YouBee Build

dragon_rider10 said:

How exactly do you get it in the van with everything/one else?

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The U.B. ... uhh, I mean ... the YouBee ... conveniently breaks into multiple pieces which makes it easy to transport.

-- Roger

Yep ....

John figured it out. The "YouBee" is an upscale of the Odd'l Rockets Breakaway ... which should help explain some things including the rainbow paint job.

The original Breakaway features "wacky wiggler" recovery. The upscale will use the same drogue-less "wacky wiggler" recovery at apogee, but it will later deploy a parachute at a lower altitude.

The 5.5x upscale isn't exact. I made the length a little greater than 5.5x the original. The fins are also a little larger and different in shape because I cut them from rectangular pieces of wood and changed the shape to use as much of the wood as I could. And, the YouBee breaks into one less section than the original.

I'm not doing anything special to force the sections to separate at apogee. I don't think drag separation will be a concern, so I'm not using shear pins in the main sections (the parachute section at the top will use them).

I'll ground test it to choose an appropriate size for the ejection charge. The nose and the tail sections will weigh more, so their momentum should help pull everything apart since the ejection charge might only separate the rocket at one place. In any case, the rocket should come down slow enough even if it separates into two pieces.

For the first flight, I'll choose a motor and main altitude so that the rocket doesn't have a chance to fall far before the parachute deploys - just in case it decides to fall too quickly. If that works okay, I'll use a larger motor next time so the rocket has more wiggle time.

-- Roger

Not much new to report.

Bracha, my wife, made up some shock cords for the YouBee. She sewed loops in the ends of five 15' lengths of tubular nylon.


That's a lot of shock cord!

And I worked on the electronics bay. I cut threaded rods to the right length and drill the bulkhead plates to hold them.

I also built a little box to hold a video camera in the e-bay.


I mounted the box behind a hole I cut in the e-bay body tube.


When I prep the rocket, I'll stick the camera into the box and hold it in with a screw stolen from a broken tripod. The camera's power button won't be accessible when it is in the rocket. But, the camera records for about an hour, so I'll probably turn it on when I close up the e-bay and let it run.

-- Roger

I got some more stuff done on the YouBee today.

First, I made a stand for the rocket from a 4" body tube and some pieces of 1x4 wood. I slit the tube so it could be squeezed down to coupler size and lined it with a thick carpet tube for strength.


-- Roger

Then I made a 75mm to 54mm motor adapter to fit in the 98mm to 75mm adapter I made earlier.


-- Roger

And I worked on the electronics.


I mounted the altimeter and a battery holder onto the sled and wired up the altimeter to terminal blocks.


I programmed the Raven altimeter to fire the Drogue event at apogee, to fire a backup 1.5 seconds later, then to fire the Main at 5000 feet.

I used the Raven's built-in test mode to check the wiring. I hooked Estes igniters up to the Main, Drogue and Drogue backup connections. I ran a test simulating a flight. At apogee, the Drogue igniter lit. One-and-a-half seconds later, the backup igniter burned. When the simulated altitude dropped to 1000 feet, the Main igniter fired.

The Raven's test mode is a really nice feature. It gives you a "warm fuzzy" that everything is wired up correctly.

-- Roger

The last bit about the test has a typo maybe? set to fire the main at 5000ft, but the test did it at 1000?

Roger, I just showed Kate the progress on the UB. She said that I need to tell you that you are a bad influence on me. Perhaps there is a support group she and Bracha can join.

dragon_rider10 said:

The last bit about the test has a typo maybe? set to fire the main at 5000ft, but the test did it at 1000?

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Yes, it was a typo. Main will be at 1000 feet.

-- Roger

dragon_rider10 said:

Roger, I just showed Kate the progress on the UB. She said that I need to tell you that you are a bad influence on me. Perhaps there is a support group she and Bracha can join.

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Here's the trick .... I've made Bracha part of the team. She's helping me build the rocket. Specifically, she made the recovery harness and is probably going to make the parachute - as soon as I figure out how large it needs to be.

-- Roger

I made a minor change to the camera mount that makes so that I'll be able to turn the camera on them put it into the rocket at the pad.


I added a Vecro cable tie that's wrapped around the camera box inside the rocket.


A small piece of Velcro stuck to the camera keeps the Velcro cable tie from slipping off the camera. I also screwed a small length of all-thread into the camera's tripod connector. The screw is inserted into a hole in the camera box which helps hold the camera in place.


-- Roger

jadebox said:

Here's the trick .... I've made Bracha part of the team. She's helping me build the rocket. Specifically, she made the recovery harness and is probably going to make the parachute - as soon as I figure out how large it needs to be.

-- Roger

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If I did that i'd end up with a cinderella blue tulle tutu for a parachute.

dragon_rider10 said:

If I did that i'd end up with a cinderella blue tulle tutu for a parachute.

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As a guy that flies a 5-foot tall furry spider-themed rocket, I'm not so sure a blue tutu parachute is such a bad idea.

This afternoon I took a break from working on the YouBee. After the break I got up and started to think about what I needed to do next and I realized ... there wasn't any thing to do. I think it's done. Oh, there are a few minor little things I want to do, but I could fly it tomorrow ... if there was a launch tomorrow. Woo hoo!

I weighed the assembled rocket and it's a little lighter than I'd anticipated. That's good because I can test fly it with a J motor. According to Rocksim, it'll reach 1200 feet on a J295. If I set the parachute to deploy at 800 feet, that will give the rocket 400 feet - about six seconds - to "wiggle" before the 'chute deploys. Later I can try a K motor and give it 1000 or 2000 feet to fall before the parachute comes out.

-- Roger

I did a ground test of the YouBee today. First, I used an ejection charge calculator spreadsheet to estimate the charge required for the "drogue" deployment. I used 100psi as the goal. It said to use 7(!) grams of BP. So, that's what I tried.


It worked well with almost all the sections of the rocket separating and the one place that didn't separate came close. But, it made a pretty good bang! I had used the motor adapter and a bulkplate to seal up the motor tube. I didn't retain it well enough because it shot out the back of the rocket and got dented on the curb. So, I'm going to have to rebuild my motor adapters.

Then I tested deployment of the main 'chute using 2 grams of BP. I secured the nose cone with two nylon screws as shear pins. It popped off rather gently. So, for the real flight I'll probably use a bit less BP in the bottom and a touch more up top.

-- Roger

No, photos ... but I assembled the ejection charge for the drogue by starting with a piece of plastic wrap about 12 inches by 24 inches. I folded the plastic wrap on itself to double the thickness. I measured 7 grams of black powder and poured in in the center of the plastic wrap. I placed the end of an e-match in the powder then twisted the wrap around the powder. I secured it with masking tape. It made a ball about the size of a large marble.

I put the ball inside about a four-inch thick length of a thick cardboard tube and secured it with some masking tape. I taped this assembly inside the body tube of the YouBee.

The charge for the main deployment was a lot easier. I just used a Newton's 3rd cannister.

-- Roger

You are going to ground test again with the different size charges? :eyepop:

Handeman said:

You are going to ground test again with the different size charges? :eyepop:

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No, I think I've stirred up the neighborhood enough and I have a good idea of what's needed.

-- Roger

Where did you mount the rail buttons ?

sshh! Don't remind him! I want to see the look
on his face as he walks back from the pad carrying
the rocket.

Rail buttons?

-- Roger

Bummer ... it looks like we might not make it to the NEFAR launch this weekend. :-(

-- Roger

Okay ... my wife has told me to go to the NEFAR launch by myself. I must obey.

So, last night I finished repairing the motor mount adapter. I added postive motor retention in the form of screws and washers to hold the motor in place. I screwed the 75mm to 54mm adapter into the 98mm to 75mm adapter so it isn't going anywhere. Onsite, I'll use a few screws to secure the adapter into the rocket. Not the prettiest solution, but it should be effective.

I also replaced the battery in the altimeter. I was frustrated for a while because the Raven altimeter seemed to have died. Than I remembered a post from Adrian saying to short the leads on the capacitor. The altimeter sprang to life. I reassembled the electronics bay. I hope the altimeter starts up on the pad and doesn't need to be jump-started again.

I added a Nomex protector for the parachute. During the ground test, the 'chute got singed a little. The protector should prevent any further damage.

I've decided on using a AMW/ProX "Tamed Tiger" K455 motor for the first flight. I was concerned that the J295 I'd originnaly chosen was just a little too under-powered for this rocket. The K455 should take it to a little over 2000 feet. I like the AMW/ProX motors. They have the "pellet" that makes them ignite reliably. They come with a nozzle so you don't have to worry about wear or damage to the nozzle. And, their price is reasonable.

I'll probably assemble the motor and ejection charges tonight so I have less to worry about tomorrow.

I've been carrying a "to-do" list in my pocket for the past few days and marking out things that I've accomplished. My name is Roger.

-- Roger

Well ... at yesterday's NEFAR launch, I did another ground test of the YouBee's ejection charges.

It wasn't intentional .....

We set up the rocket on a 1515 rail. Everything went rather smoothly. But, when I armed the altimeter, it started beeping out that only one charge was connected. So, I powered off the altimeter and took the electronics bay off the rocket. I took it apart and tightened all the connections.

I tested it and it beeped correctly. I disarmed the altimeter and took it back to the rocket. Standing on a ladder, I armed the altimeter. Once again, it only indicated one charge. So, I disarmed the altimeter and ... boom ....

The nose cone popped off and fell down the side of the rocket. Then, a second later, the drogue charge fired and the top of the rocket flew off.

Fortunately, no one was hurt and the rocket wasn't damaged.

-- Roger

jadebox said:

Well ... at yesterday's NEFAR launch, I did another ground test of the YouBee's ejection charges.

It wasn't intentional .....

We set up the rocket on a 1515 rail. Everything went rather smoothly. But, when I armed the altimeter, it started beeping out that only one charge was connected. So, I powered off the altimeter and took the electronics bay off the rocket. I took it apart and tightened all the connections.

I tested it and it beeped correctly. I disarmed the altimeter and took it back to the rocket. Standing on a ladder, I armed the altimeter. Once again, it only indicated one charge. So, I disarmed the altimeter and ... boom ....

The nose cone popped off and fell down the side of the rocket. Then, a second later, the drogue charge fired and the top of the rocket flew off.

Fortunately, no one was hurt and the rocket wasn't damaged.

-- Roger

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Yikes! Glad to hear that no people or rockets were hurt. If it weren't for the drogue part of it, I would say it just sounds like a loose connection and/or short. But given what you described, I'm mystified. Was there flight data recorded?

Adrian A said:

Yikes! Glad to hear that no people or rockets were hurt. If it weren't for the drogue part of it, I would say it just sounds like a loose connection and/or short. But given what you described, I'm mystified. Was there flight data recorded?

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I've been planning to check and send any info I can download to you. It'll probably be this weekend before I can get to it.

I also have an "onboard" video of the event so we can review what the altimeter was beeping.

-- Roger

This is a photo of the YouBee on display at a NEFAR launch before I had finished painting it (and before the "incident").

The above photo reminds me of how, when I was a teenager, I tried to take some photos of myself with one of my model rockets placed closer to the camera so that the rocket would look huge - like it's 12-foot tall!

I worked some on the YouBee last weekend getting it ready for Bunnell Blast in December. I touched up the paint in a few places, but, most of my time was spent replacing the Raven with a PerfectFlight altimeter. The Raven is going to be sent back to Adrian for a checkup.

Last night I found the video of the on-pad ooops event from a few months ago. I'll clean it up (editing out some of my non-family-friendly exclaimations) and post it sometime in the next few days.

-- Roger

The video from when the ejection charges went off on the pad has been added to the YouBee's page at My.RocketReviews.com. You can view the video by clicking on the video icon at:

https://my.rocketreviews.com/youbee.html

I was up on a ladder, about four-feet in the air arming the altimeter when the main charge blew. You'll see the nose cone (which contained about a pound of weight) falling next to my friend, Carl. A second later the drogue charge blows in the section below the camera.

-- Roger

Chris flew his Break Away at the NEFAR launch yesterday ....


Later, he helped me set up my version of his rocket ...


More photos. videos, ... and the complete story coming soon .....

-- Roger

jadebox said:

Chris flew his Break Away at the NEFAR launch yesterday ....

​

Later, he helped me set up my version of his rocket ...

​

More photos. videos, ... and the complete story coming soon .....

-- Roger

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More please:smile:


Braden

Activating the video camera in the YouBee ....


I've found that photos and videos are very useful for post-flight analysis. You can learn many things from analyzing them.

I learned from the above photo that I need to go on a diet.

-- Roger