1st MPR flight - the fisrt and last one for this bird

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spacecowboy

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Jumping to MPR, from LPR
A whole lot of almost 100% succesfull LPR, including scratch jobs,,,, I'm in a new ball-game on MPR.

uh, I am completely bummed on this

Astrobee-D doesn't look so good.
G80-4
Reco failed. It darted.

Too much barf, a construction error (no bulkhead) and general ineptitude. I'm just glad it didn't CATO on the pad, or ram itself into to someone's car or SOMEONE.

I turned (to cry, almost) when I saw that pretty brilliant blue nose cone pointed at the ground....

Try again, maybe a mail-order LOC roc.

if anyone is watching, the guys at AARG were UNBELIEVABLY HELPFUL in getting my bird off the ground.
Kuddos to Ryan.

Guess I'm going to look around for a web-order LOC roc next, I don't think I can fix this one.

AIM HIGH
 
Ouwch! Was that an Aerotech or a Yank Astrobee D? Don't feel too bad, my first MPR did hit something. Fortunatly it was only a rip stop nylon carport.

Zippy
 
Originally posted by spacecowboy

Guess I'm going to look around for a web-order LOC roc next, I don't think I can fix this one.

AIM HIGH

Is the fincan still good? It looks like all you'll need is a new length of body tube, coupler, and nosecone! Don't trash it! That fincan looks good still.
 
Eugenio's right. As bad as it looks, it still looks salvageable.

Besides, you can do wonders with a can of spackle, some CA glue and a little time... :p

gotta hurt though. I've noticed (I have NO idea why), but when one of *my* rockets lawn-darts i'm able to shrug it off, for the most part. I fly so much that I tend to spend more time in the repair shop than the construction shop...

**but**, when I see someone *else* lawn dart it really, really hurts to watch. I cringe for the owner and feel it real deep...

Look at this as "lessons learned" and move on
 
ooooof, that one hurt. No worries though - an excuse to buy a new rocket. :)
 
Zip
It was an Aerotech.
I must say....watching something like that leave in a real big hurry is UNBELIEVABLY COOL !!!!

I can salvage the motor end, probably, but one of the fins came loose. Guys at AARG said, epoxy, cut off the damage, coupler-tube-cone-bulkhead(this time), ready to go again.

I have to state :
1) I'm on a pretty tight budget these days after getting the layoff notice.
2) I don't have SIM. maybe MPR is my clue to get it.

My question is :
If I significantly shorten this thing (I'm guessing at least a foot worth of damage to the lower BT), is it going to fly right ????

Yo, Jim, thanks for the input. I got a Duece for a wedding gift. Sweet.
 
Astrobee's are over stable any way so shortening it may actually
improve it's stabillity. It did in my demo version of RockSim on a Yank Astrobee so it should have the same effect on an AeroTech.

Zippy
 
Look at it this way: think of all the things you LEARNED through this effort. And, it can only get better from here, right?

Your experience is one of the main things that keeps me away from big expensive motors and complicated expensive timers and big complicated expensive rockets---- I would probably screw things up even worse.
 
SpaceCowboy from other threads you have posted on too me, you know I am new and know nothing, so with that in mind ... the first thing I thought when I looked at the picture was "booster stage".

Know that had to feel really bad.

Could a person add enough bt to take it back to full length?
 
I never feel all that bad when a rocket crashes, I built it, I can fix it! Although the better you get at it the fewer times it happens.

Sometimes the factory ejection just doesn't work as well as it is supposed to. I know Estes realizes this and their customer service will make it right.

I don't know about Aerotech. It wouldn't hurt to make a phone call.

Now when I lose a rocket...stay away from me...I get really PO'd.

Losing a rocket always makes me mad!

sandman
 
Too much barf?? did you use dog barf wadding?

With the AT kits if built stock you shouldn't have needed any wadding.... and no bulk head was a problem.

But heck now ya know and i agree with the others that's a pretty easy fix, was the nosecone totalled?

Body tube isn't that expensive, think you'd get into another AT nosecone for around 10 bucks if i remember right.

A2Z hobbies is where i last picked some up for a scratchbuilt..

I wouldn't give up on that bird she can fly again...

Lost one of my favorites, estes big daddy, to a squib ejection charge, lawn darted hard, boy i still remember that, hated it...and i've lost some bigger stuff to other motor problems.

Have repaired all but the bid daddy as it wasn't repairable, and it's kind of enjoyable to see how close you can get it back to original, check out my page and then go to the BSD Sprint page to see an example. It is kind of fun.

Give a try if ya can
 
Firemanup,

cone is trashed, tho I can probably carve it up for a scratch.
I really suspect ejection charge, too much dog barf, and no bulkhead bit me. The real culprit, in my opinion, was the engine. The barf didn't even move, and that was after a dart impact.

Ryan at AARG also said on these big jobs, a touch of black powder on top of the motor can help reco, too.

Learned a lot out there at AARG. Just would have been nice to see a chute !

I've decided to "fix" AD. But not until I buy another MPR and get it to fly correctly . . . .oh, getting a new motor.

I'd be really ticked at my AD (MPR) experience, except that one of the teachers at my wife's school gave me the AD kit, about a dozen mpr motors (f&g's), a controller, and a launch pad....FOR FREE. Off the shelf, that's close to $500 of goodies.

I'm eyeballing Aerotech Cheetah. Also that LOC onyx. Too bad Flis ain't into 29mm yet.

Can anyone give me a good idea for another MRP bird. Personally a splitter job ain't at the top of my list.
 
If you like the AT birds and excellent midpower to start out with is the Initiator.

Just big enough it's pretty easy to work with and build, making it easier to learn and see how things are working.

Almost any of the AT kits are nice though.

You'll get alot of recommendations for the Mustang, I have two built and love that bird also, I've got an Arreaux and Warthog built also along with the Astrobee and the Arcas...Like em all.

With all of those done though I'd still suggest the Initiator, very flexible in motor choices and you can keep the flights at a decent altitude and be able to see everything or ya can blast it nearly out of site on the bigger G motors..
 
Originally posted by spacecowboy
Too bad Flis ain't into 29mm yet.

Can anyone give me a good idea for another MRP bird. Personally a splitter job ain't at the top of my list.

Well, the <a href="https://www.fliskits.com/products/rocketkits/kit_detail/richter_recker.htm">Richter Recher</a> is practically a MPR bird with 3xD12s. On E9s, it rocks!!!

As for a 29mm rocket, I'd go with the <a href="https://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s5.cgi?cat_s=T&age=&mfg_s=&str=Graduator">LOC Precision Graduator</a>. At $42.99, it's not a bad deal at all! Check it out at https://www.hobbylinc.com.
 
My vote is for the LOC Lil' Nuke. Nearly indestructible, can fly on everything from a D12 (if you build it light) to an H180W (seen it done on a stock one) and a K1100T if you are insane (no motor mount...). It's cheap, easy to build, and flies like a champ. I always bring mine out to launches just to put it up in the air... it must have 40+ flights on it, and never has had major damage. The only time something happened was with a bonus delay where it ripped the shock cord mount out. The rocket came in and core sampled and bounced about 20 feet back into the air off the hard playa. Went out, found a broken fin. Slapped a little 5-minute epoxy into the joint and on the shock cord mount and let 'er rip again on the same day. It's been flying ever since.
 
"(My vote is for the LOC Lil' Nuke. Nearly indestructible, can fly on everything from a D12 (if you build it light) to an H180W (seen it done on a stock one) and a K1100T if you are insane (no motor mount...)."

David, now why did you have to go and say something like that!:kill: You know if I see something like that i just have to try it!:D

Anyways, I recommend a LOC Aura. does a mile on a G. If walking isn't your thing, try a Graduator or a LOC IV.;)
 
Ouch....I had the same thing happen to my customized 38mm LOC starburst on a H268 (love that motor....but I put too little ejection in it). Came crashing down into the dirt, and i literally had to dig it out. It looked pretty much destroyed, but I realized that the fincan and nosecone were still good. $20 later, and I have another fully functional starburst (oh, did i forget to add that i lost a $70 camera that pretty much discentegrated when it hit the ground?)

As for the MPR kit, I would go with any LOC 29mm rocket. THey have excellent customer service and high quality parts. I had an Aerotech Arreaux as my first MPR kit, but I now realize it did not introduce me to the ways to build larger MPR and HPR kits (used CA, no fillets, no sanding, etc.) My friend loves the LOC Graduator, as it can be flown on very small 24mm motors all the way up to H268's (he launched one at LDRS on a H128 with no modifications, and yellow glue!).
 
Graduator is simple, durable and fun. Great entry into MPR.
 
I had my Aerotech Mirage sorta do the same thing. The parachute for the booster get stuck in the rocket and the booster came in ballistic. I have also had one of my camera rockets crash with my pencam in it but it still works. I flew it on a C6-7 and a 7 second delay was WAAAY to long. I rebuilt the payload section and got a friend to repair the camera and now all is better. :)
 
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