BsSmith
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- Jan 18, 2009
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About a year ago I purchased a 4" Vindicator from Wildman, and over the summer I built it and ended up naming it "My College Tuition." It was meant to be a rocket that would fly reasonable distances on 54mm motors, and would eventually serve as a test platform for large EX loads. Last Saturday at Midwest Power 10, I loaded up an EX 6 grain blue motor for it's first flight. Due to unseen issues in the propellent processing, My College Tuition blew up without even leaving the pad, and I didn't even get a cool picture of it. The majority of it turned into confetti. Out of the entire rocket, the only reusable pieces are the nosecone, upper tube, and fins.
Instead of throwing those pieces in the dumpster and forgetting that the entire project ever happened, My College Tuition will be rebuilt. The only thing that I have to decide is how I will do it. I could rebuild it to the original Vindicator specifications and have the same size rocket back, but I'm leaning toward going the extreme route. It would be rebuilt with a 75mm motor mount, tip to tip reinforced fins, and a longer booster tube. If I did this, it would still be able to fly on the larger 54mm reloads, but it would also give the option to use larger Ls. The other thing to consider is that if I have the rocket available and I find a good enough sale, I'll also be able to do my L3 with it.
Of course, I would only be able to work on this over holiday breaks, so it probably won't be started until well into next year.
Instead of throwing those pieces in the dumpster and forgetting that the entire project ever happened, My College Tuition will be rebuilt. The only thing that I have to decide is how I will do it. I could rebuild it to the original Vindicator specifications and have the same size rocket back, but I'm leaning toward going the extreme route. It would be rebuilt with a 75mm motor mount, tip to tip reinforced fins, and a longer booster tube. If I did this, it would still be able to fly on the larger 54mm reloads, but it would also give the option to use larger Ls. The other thing to consider is that if I have the rocket available and I find a good enough sale, I'll also be able to do my L3 with it.
Of course, I would only be able to work on this over holiday breaks, so it probably won't be started until well into next year.