Just found out my MissileWorks Black Friday order shipped!
Looks like my level 2 rocket av bay sled gets started this weekend!
Looks like my level 2 rocket av bay sled gets started this weekend!
Since we're getting rev'ed up with various forms of glue fumes - I set up my first 'serious' effort of paper skinned balsa. And I must say I'm seriously proud of the results. Goes to prove once again that everything we needed to learn for a successful life we learned in Kindergarten. Glue rules the world!View attachment 400719
Argonia good to 50kL motor came today. Anybody got 20k ft waivers? Lol
Did you vacuum bag those?
Was RSO and LCO at the Music City Missile Club's launch today. Bigger turnout than I expected; another university team came to fly their prototype prior to building the real thing. I attempted to fly my Cherokee-E. I failed. Not once, not twice, but six times with three different starters. I am throwing away the Estes starters and making my own for BP motors from now on.
I was going to fly "Poor Planning" on a Redline H motor, but declined any potential additional humiliation.
Best -- Terry
Hi Terry, Personally, I haven't had luck with the Estes starters if I use them as is. So I modified my launcher to use a 12 volt 7 amp rechargeable battery. I also crush the tip of a wooden match stick inside the engine before I put the starter in the motor. This has almost always worked for me.Was RSO and LCO at the Music City Missile Club's launch today. Bigger turnout than I expected; another university team came to fly their prototype prior to building the real thing. I attempted to fly my Cherokee-E. I failed. Not once, not twice, but six times with three different starters. I am throwing away the Estes starters and making my own for BP motors from now on.
I was going to fly "Poor Planning" on a Redline H motor, but declined any potential additional humiliation.
Best -- Terry
Hi Terry, Personally, I haven't had luck with the Estes starters if I use them as is. So I modified my launcher to use a 12 volt 7 amp rechargeable battery. I also crush the tip of a wooden match stick inside the engine before I put the starter in the motor. This has almost always worked for me.
In the case of a failed start, I clean out the engine hole a bit before retrying.
True, however, Ellern's "Military and Civilian Pyrotechnics" (can be found somewhere on the web) says that match heads already contain both potassium chlorate and sulfur. Apparently it's phlegmatized (love that word!) with other ingredients. Strangely enough, the sulfur is there primarily as a deodorant of sorts; the smell of burnt sulfur covers up the smell of the burnt glue used to bind the mixture.Just wanted to caution folks that storing potassium chlorate in close contact with sulfur can result in static-sensitive / friction-sensitive compounds.
What's really strange is that the starters never lit; the head was intact on each one. This was a 12v car-battery system with eight separate leads for clips. We tried switching the leads to a new socket. No joy, even though those same leads and sockets had successfully started other Estes motors. Guess I got a bad batch.Hi Terry, Personally, I haven't had luck with the Estes starters if I use them as is. So I modified my launcher to use a 12 volt 7 amp rechargeable battery. I also crush the tip of a wooden match stick inside the engine before I put the starter in the motor. This has almost always worked for me.
In the case of a failed start, I clean out the engine hole a bit before retrying.
Russ
Sorry bout your bummer day. I hate Estes starter fails. However, since I started dipping them I have had zero failures. There is always another launch to redeem yourself.Was RSO and LCO at the Music City Missile Club's launch today. Bigger turnout than I expected; another university team came to fly their prototype prior to building the real thing. I attempted to fly my Cherokee-E. I failed. Not once, not twice, but six times with three different starters. I am throwing away the Estes starters and making my own for BP motors from now on.
I was going to fly "Poor Planning" on a Redline H motor, but declined any potential additional humiliation.
Best -- Terry
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