29mm Deuce's Wild! Woohoo!

[eugenefl]

Hey y'all!

So what's new around the Forums? Why, a new Deuce of course! Inspired by Carl's <a href="https://www.rocketryforum.com/ctulanko/album/index.php?display=hprdw%2Fdw96.jpg"> 38 Special </a>and in the spirit of the lost 24mm 2" dia. <a href="https://www.rocketryforum.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=60067">Tour de Deuce Mascot</a>, I have decided that a new 29mm version of this great rocket will ease the pains (and create new ones ). Although a replacement 24mm Deuce mascot is already being built, I think the paint scheme on the new 29mm Deuce will honor the original kit and sport the yellow and blue. To literally mimic Carl's flight on Pro38 Smokey Sams, I plan on making the inaugural flight on dual G38-7J Econojets!!! The inaugural flight, barring any unforseen delays, will occur on Feb. 7 at the SEARS (see Events forum) Tour de Deuce launch. I am looking forward to working feverishly on this bird 'til it's done.

I am curious if anyone else has done this scale Deuce yet or if I will be one of the lucky first. As a final note, I figured it would be appropriate to post in the HPR forum given the total impulse possibility of this rocket. Besides, when the heck else will I ever get the chance to post in this forum?

 

[eugenefl]

Here are some scaling details:

Conversion factor: 1.59X

AIRFRAME DIA.: LOC 2.56"
OVERALL LENGTH: 33"
MMT: dual 29mm LOC tubing
NOSECONE: 1.4:1 Ogive, custom turned by "Roachwerks" (aka, sandman)
RECOVERY: 9/16" Tubular Nylon, Top Flight Nylon 24"-28" Parachute (Undecided)
FINS: 1/4" Plywood w/ 1/2" TTW tab extensions
CRs: 1/4" Plywood (custom made)
GUIDANCE: Railbuttons

Today was a great first day for this project. Jason (jetra2) came over and we went straight to work (after breakfast of course). We first assured scaling with provided templates and printed out to cardstock. Living in an apartment makes prepping the build area a pain, so getting things out took a good while (jigsaw, drill press, bits, rulers, and all the other tools). Today we kitted parts for both a 24mm (rebuild) version and the 29mm (new) version. I even got so far ahead of myself as to assemble the MMT with CyA.

First pic is of Jason doing some template cutting and plywood tracing.

 

[eugenefl]

Here's a shot of me goin' at it with the drill press and Forstner bit. Notice the table top on the press tilted at that "patented" 15 deg. angle.

 

[eugenefl]

In a warp speed, the parts fell off the table and were all assembled. (Sorry, I don't have the patience Carl does to take a picture of every step! ) Here I am making sure I cut the right rings for the right rocket! LOL!

 

[eugenefl]

...and in a jiffy I was quick to compare the original size of the Deuce to the new 29mm big brother. (In this picture the small one is Jason's. He brought it over to compare.) The new one is for me to build. I hope to do that one in the wee hours and hopefully have it ready for SEARS as well.

Oh, btw, the 2.56" LOC tubing hasn't been cut down to scale yet. The MMT holes/ovals haven't been cut yet either. Also note the extra non-scale length of the MMT tubes. Those are a tad out of scale to allow dual 29-40/120 RMS casings. (Gotta be able to do E16's if light enough and F40's ya know!....maybe...)

 

[Zippy]

I hope I'll be seeing that at the next HERC launch.

 

[jflis]

Deuce's to the left of me...

...Deuce's to the right...

man, i'm'a seein' double again!

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by Zippy
I hope I'll be seeing that at the next HERC launch.

Well, it will fly in February at SEARS. I imagine if they are flying K's out there that there will be plenty of real estate for dual G38s. As for HERC, I don't know that there is enough field out there for even 2 F20s. I may be OK with two E16s, but I have to see what the finished weight is. We'll see!

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by jflis
Deuce's to the left of me...

...Deuce's to the right...

man, i'm'a seein' double again!

Well, actually you saw triple and out came the Tres! I'm just happy to be a part of the madness. You've got a solid winner in the Deuce Jim. Congrats!

 

[Zippy]

It may be OK with two E16s

That's about right if it isn't too windy at HWY 56 I would think, but you'll know how fast it comes down after SEARS. Dual G38's really? Thats brave, I'd go for F40's becouse it looks light weight but hey more power to ya'. No guts no glory. If you get it back after SEARS bring it to HERC even if you don't launch it so we can all get a look at it. Deuces Wild in all it's incarnations is becomming a modern rocketry icon, so much so I might even buy one when Jim releases a scale model (hint to Jim who probably isn't reading this anyway since he's never here ) or two so I can spread the shipping cost out over a few kits.

 

[Austin]

Eugene...keep up the good work bro...it looks great so far! I wanna see more pics man...

Carl

 

[jflis]

I came into the HIGH power forum this morning and what do I see???

THREE current threads on FlisKits related items... who'd'a thunk it???

2 on Deuce's and 1 on the Tres. Never thought i'd be spending so much time in this forum LOL

Looking great Eugenio! Now that we have a 29mm and looks like we're going to have a 54 mm we *have* to figure out a way to get together as a group and fly the:

6mm
13mm
18mm
24mm
29mm
38mm
54mm

would be *incredible*!

 

[jetra2]

Yeah - that would be VERY cool Jim! Especially if we could drag race 18's, 24's, and 29's (I dunno if there are many 13's out there ). I will be building a 29mm Deuce in the same size soon - hopefully at Whitakers me and Eugene could drag race ours (anyone else with one would also be invited...) on G40-10's or sumthin like that! That would be WAY awesome! Uh oh...thought coming on...DING DING DING DING DING!!!! If I extend the MMT's just ONE more inch, the 29/180 case would fit...which means dual H128's.... Gawd that would be AWESOME...send that rocket up to 4000 feet, easily. THAT flight would more that definately carry an altimeter bay...I ain't walking to the next county to pick it up.... Nah...I think that dual G64's will do me quite fine, thank you. I think that to add a little weight and strength to keep it lower, I'll glass the entire rocket with a layer of 1.5oz glass...then that would mean I'd need to extend the MMT's one more inch to keep up with the higher weight...which means H128's...muh-wa-ha-ha-ha!!

Thanks Eugene for making me the parts and stuff...Have I told you how much I love Flash now? BTW, we imported the ring sets and fin patterns into Flash 5 and scaled them up that way - I'll post a thread on that later on. Anyways, Jim, would you be kind enough to supply a upscaled marking guide, when you have the chance? Thanks!

Jason

 

[eugenefl]

I didn't get all that much done with the 29mm version today. I did lay 1.5oz glass and smothered the MMT with 5min epoxy. Nice and messy, but very rigid. (See attached pic) I also tinkered with the MMT hole cutting template.

 

[eugenefl]

I did however, complete the construction of the FlisKits "Deuce's Wild!" kit. Gotta love CyA! (see pic) I don't have any plans on overbuilding this Deuce. I figure a stock build utilizing CyA and yellow glue for fillets will be plenty.

 

[eugenefl]

Last week the building had ALL of the plumbing replaced. I haven't cleared my normal work/build area, so I had to break out the foldout table for the Deuce building marathon. What ensued is a mess of Deuce kit and scratchbuild parts and templates. Sheesh...rocketry consumes my place!

 

[eugenefl]

Today was somewhat productive. The MMT tubes were shortened a tad (about an inch) so that the scale appearance of the Deuce could remain closer to its original. Even trimmed down, the tubes extend about .5" beyond scale and still allow for the 29/40-120 to not touch. (I also checked to allow for the red cap that holds the BP charge. The two caps come within .25" of touching.)

Utilizing an F20 Econojet spacer/coupler, I plan on using the excess 1" of tubing to protect the end of the real MMT tubing during the build process to prevent dings and dents. Once I spend more 29mm SU or Econo motors I'll use the empty casings.

(HINT: For all you Deuce builders, whether original or upscale, protect the protruding MMT tubes from denting by inserting spent motor casings.)

I also cut out the MMT ovals to allow for the MMT tubes to angle inward. This was a real test of patience as there was quite a bit of cutting, check fitting, and sanding.

 

[eugenefl]

I also trimmed about 1.5" off of the 30" LOC tubing to come within one tenth of the scale tube length. I oh-so-badly just wanted to leave the extra tube on, but figured what the hey. Carl would shorten it. So I did.

HINT: The Estes tube marking guide allows up to BT80 tubes to be marked. Works great on LOC 2.56" tubes too!

In this case, a perfect line was drawn around the circumference of the tube. The line was then lined (edged) with tape to serve as a cutting guide. After a little sanding to smoothen the rough edge, the tube cut looks nearly as if it came from the factory like this.

 

[eugenefl]

Here is a better layout of the parts collected thus far. The original Deuce sits fully assembled next to its bigger brother for scale sizing.

Tomorrow I will cut the fin slots in the airframe and create tabs by trimming off the excess wood extending from the fins. Hopefully they'll be ready for paint by this weekend. I am progressing along nicely for a SEARS Feb. 7th deadline.

 

[jflis]

Carl...? Oh, CAAARRRRLLLLLLL....??

You should be proud... Yer teaching these youngun's well!

Eugenio,

great documentation of the build with pix to boot!

You do well, young grasshopper...

 

[eugenefl]

Alright...couldn't go to bed on time so why not work on the Deuce some more? The fin slots are now cut. This is quite tedious and requires a new blade and a steady hand. Tomorrow I will cut the fin tabs to match the internal MMT centering rings. Notches in the tabs will slip over the CR's and make for a nice internal gluing spot.

If I had a garage I'd probably be out there cutting wood or something crazy like that.

 

[eugenefl]

I wanted to make a TTW tab instead of a surface mount but I really didn't want to go through the labors of making the fins interlock on the bottom like Rocketjunkie's. Based on the ring location on the MMT, it runs somewhere in the middle of the fin slot. To make the fin tab and fin mount stronger, I notched the fins to "grab" the top centering ring.

 

[eugenefl]

After the notching, I just had to pre-assemble and dry fit everything. Once satisfied, I CyA tacked the MMT in place. The slots on the tubing will allow for internal centering ring epoxy fillets. 3 of the 4 fins may get internal epoxy fillets as well.

 

[eugenefl]

This will probably be the last photo until it is fully assembled and primer gray. Other than that, I might make updates to show the shock cord mount (LOC style) and/or rail button install.

In this picture even a 29mm Deuce makes the kit look like a baby.

Enjoy.

 

[OKTurbo]

Wow!

It's a monster!

I can't imagine what that will ~sound~ like when it launches. Visually, it will be impressive, but the sound.....

John

 

[jflis]

oh man, i wish FSI was still around with their F7's....

looking *very* cool

 

[Rocketjunkie]

Originally posted by jflis
oh man, i wish FSI was still around with their F7's....

looking *very* cool

I wouldn't trust even 2 F7's to lift the rocket. One won't even keep a 4 oz rocket going straight

 

[eugenefl]

I had to revive this thread to share this picture. The Deuce has been completed for some time now. It has been professionally painted by our very own Joe M or "lets fly high". (He also did my MAXI Der Red Max.) He doesn't post all that much, but he does some great rocket paint jobs. Those of you that were at Whitakers got to see it firsthand and can comment on its nice shine. Joe does great work. I hope more of his work finds its way into the rocketry community.

BTW, due to high winds early in the day at Whitakers, I was unable to fly it. Hopefully next month on a pair of F20-7Ws?!

 

[jflis]

Yep, i got a good look at that beast. incredible paint job and cool size for the Deuce too.

One thing we forgot to do was to get *all* of the Deuce's together for a picture! I had my 13mm, 18mm and 24mm. With your 29mm and Carl's 38mm and all the other Deuce's (there must have been 20 Deuce launches), it would have been a great picture!

 

[slim_t]

So Euegene, have you flown this thing yet?
I know you didn't at the SEARS launch because of the conditions, and since you didn't get to at Whitakers, I was just wondering if maybe you've flown it at home or somewhere else?

Remember my 24mm one with the video cam payload that I brought to the SEARS launch? Guess what, it hasn't flown yet either.

I hope to fly it soon though, of course.

Good luck whenever you do get to fly it. Looks great by the way.

Tim