What is this obsession with "Glassing" rockets?

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cwbullet said:
I find it therapeutic. Approach it as a mindless task that will distract you from the stresses of the world. I have a very stressful job and even painting, sanding, and fiberglassing is less stressful. That being said, I can't say that I like 2 of the three, but it is relaxing if I approach it form the right angle.
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I agree with Chuck, I find glassing my paper tubed rockets to be very therapeutic. With benefits. Over my rocket launching career, I've had a few fins break, fillets crack, body tubes get bent on rough landings. None of the kits I've glassed has had any of these issues, though. I'll take the weight penalty and have a rocket I'll be able to launch for years to come vs a light rocket that needs constant repairs or replacements.

For those that don't like a lot of sanding, try applying Teflon Peel Ply on your layups. After a few hours of curing, you remove the Teflon and the result is a wonderful surface with little sanding required. It flattens out your seams. Great stuff.
 
I love the thrill of doing a layup with some carbon or glass and seeing the finished product emerge (and because I can't do a layup in basketball due to extreme lack of skill). For scratch building which I dearly love, I don't know how else I could make thick, lightweight fins that won't get injured when landing on salt. My Bad Axe rocket has fins almost .5" thick which are made from foam and glass. My Speed of Money rocket has fins made from Nomex and carbon fiber. It survived a fall from 6000' on the salt.
I love the durability composites give the airframe. Probably mostly for transport, display, and landings!
I love mixing stuff up. When I was a kid, my cousin and I would make "potions" all the time. Looking back, I don't know how we survived all the concoctions that released dangerous gasses....
Just my $.02!
-Ken
 
JimJarvis50 said:
According to Stu Barrett, the main advantage of fiberglass rockets is that you can clean them in the shower. There's some truth to that - you don't have to worry about getting a fiberglass rocket wet (such as when cleaning, landing in lakes, etc.).

To your question, though, I have several rockets with glassed PML phenolic tubes (two layers of 6-oz glass). One in particular has been through dozens of flights, and the tubes on it look as good as new. I'm sure that without the glass that rocket would have been history years ago.

Jim
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Yes and Yes. Without exception I fly on desert lakebeds, and glassed phenolic is cheaper than FWFG. In some cases lighter, but the jury may still be out on that-I expected to show that in a 2.5" rocket I've been building, but it didn't pan out-the weight is almost identical to if I had used FWFG.

But I have seen dozens of paper rockets shred on mediocre-stress flights, and even more succumb to damage on landing on otherwise perfectly nominal flights-especially in windy conditions, which is the norm.
 
I like natural materials, always did. Glass rockets are as cold and impersonal as making love to a coke machine.
 
grouch said:
I like natural materials, always did. Glass rockets are as cold and impersonal as making love to a coke machine.
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I've been contemplating for some time making a rocket of bamboo and only using natural occurring materials for glue (fish glue or hide glue), paint, fins, and so forth. Imagine a pitch glue or other natural glue for laminating burlap! OK, that's just crazy now.
For whatever mysterious reason, I just REALLY enjoy working with glass, carbon, epoxy and any other exotic material I come across. I guess that's my obsession! You know, like that one guy that had the signature "stick an H410 in it"? That pretty summed up my other rocketry obsession but as Aksrockets pointed out to me, Vmax motors don't seem to get along with me....

For the OP, you may be interested to know that I got a Little Bucky Jones from my secret santa this Christmas...I glassed the fins...I just couldn't help myself...
 
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kenstarr said:
You know, like that one guy that had the signature "stick an H410 in it"? That pretty summed up my other rocketry obsession but as Aksrockets pointed out to me, Vmax motors don't seem to get along with me....
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Funny, my cert flight was a LOC Onyx with an H410 stuck in it. I want to do it again but the fins have taken on a slight wobble long after that flight and I am certain the motor will win the battle this time around.
 
AfterBurners said:
Why not just buy a fg kit?? save time and money
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Although there are exceptions, the majority of the time it is cheaper to laminate a cardboard or phenolic kit. Also a G10/G12 kit is going to be heavier overall so it will require larger motors for the same performance/flight profile.
 
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I have only fiber glassed a rocket once, it was for TARC last year. I think we flew that thing 20-30 times, and after the first 5 we were sick of rebuilding the fins (northern Illinois in the winter kills swept fins).

The pretty poor glassing job we pulled off kept it from sustaining more damage. In fact my avatar is the rocket sticking up out of the ground on just on fin after landing in a semi dry retention pond.
 

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