Any Madcow Patriot Tips?

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Mikus

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I got a new Madcow Patriot the other day (thanks honey!!!). I'm thinking about using it to go low and slow for my L1, probably in August.

I've built a couple of Madcow birds now and have been flying G reloads for a year now so I think I've got that down.

Does anybody have any hints, tips, tricks or gotchas to pass along regarding Madcow's Patriot kit that I should know before I start construction over the 7/4 holiday? :confused2:

Thanks and wish me luck. I'll report back with pics, either way. ;)
 
I've never built a Madcow kit, but I'm assuming they are built similar to LOC kits.

Don't worry much about glues, wood glue and epoxy will both hold it together fine. Epoxy makes better looking external fillets. If the nose cone has a flimsy looking attachment point, drill holes in the base of it and attach the shock cord to that.
 
Actually, I was thinking of modifying the forward section into an ebay in case I ever want to do DD with it. Rocksim says 1100' on an H123 and as this is a 4" X 52" bird I'm not terribly concerned with an L1 cert flight going where I can't see it. But supposedly this bird will fly up to a J so at some point I might want a more manageable recovery strategy. ;)

Does anybody see any reason why this is a bad idea?

Madcow_Patriot @ Apogee

Madcow Patriot Instructions
 
Turning that payload section into a main parachute tube should be a piece of cake. The tube seems to be a tad short, so when you convert it to DD you may want to cut the bottom of the NC out and glue in a bulkhead near the top of the NC to attach the shock cord to. This will give you plenty of room for a parachute.
 
It's looking like this might be the weekend on an H123 if I can round up a couple of L1's or an L2 to signoff.

I finished the roll pattern last night so all that's left to do tonight is to attach the rail buttons, the recovery system and one US ARMY decal before hitting it with future, for that new rocket shine. ;)

Oh and the nose cone, I left the payload bay alone for now (outta time) but plan to hit Lowe's for some screws thinking I'll drill screw holes in the bay and the NC shoulder so I can unscrew them and put something in there later. Any suggestions or tips?

Thanks, it's my first HP bird. :D

Patriot_Painted_sm.jpg
 
Can you tell me how much it weighs?

On the Madcow site, when I look at info page for the Patriot it lists it at 44 oz. but when you click on the assembly instuctions link it lists it at 53 oz.

I'm thinking of getting one of these to possibly go for my L1 cert but want to be able to fly it on G64's also at our smaller field.

A 36" chute (if you order it with recovery system) seems rather small for a 53 oz. bird and marginal for a 44 oz. rocket so I would probably get it without the recovery system and get a bigger chute.
 
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Can you tell me how much it weighs?

On the Madcow site, when I look at info page for the Patriot it lists it at 44 oz. but when you click on the assembly instuctions link it lists it at 53 oz.

A 36" chute (if you order it with recovery system) seems rather small for a 53 oz. bird and marginal for a 44 oz. rocket so I would probably get it without the recovery system and get a bigger chute.


Ahh... it's all making sense now. Mine came in at 48oz although I added a retention system, a shock cord protector and a 3rd centering ring at the front end of the fin tabs. I was wondering how the heck I came in underweight. :y:

Since this model has the option of a 38mm and 54mm mount (I went 38mm) I'm betting the 53 oz is the weight of the 54mm option.

Yes the chute was a bit too small. I'll replace it with a bigger one before the next flight. :eek:

But the plan worked (in 12mph winds even) and I cert'd L1 with an H123 in her. :headbang:

Patriot_3_sm.jpg

Patriot_5_sm.jpg
 
But the plan worked (in 12mph winds even) and I cert'd L1 with an H123 in her. :headbang:

I THOUGHT that picture looked familiar! :neener: Congrats again on the cert flight! It was truly a thing of envy going up (you saw how mine are decorated, or rather un-decorated so perhaps you can understand the envy).

Wayne
 
Ahh... it's all making sense now. Mine came in at 48oz although I added a retention system, a shock cord protector and a 3rd centering ring at the front end of the fin tabs. I was wondering how the heck I came in underweight. :y:

Since this model has the option of a 38mm and 54mm mount (I went 38mm) I'm betting the 53 oz is the weight of the 54mm option.

Yes the chute was a bit too small. I'll replace it with a bigger one before the next flight. :eek:

But the plan worked (in 12mph winds even) and I cert'd L1 with an H123 in her. :headbang:
Thanks for the information and congratulations on your L1 cert.
 
I THOUGHT that picture looked familiar! :neener: Congrats again on the cert flight! It was truly a thing of envy going up (you saw how mine are decorated, or rather un-decorated so perhaps you can understand the envy).

Wayne

Heh heh, thank you very much and congrats to you on the L2. Someday I hope to get where you are now. :cheers:
 
Hey, great launch picture! Congratulations on your new L1.
 
Ahh... it's all making sense now. Mine came in at 48oz although I added a retention system, a shock cord protector and a 3rd centering ring at the front end of the fin tabs. I was wondering how the heck I came in underweight. :y:
Did you have to add much nose weight?

I decided to buy one and right now it's built and weighs 43 oz. with the recovery system installed, unpainted and without any nose weight.

It balances about 3/4" ahead of the recommended point but that's without a motor installed.
 
Nope, no nose weight required. I did put in 4 screws to hold the nose cone on but their weight should be negligible.

It sounds like yours is right on the mark. :D
 
Nope, no nose weight required. I did put in 4 screws to hold the nose cone on but their weight should be negligible.

It sounds like yours is right on the mark. :D
Thanks for the information.

This is the first HPR rocket I have ever built and the first one that used epoxy for construction and I was concerned that I may have used more than was needed and added too much weight in the tail.

I used more epoxy in this build than I have used in my entire lifetime in all my hobbies combined.
 
Mikus and Bob (and anyone else that wants to chime in), what delay did you use? I will by flying my Mad Cow Big Fizz (same dia and nose cone as the Patriot, but shorter and minus the payload bay) for my level 1 cert. The manufacturer says that it uses an 8-9 sec delay on an H125. That seem rather long, and I would rather not guess on the delay for my cert flight (or any HPR flight for that matter).
 
Mikus and Bob (and anyone else that wants to chime in), what delay did you use? I will by flying my Mad Cow Big Fizz (same dia and nose cone as the Patriot, but shorter and minus the payload bay) for my level 1 cert. The manufacturer says that it uses an 8-9 sec delay on an H125. That seem rather long, and I would rather not guess on the delay for my cert flight (or any HPR flight for that matter).
How much does it weigh?

I was planning on using a Cesaroni H133 and wRASP says that the delay for a 48 oz rocket of this diameter should be 6 seconds. I really want to keep it low for my cert flight and it sims to just over 900ft with this motor.

If I put an H125 into wRASP the delay for a 48 oz rocket is 7 seconds and it goes to just over 1500ft.

EDIT: I was looking at the Cesaroni H125 and not the Aerotech H125
 
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Unfortunately, the only scale that I have at home is a bathroom scale. I will be able to weigh it on launch day though. I am planning on using the Cesaroni 266H125-12A Classic. I did not see a Cesaroni H133.
 
Unfortunately, the only scale that I have at home is a bathroom scale. I will be able to weigh it on launch day though. I am planning on using the Cesaroni 266H125-12A Classic. I did not see a Cesaroni H133.
the H133 is a 29mm that I will use with an adapter.
 
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