup. Fortunately the mammoth tends to tail glide in for a landing

 
Nytrunner said:
Flew Goldenrod the Estes Mammoth on a G33 yesterday (thanks for the rubberband Turbulent!). Weathercocked a bit with the Mellow motor's low thrust
I also experienced the phenomenon of a triggered chute release but no chute unfurling. I'll have to examine my setup. Fortunately the mammoth tends to tail glide in for a landing

Click to expand...


What a beautiful day it was to fly rockets...
 
Received the parts to repair my Frenzy from Madcow today. I discovered after I trimmed the new tube to size, and drilled it and the nosecone up for my hardware that my kit is the thin wall fiberglass, not the standard thickness fiberglass. I am now out $95 that I will have to spend again to order the correct items... A little displeased at myself, and at Madcow right now, as it wasnt clearly marked when I bought the kit that it was thin wall...
 
prfesser said:
I have half a dozen Eggtimer kits to assemble, but am waiting on a practice kit since my electronics-soldering "skills" haven't been used in a decade or more.

Wondering...would some of the kits, or portions of them, be amenable to home reflow soldering? Sparkfun claims that the "reflow skillet" is a winner:
https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59
A solder mask would be relatively expensive but it seems that some acceptable work can be done without one.

Best -- Terry
Click to expand...

A reasonable temperature controlled iron will help greatly. One of the main key skills is tweezer technique, which just takes practice.

Reflow can work but there are a lot of variables to get reasonably right for a reasonable quality outcome.

I have used "reasonable" too many times today ;).
 
prfesser said:
I have half a dozen Eggtimer kits to assemble, but am waiting on a practice kit since my electronics-soldering "skills" haven't been used in a decade or more.

Wondering...would some of the kits, or portions of them, be amenable to home reflow soldering? Sparkfun claims that the "reflow skillet" is a winner:
https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59
A solder mask would be relatively expensive but it seems that some acceptable work can be done without one.

Best -- Terry
Click to expand...

Just remember that with reflow you get to destroy the kit all at once instead of piece by piece with a soldering iron.
 
I've spent the last couple of weeks working on a MAC Performance 54mm Arcas and a LOC Precision 3" Athena, both with 29mm motor mounts. After I had a couple of disasters last year with 4"-8" rockets on 54mm motors, I decided to put myself in the corner to think about what I had done.

Plus 29mm motors are going to be a lot cheaper than 54mm motors. :D
 
Got the Low Power Fleet ready to fly! (On Saturday hopefully)
L to R: Wac Corporal, Long March 2, IQSY Tomahawk, Corporal, Long March 3, Nike Smoke

288001-84b215119746be2811be7ff4ecdad7e2.jpg

view
 
Let's see ...... Sewed up a carrying case for the launch pad & legs ... And started building my Estes Interceptor!
 
Made a lot of progress on my 7.5 inch Hawk build. Discovered the hard way that the distance from the top of the booster tube to the U-Bolt attachment locations is much greater than my arm length.
 
jmuck78 said:
Made a lot of progress on my 7.5 inch Hawk build. Discovered the hard way that the distance from the top of the booster tube to the U-Bolt attachment locations is much greater than my arm length.
Click to expand...
I feel your pain, same issue with my 3in scratch build. Had I made it a few inches shorter it would be reachable.
 
terryg said:
Tie a figure 8 loop in one end of the shock cord.
Use a flexible grabber pickup tool to feed the untied end thru the u-bolt. Feed the free end thru the figure eight loop and pull till the loop tightens on the u-bolt.
Use something equivalent to this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079SL8322/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Click to expand...

That's a great solution, much cleaner than what I ended up doing.. I wish I had thought of that last night before I pulled the uncured sections apart and tied the Kevlar strap to both U Bolts.
 
Taking stock today, here is a small list of rockets I have started over the last 15-years, and have never finished:

Low - Mid Power Rockets:
Estes Black Brandt (w/ 24mm mod)
Estes AMRAAM (w/ 24mm mod)
Estes Bull Pup (w/ 24mm mod)
Quest Harpoon (lost decals)
Quest Payloader
Semroc Recruiter
Semroc Rocket Racks (2ea)
Aerotech Warthog (just needs decals)
Phoenix/NCR B-2000 a.k.a. Bright Hawk (Needs paint and decals)
North Coast by Estes SA14 Archer (Repaint and add Sticker Shock21 decals)
Scracth built down scale of SA14 Archer (Repaint and add Sticker Shock21 decals)

High Power Rockets:
Rocketry Warehouse Fire Flyer
Public Enemy 4" Extreme Performer (2nd rebuild, just needs decals)
Rocketry Warehouse Adventurer 3
Wildman 2.1 DarkStar (purchased as built, currently in rework)
Scratchbuilt 3" Excalibur (3rd paint job), just needs detail paint and decals.

When all is said and done, I will start the following High Power Kits:

Binder Design Raptor
Rocketry Warehouse by Mad Cow Terminator

To most of you this is just a blip, to me... well, lets just say I need to roll up my sleeves and get the lead out.
 
Made a new BT-60 plastic nosecone fit in a 38mm MD carbon rocket. (It doesn't fit all by itself.)
Had to fill the shoulder with epoxy and turn the thing down on the lathe until the original plastic shoulder was gone. Fits good.
 
Launch my 3D printed rocket named "Falcon" on an Aerotech I180W.

This is my first attempt with an onboard camera. The electrical tape I used to secure the 3D printed shroud ended up getting into the frame despite me cutting it back. The new version will be using screws to secure the shroud to the airframe, leaving an unobstructed view of the launch.

Link to video:
 
LCO’d my local club launch and got REALLY sunburnt (despite slathering on sunscreen.. obviously not enough!)

I see a larger hat and longer sleeved collared shirts in my future!
 

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