Altaira Rocketry Friede build thread

[J Blatz]

In this pic you will note that I marked both the center line of the fins as well as the outside edges. This all ended up, like so many parts of this build, as being kind of wishful thinking since the spans were not exactly as I though they would be. This is the nature of using natural materials like plywood.

So what I did to attach the fins was to center the fin the best I could over the outside marks, and then tack one side of the fin to the AF using thin CA and kicker, first towards the rear of the fin, then near the front. Repeat this for opposite side. This allowed me to to do a pretty decent job of putting the fins on straight. After each tack-up I cleaned the area joint with alcohol, sanded it a bit for some bite, and applied wood glue fillets. I let each fin dry completely before moving on to the next.

One interesting thing was that 3 fins in I thought, my God am I gonna be able to reach into install the motor mount battery assembly TM with these fins that hang of the airframe 7" from the MMT? So I installed the motor assembly prior to attaching the last fin, just in case. It'd be a shame to not be able to fly it at least once.

 

[J Blatz]

While waiting for the glue on the fins to dry I assembled the NC. Instruction call for using a piece of the leftover airframe as the shoulder on the cone, which I didn't like because the NC is made out of very thin plastic and is going to be super heavy. It seemed to me that under load the very thin lip where said plastic would meet the airframe could be a failure point. So I decided to use a piece of coupler for the shoulder, along with a narrow section of airframe to provide a solid "lip" where the nosecone meets the airframe. All this was assembled carefully with 15 minute epoxy, making sure to get plenty up inside the joint where the coupler meets the inside of the NC but not too much on the shoulder/lip joint since that is a tight fit and I didn't want epoxy goop everywhere.

 

[J Blatz]

Ok, at long last here is something resembling a rocket!

 

[J Blatz]

Next I made some heat shields out of aluminum duct tape and index cards. These are to be slipped in to place between the motors and airframe to provide a level of insulation against “back flash” from liftoff, esp if a blast deflector is in place. They are disposable.

 

[cwbullet]

Anyone have a rocksim on this kit?

 

[Pem Tech]

The upscale flying version was built by @Pem Tech .

Thanks for the shout-out.
She was a beauty... But I will build another one, some day!

 

[lakeroadster]

Next I made some heat shields out of aluminum duct tape and index cards. These are to be slipped in to place between the motors and airframe to provide a level of insulation against “back flash” from liftoff, esp if a blast deflector is in place. They are disposable.

J Blatz Did this ever fly?​

 

[aerostadt]

Did this ever fly?

Good question! It looks like the Pem Tech model may have been ruined in some house damage some time ago.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/cardstock-friede-defiled.36947/

 

[J Blatz]

J Blatz Did this ever fly?​

No, it hasn't. Last couple years have been kinda hard on me and my hobbies...