1/2 Sport Scale ALCM AGM 86-A

[sambatterman]

A Bronchial Hiatus

After a three-week bout with Bronchitis, I finally finished sanding the duckbill nosecone and getting a layer of fiberglass on it. Still have some small finishing work to do, but pretty happy with the result. I will post pictures later this week.

I also 3D printed the swing-wing door slots for the wings and will be posting that next week too.

I also worked with Mark Hayes at StickerShock23.com and he's designing the vinyl decals for this beast. He was a pleasure to work with and very flexible as this thing isn't exactly a normal build.

So, things are coming together. I hope I can get some nice weather to start priming the thing, as I would like to take it to Red Glare in April, but it probably won't fly until NYPOWER.

 

[Hobie1dog]

should be pretty cool

 

[sambatterman]

Completion of the Nose Cone

After three months of sanding and filling I feel arrival. This was easily one of the most difficult parts I've ever worked on, but I think it turned out great. Now to get this thing painted with a shark mouth and mean little eyes.

 

[sambatterman]

Almost ready

Okay, I finally got the courage to glue the nosecone into the coupler. This will allow the nosecone to fit snugly into the mid-fuselage. You'll also notice the avionics hatch and the arming key at mid-ship. Still working on those.


Here's a close up of the avionics hatch and the arming key. The mid-fuselage will, of course, fit tightly against the aft portion, It's just loose in this picture. Still have some sanding and cleanup to do around the 3D printed fairings for the wings.



If I can get some nice weather in Pennsylvania, I can get this thing primed and painted. The decals came from StickerShock and they look awesome. It's looking like this will fly at NYPOWER. I tried to make RedGlare, but couldn't make it.

 

[sambatterman]

Rail buttons and wing fairings

Made some definite progress over the weekend and got the rail buttons and guides installed. I'm targeting a UNISTRUT rail, so I decided to go with a trolly on the aft portion of the craft. It's highly reinforced. And once I do the final sanding it should look great.



Here's the UNISTRUT rail button on the wing box. It has a standoff, so that the rail clears the wing box easily.


And here's a UNISTRUT test rail showing the clearance. It glides super smoothly.


Just completing the nose cone this week and working through priming if there's nice weather in PA.
This has been a long haul, but it's almost there.

 

[sambatterman]

The ALCM is primed!

A uniform gray coat of primer shows exactly where imperfections are, and I will spend the week filling and sanding those smooth. Next time you see pictures the whole body should be gloss white. Then onto decals (Stickershock for the win) and completing the avionics door - changed my mind about the hinges at the last moment. I'm going to start the paperwork with NYPower this week - looking for a shakedown flight end of May.

 

[sambatterman]

Priming and Sanding - Wash, Rinse, Repeat...

Since the whole rocket is gloss white, there's nowhere for surface defects to hide. Wet sanding and priming between prime coats help knock down imperfections on the fiberglass. It's making a difference. Hope to have a gloss white rocket for you this weekend.

 

[Johnly]

Hope you have an epic flight.

 

[ep29030]

Nose somewhat resembles a shark's mouth, so it looks natural.

 

[sambatterman]

Final Finish

Gloss white with decals from Stickershock. I went my own way on the shark face, but it turned out okay. Hopefully flying this weekend at NYPOWER 2023. Will send pics and video.

 

[troj]

This is very cool!

I've recently been going through some things from my dad's career, and he worked a bit on navigation qualifications for these.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Final Finish

View attachment 582133

 

[aerostadt]

Well, you can always say that you have a cruise missile in your backyard.

 

[sambatterman]

Ground Test

I performed the ground test today. This model is a little different because it has an ejection charge in the nosecone. Two leads go through the entire mid-fuselage to the nosecone charge to set it off. Once the nosecone is free, it pulls a pilot chute and 5' drogue from the mid-fuselage. When the shock cord is stretched out it's about 35 feet. So, this 5' drogue will bring the vehicle almost straight down to 800' where a Tender Descender will fire to allow the tension from the Drogue to pull the deployment bag off the main chute. The nose cone will then travel down under the drogue and the main fuselage comes down under a 10' spherichute.

Used 4 grams (about 1 teaspoon) of BP to make the separation (based on this resource: https://rocketrycalculator.com/rocketry-calculator/bp-estimator/). It was successful. Will probably use a few more grams on Saturday to ensure good distance on the separation. I was happy with the test and I feel more confident about Saturday.

 

[sambatterman]

Bone and Boneless

With or without wings. Flying on Saturday with wings.

 

[Ez2cDave]

Bone and Boneless

With or without wings. Flying on Saturday with wings.

Will anyone be shooting video ?

Dave F.

 

[sambatterman]

Will anyone be shooting video ?

Dave F.

Yes, my son and I will be and hopefully many others. Once I get all the videos, I will post it.

 

[Ez2cDave]

Yes, my son and I will be and hopefully many others. Once I get all the videos, I will post it.

Excellent !

 

[KenECoyote]

Does this glide?
(Asking for a friend. )

Kidding aside, you did an amazing job building this!

Good luck with the launch!

 

[Cape Byron]

Bone and Boneless

With or without wings. Flying on Saturday with wings.
View attachment 582452

View attachment 582453

Astounding!

 

[sambatterman]

Here's the final ORK file

 

[sambatterman]

Maiden Flight Report

So, finally flew the ALCM on Saturday, May 27, 2023 at NY POWER 2023 in Geneseo, NY. MARS, the local club, has an amazing flying field - a WWII era aerodrome with a 3 square mile mowed field. It's amazing - nearly impossible to get stuck in a tree and it's probably the best flying field on the East Coast. My son, Parker and I drove up from the Philadelphia area (about a 4 1/2 hour drive). Spent 4 hours prepping and testing the rocket before launch. Loaded an AT L 2200 G motor and got set up on the away cell - a killer hydraulic lift with a UNISTRUT rail. At lift off, the rocket took off straight from the rail and then gracefully arced North until reaching 3,000 feet when the nose cone charge fired, pulling a 5' drogue from the mid-fuselage and putting tension on a shock cord held in place with an L2 Tender Descender. At 500' the MissileWorks altimeter fired the BP charge inside the descender and released the shock cord, pulling the main chute - a 10' spherichute from a deployment bag. This separated the nose cone and 5' drogue from the main vehicle, and both landed safely about a mile away from the launch pad. Here's the pictures...













View attachment Launch Video.mp4
View attachment IMG_0.mp4

 

[burkefj]

Right on congrats!

 

[Hobie1dog]

thanks for the pics and videos

 

[rharshberger]

Excellent work Sam!

 

[aerostadt]

Fantastic! Green Flame looks great!

 

[dbpeirce]

Awesomeness!!!!!

 

[KenECoyote]

 

[Howitzer]

So glad I got to see you launch that at NYPower! It was awesome! Once I found out you were there with that I had to come talk to you!

 

[Ez2cDave]

Maiden Flight Report

So, finally flew the ALCM on Saturday, May 27, 2023 at NY POWER 2023 in Geneseo, NY. MARS, the local club, has an amazing flying field - a WWII era aerodrome with a 3 square mile mowed field. It's amazing - nearly impossible to get stuck in a tree and it's probably the best flying field on the East Coast. My son, Parker and I drove up from the Philadelphia area (about a 4 1/2 hour drive). Spent 4 hours prepping and testing the rocket before launch. Loaded an AT L 2200 G motor and got set up on the away cell - a killer hydraulic lift with a UNISTRUT rail. At lift off, the rocket took off straight from the rail and then gracefully arced North until reaching 3,000 feet when the nose cone charge fired, pulling a 5' drogue from the mid-fuselage and putting tension on a shock cord held in place with an L2 Tender Descender. At 500' the MissileWorks altimeter fired the BP charge inside the descender and released the shock cord, pulling the main chute - a 10' spherichute from a deployment bag. This separated the nose cone and 5' drogue from the main vehicle, and both landed safely about a mile away from the launch pad. Here's the pictures...

Is there any video of the entire flight, liftoff to landing ?

Dave F.