Apogee Peregrine Build

SilicdyneTRF
Onebadhawk
rocket sok
madcow rocketry
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Thanks for asking @messedupryan ! I now have the standoffs I needed to mount the altimeter, so I'll be getting around to that soon. I was digging around for a switch, but don't seem to have a spare, so I ordered a couple. I also haven't had room for painting, but I have made a bit of progress clearing the garage- still more to go, but I'm hopeful to start hitting the paint pile next week. 😁
 
Wally, I have not been brave enough yet to fly with the included drogue. For it's first flight at NARAM in Muncie, IN it landed yards from where it took off. FYI, I did add sheer pins, backing the inside of the top tube with brass disks glued to depressed areas dug out with a Dremel and a flap wheel. First flight used 1/16" polystyrene rod as described in Mike Westerfield's Make: book. For subsequent flights converted to nylon rivets for no reason at all. Both work.

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Thanks for the tip- I've not used shear pins on a flight yet- the brass disks I am now considering, if for no other reason than it sounds like it would add durability, and perhaps reliability...🤔
 
John_461 said:
I've been following your build, and there are a few things that you have done that I wish I had thought of when building mine.

This is my maiden flight on a J425R. No sheer pins in the nose. Worked perfectly with 0.7g of FFFFg powder for the drogue chute.
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I love all the feedback- good to know you didn't need shear pins even with a J...
 
After work, I managed to make a little progress on the av bay. My goal is to line up the switch with a vent hole and use that rather than another hole in the switch band. I measure to the vent, then transfer that to the edge of the sled. I have some plywood disks left from centering rings maybe, will try to use that to mount the switch to the sled...

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I mixed up some finishing epoxy to coat the switch mount and protect the exposed bulkheads. Once that was all cured, I assembled and keyed/marked one end after getting the switch lined up with a vent hole. This will make it trivial to get to the switch on the field after assembly, as long as I have that hole marked after paint... ;)

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My wife was kind and went to True Value and picked up some #4-40 machine screws with flat washers and Nylock nuts earlier today while I was working. So next I prepared a pair of wires for the terminal block going on the bulkhead that's permanently attached to the sled, this is also the drogue end. An e-match will connect to the other side of the block and go into a charge packed in the canister for flight when ready...


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I decided to re-route the drogue wires to the backside of the sled. I glued an old straw from an igniter maybe, I forget exactly what it was left over from, to use as a conduit. I taped it on in order to continue working while the glue dries. I repeat the wire prep for the main side terminal block ensuring adequate length to ease connecting it after inserting it all into the coupler. I plugged in a battery to test it, and a turn of the switch made it beep and the led came on, went through it's checks and started a steady beep. Success! Now I need to paint and fly!

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IMO, Using plastic adhesion-promoter primer is a best practice on big nose cones.

Where I fly it is highly advised to use a tracker and I use a Lab Rat 3D sled inside this nose cone. To make it accessible, I cut the shoulder in half and epoxied in a standard plumbing coupler (male/female pieces). I then epoxied in a wooden disc and threaded in a 1/4X20 threaded eyelet to attach shock cord and sled. Just took some pictures but the tracker (Eggtimer) isn't in there.:rolleyes: The red and black lines in pic1 help me to line up sheer pins in the two rockets for which I use this nose cone. Brass dowels were inserted to ensure the plumbing pieces could not be ripped out (can see in both pics). Just missed 4,700' up I at the Bong in W. This is something you can add later.

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I spent some time yesterday at our club launch talking to someone 2 people about this kit. I am extremely tempted to purchase this, set it up for single deployment, and try for my L1 at LDRS this summer.
 
I am impressed with the quality of the kit, dual-deploy potential included. I highly recommend it.

I just have to be careful with motors, using it for an L2 attempt with even a smallish J will still be a few thousand feet. Any real drift at our launch site can be a problem...I lost my Big Daddy yesterday, and my friends that might help with a search are not available today, and I don't want my wife to even try to navigate that thorny swampy mess. You can tell by this post I haven't gotten over it yet... 😭
 
Went back to look for my Big Daddy today, my amazing wife stood as a marker post for my sight line, indicating my search on Saturday had drifted a bit north of where it landed. I had certainly come within 30 yards of it Saturday. One last sight line before I was too deep in the thicket to see my wife Carol gave me one last correction, definitely NOT an area I had gone through, 30 more yards into the thicket and there was a small clearing, with a Big Daddy on the far side, standing on it's fins, bright orange parachute beside it. W00T!!! All electronics intact. 1576 feet altitude...

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Back to the Peregrine. It's time for some fun, sanding the fins smooth in preparation for the second primer coat. I use an 80 grit to remove a majority of the first primer coat, then I hit it with 120 grit to smooth out some scratchiness and even out what remains on the fins and body tube. I then do a quick 220 grit to even out any remaining scratches. Need to be mindful of buildup on the sandpaper, those little bumps are what might dig a deep gouge in your surfaces. The nose cone, I forgot to sand it prior to paint, so it also got an aggressive 80 grit until the seams were all but invisible, then an aggressive 120 grit to smooth out the hard plastic- and yes, I follow that again with 220 grit. I usually have minimal sanding/touch up after the second primer coat if I take the time here. Using three different grits/passes requires less effort, maybe a little more time. I didn't use CWF on the spirals, Apogee spirals are pretty tight.

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I agree that the first sanding off is the most important. I do pretty much the same. It takes time, but then you don't keep chasing your tail. I am always guilty of using the same piece of paper for too long...trying to save a nickel on a $100 project (thats me), but I am learning.
 

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