The good news is that I did a successful ground deploy test of my main using a shop-vac and an RRC2-Mini.
The bad news is that the nose cone bulkhead...ummm...departed the aircraft (as the NTSB would say) well before reaching the end of the shock cord, sending the nose cone across the yard like a 16" shell heading for the battleship Bismarck. From the slo-mo on the video, the bulkhead parted ways with the nose cone almost as quickly as it left the forward BT.
At first I thought the load was too great and my cheapie harbor Freight digital postage scale was WAY off, but after running and getting a more accurate scale (small and has hundredths of a gram:
https://www.target.com/p/taylor-digital-food-scale/-/A-53280869) I found the HF scale was surprisingly accurate (though it only has tenths of a gram). I started with a light load - the numbers said I needed 0.76g charge for the main, but this charge was only 0.5 (the HF scale only had tenths, my new one has hundredths).
Now, the bulkhead was a tight fit, in fact after inserting it past the shoulder I had to grab the U-bolt and give it a pretty good tug to pull it against the shoulder inside the NC, and it was set with 30-min epoxy. I am assuming that the charge 'ballooned' the nose cone, forcing the bulkhead forward like a piston and the resulting pressure blew it out, since it is pretty clear the shock cord had nothing to do with it. To be honest i think I just didn't take the due care & diligence I should have in preparing the inside of the nose cone; I washed but didn't
scrub the interior and there was probably still release film there. Also, I noticed there was really no epoxy on the nose cone shoulder at all, so I need to roughen that area significantly with coarse sandpaper. Also, I used a 30 min epoxy, and noticed it was quite brittle - I could snap it off with my finger tips and should should have been hard and sharp. So i will use a better quality, long-setting epoxy and will weigh it instead of measuring it.
I need to clean up the bulkhead,
really roughen up the shoulder and use a longer-setting epoxy with some glass fiber for added strength.
Generally, though, I was happy with the test (other than the little set-back with the nose cone mod). The RRC2-Mini fired off as it should have. The charge would have, otherwise, been sufficient for the Main deployment, and the AV bay was sealed pretty well, and the high-pressure hose I used to extend the charge cups withstood the blast perfectly.
The other good news is that I found a rocketeer who lives very close to me and who has a bevy of motors that will work perfectly for both the LOC IV and the Super IV, so I will be able to attend the Tri-Cities SWOOSH! after all. Well, that is if all the other stars in my Universe align, as well.
More tests tomorrow (and this time Mr. Professional Sound Guy will set the borrowed camcorder mics properly so the video actually has native sound