Attaching shock cord to balsa nose cone on Madcow Mozzie ... first build

[Underdog]

Sparse directions for this MadCow Mozzie say to stuff the shock cord into the hole (cavity) in the balsa nose cone and then fill the hole with expoxy. But... Madcow includes an eye-bolt and nut (with no explanation what they these parts are to be used for).
Instead of stuffing expoxy and string in the nose cone could I drill and screw an eye-bolt into the balsa nose cone and attach the shock cord to the eyebolt (or similiar eye-bolt). I would like to leave the cavity free for me to adjust the nose cone weight (and Center of Gravity) if need be as I add larger motors down the road. (I'm using a motor retainer). An eyebolt in the balsa nose cone would allow me to change the shock cord if need be.
But really have no idea what I am doing or if and eye-bolt would be ripped out of the balsa end grain by the force of the shock cord.

 

[rharshberger]

Drill another hole and mount the shock cord in it, or drill another hole and pour in some epoxy and insert an eyebolt with nut on it. The included eyebolt is most likely for the forward centering ring to attach the kevlar inside the rocket.

 

[Underdog]

That big hole in the balsa nose cone extends 4.5" (almost to the end of the 5.5" nose cone). If I fill all that hole with epoxy is sure sounds like a lot of epoxy. Is the hole this huge in anticipation of holding a lot of shock cord? I did come across this recently posted advice that suggests that the glued in shock cord is the way to go...

 

[sl98]

I've attached a picture of a nosecone from my Madcow 2.2" Phoenix. I believe it is same nose cone you have and certainly the same concept. I needed to add weight to get CG moved forward. Instead of lead shot I used lead wire that I found in fishing section at Wallyworld. I added a little epoxy, inserted lead weight, added a little more epoxy, then added eye bolt with nut, then a little more epoxy. I used three equal lengths of lead wire because I needed a fair amount of weight. The lengths were cut short so the eye bolt just touched them. I also used a larger eye bolt because I needed the additional weight.

If you don't need to add much or any weight you could plug a portion of the hole with a wood dowel then epoxy in your eye bolt. Another alternative is to plug with a dowel and use a screw eye bolt.

 

[Underdog]

wow, that is lot of nose weight that you added. I should probably figure this out for the Mozzie before going any further. I was hoping to keep the Mozzie light enough to fly with inexpensive D-3 black powder motors on a small field. If I add too much weight will I need to find larger more expensive motors to safely launch?

 

[sl98]

wow, that is lot of nose weight that you added. I should probably figure this out for the Mozzie before going any further. I was hoping to keep the Mozzie light enough to fly with inexpensive D-3 black powder motors on a small field. If I add too much weight will I need to find larger more expensive motors to safely launch?

The fin design on the Phoenix puts the CP pretty far forward so I needed the added weight. I also will be flying with larger motors so I had to add weight to get CG safely ahead of CP.

I doubt you will need much weight with the Mozzie because of the different fins. You should figure out your CP, decide on what the largest motor you might use and add weight accordingly to get CG safely ahead of CP.

 

[BABAR]

Hmmmm.

How about get a small eye long shank screw eye.

Drill a 1/4 inch the depth of the shank.

Fill hole with gorilla foaming glue. You could actually fill the hole, then immediately turn it over and drain out the excess. What is left will foam up and fill the hole. Let dry. This will add very little weight.

Drill a small diameter guided hole down the middle.

Thread your screw eye down the hole. You can add and subtract washers at will just by taking the screw eye out and then putting it back in.