Balls 22 Projects

[ECayemberg]

Intro: I’ve really enjoyed Manny’s Blog-like thread about his trip to the Black Rock Desert, and wanted to document my experience to some degree as well. Now that Manny has returned home from his wayward adventure, it’s my turn! A little disclaimer here: we’re about 1.5 months out from the launch and I have a lot to do before then; I’ll update the thread as well as I’m able, but updates are a lesser priority than being ready on time! The intent of this thread is to loosely cover the activities leading up the event, cover our launches while there, and debrief as appropriate afterward!

The Long and Winding Road:
This journey is a long one; both in time and distance. I discovered high power rocketry with the November/December 1992 issue of High Power Rocketry magazine that featured LDRS XI held at Black Rock. As an 11 year old avid model rocketeer at the time, that issue of HPR sparked the fascination in both higher power rockets and the wonderland outside of Gerlach, Nevada. 20 years later, I’m finally going to that place I’ve dreamed of for a long time! Though we almost went in 2010, sanity prevailed and we stayed closer to home, attending Airfest 16 in Argonia (another excellent destination as y’all know!)

Project Overviews
I’m taking two rockets for Balls, two for Hamster Dance, and one for the Bonneville Salt Flats on the way home. I’ll try to capture these to some degree in this thread without delving into full blown build threads. In addition to my projects; my travel and flying partners Tom and Marc have requested an additional 8 motors I’ll be making for the event.

Balls

20 YEAR ITCH: 20 YEAR ITCHis somewhat of an exotic bird to me; being all aluminum except for the nose. I’ve always been enthralled with the Atlantic Research Arcas. Long have I been impressed that such a *small*, common looking rocket could attain altitudes in excess of 150,000’. 20 YEAR ITCHis a project that began in the design world as an Arcas and has evolved into what it will be for many reasons (to be discussed later). The rocket is powered by a single stage, mid range O motor.

September Fate/Carbon Slipper: a 2 stage 4” to 3” minimum diameter rocket. Carbon Slipper is a 3” min dia all carbon rocket that has flown twice in the single stage configuration; first at LDRS 27 on an M1450W, then again at Thunderstruck 3 on a M3100WT. September Fate is a 4” bare-bones booster for Carbon Slipper; it is a bit unconventional with regard to a standard airframe rocket. Both sections split at the base of their cones for all-out-the-top tethered main recoveries. The pair boosts on a 98-7G N and stages to a moonburner M in AMW 75-7600 hardware.

Hamster Dance

Hamster Dance is a cute little launch held the day before Balls. In short, all motors must be single use, and rockets must be constructed of non-metallic components and have an all up mass of 5 lbs or less.

ISPy: a play on the characteristic specific impulse (ISP); this craft is pronounced “I-Spy”, which is indicative of a main feature of this motor/airframe. This rocket is a true minimum diameter ship whereas the motor casing is also the airframe. Furthermore, to maximize propellant loading and visual stimulation, the bates grains are linerless; therefore the rocket/motor glows bright red between grains during the second half of the burn (the video of the static motor exemplifies this trait). The motor calculates out to be a 38mm “K” motor; been done before yet somewhat of a rarity. This rocket has been created to shoot for one of the prized awards.

Alpha Hamster: created with the hope of capturing one of the stated awards and the intent of producing a chuckle or two out of the launch hosts/attendees. This bird is all done, but will be revealed a bit later on.

Salt Flats

Nothing too exciting here: just a simple, durable, and dependable Wildman Jart set to fly on an F or G motor. Marc, Tom, and myself will all be bringing Jarts and keeping them under 3.3 pounds to stay within the Class 1 limitations. Now I just need to decide: red or black?

Pics, additional descriptions, and tall tales of the high seas to follow...for now, a few teaser photos:

-Eric-

 

[SS/EA 6BBL 71 Cuda]

Awesome "E-Town"! Can't wait too see/hear the results.....Although I'll restrain myself in your presence.
Manny hasn't talked to me since I threatened to hold him down and, *poof* the remnants of a Spinach, Mushroom and, Garlic Pizza on him.....In another thread.:sigh:

 

[ChuckH]

Subscribed! I can't wait to see the Balls projects

 

[MClark]

If either of these are going over 50,000 feet they must be run through the TRA Class three committee. I would suggest contacting them tonight

On BALLS 22 website

Due to increased scrutiny and renewed interaction between FAA and sister Federal agencies. Rocket,s regardless of impulse designed to fly above 50,000 feet AGL will be submitted to the Class 3 committee for review. This is internal and not a request by any Federal Agency but a renewed commitment to Safety by Tripoli. This does not constitute a Class 3 certification but is an excellent primer for obtaining one.
Procedures for submittal may be found under the Class 3 Committee section of the Tripoli web site or by contacting
Kent Newman at [email protected] or Dick Embry at [email protected].

 

[SS/EA 6BBL 71 Cuda]

Eric I'm very sorry if i killed the excitement in your thread.....

That's right, "The Thread Killer" stomped on another one.... (Who's THIS guy talking about "Luft $chei$$ing" that poor little Manny's kid?)

I promise not too do it again....*The thread killing enthusiasm thing....NOT terrorizing Squirt*.

I'm just going to sit over here in the corner wearing my neat little white conical hat...with the words Dunc'e on it.....Is that French

Not going too hear a word out of me.....until you hit the road Jack.....Then the "Safety's" off.

 

[ECayemberg]

Eric I'm very sorry if i killed the excitement in your thread.....

That's right, "The Thread Killer" stomped on another one.... (Who's THIS guy talking about "Luft $chei$$ing" that poor little Manny's kid?)

I promise not too do it again....*The thread killing enthusiasm thing....NOT terrorizing Squirt*.

I'm just going to sit over here in the corner wearing my neat little white conical hat...with the words Dunc'e on it.....Is that French

Not going too hear a word out of me.....until you hit the road Jack.....Then the "Safety's" off.

Whoa there fella! You did no such thing!!! Lots more updates to come, but in good time. Please to chime in; I always enjoy a little Gusto!

Don't be a stranger; and please don't think I'm ignoring you if I don't respond super quick. I'm here, just keeping plenty busy. As Mark reminded me above, I have some paperwork to finish!

-Eric-

 

[GRIFFIN]

subscribed!!!

 

[gtm3323]

subscribed!!!

+1!

 

[SSenesy]

Man, I'm hooked after seeing that fin can alone! Best of luck on all your projects.

 

[mannyskid]

DUUUUUDE!!! Eric! You're the man!

This is so awesome, that fin can looks amazing. I like to hear that I am an inspiration :grin: Once you go there, you WILL be hooked! I'm already thinking about when I'm going to go back. I really wanted to hop on a plane and go to BALLS, but the logistics of it don't work with me being in school and everything. I wish you luck, make the Sconnie flyers proud!

 

[Dwatkins]

DUUUUUDE!!! Once you go there, you WILL be hooked! I'm already thinking about when I'm going to go back. I really wanted to hop on a plane and go to BALLS

Don't say I didn't warn both of you :eyepop: at least maybe I will see a few more familiar Midwest faces at Balls.

Dennis

 

[ECayemberg]

Let’s cover a bit of the activities for the past week or so: nothing overly exciting, yet necessary progress nonetheless. Both my wife and I work full time and my boys deserve my attention, so most of the work gets done on lunch breaks and after they go to bed.

Router Rooter

As indicated by one of the photos in the first post, I beveled some G10 fins using a router table set up with a Typhoon bur. I took a bath in fiberglass dust while simultaneously beveling the fins for ISPy and Tom’s 3” minimum diameter bird. No dramas here, just watch those digits! Additionally, using a modified setup, I turned down the aft end of ISPy to reduce base drag.

A few of the freshly ground fingers, errr fins:

I-SPy tail

After trimming the tail, the aft closure was reinforced with 3 pins and a few layers of E-glass added to encapsulate the now reduced rear end. A series of filling and priming took place until ISPy had a fairly smooth bum. The fins were then tacked in place using Cotronics high temp black goo (4525 if I remember correct).

A photo of the current state of the aft end of ISPy:

And a plan view of the whole stack as she currently sits with Brandon ensuring I'm building to spec:

ISPy Static Test Motor Notes (Epoxy Experiment)

When I static tested ISPy’s motor (back in May), I epoxied four mock fins around the perimeter of the test motor. Each fin was bonded with a different epoxy: Zap 15 minute, West Systems 105/205 (w/ milled fiber, colloidal silica filler), Cotronics 4525, and Proline 4500. Immediately following the burn, I performed the highly scientific Wiggle Test on the four fins. All fins remained attached; however the West Systems joint was the softest (most pliable), with the 15 minute epoxy bond being similarly soft. Both Cotronics and Proline fillets were seemingly unaffected by the heat generated from the burn. Also worthy of mentioning, as Tim Lehr pointed out in another thread, G-10 and G-12 are great insulators: the G-12 case was ambient temperature cool by the time I walked from the launch controller to the motor following the burn; very much unlike aluminum casing which retain the heat for quite some time. Keep in mind this is a linerless motor, as anticipated, later in the burn, the space between the grains glowed bright red as the flame front directly touched the casing wall. Not recommended for multi use hardware, however (yes I know Frank did it)!

A photo of the business end of the static motor post burn showing signs of heat on the G-12 casing:

A screen capture from the video of the static burn showing the bright red between the grains:

Turn your head and Cough

Over the weekend, I took the Amateur Radio exam in Milwaukee so that I may legally utilize GPS tracking in these birds. I’ll fully admit that much of the amateur radio stuff does NOT come naturally to me; nevertheless took the exam and am now call sign KC9ZKI.

Metal Monday

HardDrive with Lou Brutus?....well that too; I might’ve even listened to a Five Finger Fruit Punch song to appease Manny and Gus. Besides that, I set out to obtain materials to extend my current launch tower. The tower is made of mild steel; with 1-1/4” sch. 10 longitudinals supported by a trio of hoops that adjust for varying rocket diameters. Current height is 88”; I’m extending it another 56” to give an even 12’ of solid guidance. I gave the specs for additional material to a local fab shop on Monday and got the call yesterday that the pieces are all cut. I’ll take a few photos of the setup when I put it all together again.

Thixotropic Tuesday

Yet another batch of propellant was mixed for Balls. (1) 114mm, (2) 98mm, (1) 75mm, and (9) 54mm grains were cast from a 6.6Kg batch of Sconnie Motor Works “Superballs”. With this batch, we’ve made 99.3 lbs of propellant thus far in 2013; more to come but a decent amount nonetheless. I’ll post a photo of the mound o’ grains when I start to build them.

20 Year Itch’s fin can

Whoa, where do I start? Certainly not from the beginning!

As I mentioned earlier, 20 Year Itch is a bit unconventional for me. I get by fairly well with composite structures; I don’t know it all, but know enough to pretty much create whatever I dream up using composite materials without too much difficulty. Metal, specifically aluminum, was chosen for this project simply because I have little faith that a “traditional” composite structure is capable of surviving the speed and resulting heat that this project will hopefully endure. Though I understand aluminum construction techinques to a respectable degree, I do not have the machinery to work with them readily available. For this reason, it has taken much more planning, coordinating, and clearly communicating with others in order to make metal happen!

Can Creation:

Starting with the fin can, I first needed an 11” long section of 6061 pipe or tube that fits over the 4.37” OD motor casing airframe. One can find 4.5” OD material quite easily, but .062” wall would be too thin for comfort and would distort like crazy when welding fins on. Solid stock is an option, but cost is higher and would require a ton of machining. This is where I get a little (LOT!) of help from my friends. *Chuck* and I were able to locate a 2’ section of 4” ID, 6” OD pipe which was the start of the tube. *Chuck’s brother Eric* machined the OD for me; producing a beautiful tube ready for welding. Note: the ID was left at 4.00” ID to give more meat to weld to and allow for distortion due the welding process. Meanwhile, *other Eric* delivered some amazing fins; tapered from leading edge to mid-chord, mid-chord to trailing edge, and fin root to tip chord. The fins were beautifully polished by *other Eric’s Brother*. As soon as the fins and the machined tube arrived, *this Eric* created a fin jig to hold everything in alignment while welding the fins in place. This requires a bit more thought than usual because the fins are multi dimensionally tapered, and the jig must hold all in alignment while allowing the welder to access the fin-tube joint, yet must be mobile enough to be easily moved out of the way as the complete root joints were welded. Though I can weld aluminum, I am not well versed in tig-welding, nor do I wish to try welding near the leading and trailing edges that are a mere 1/16” thick; thus *Dave* enters the picture and successfully tig welds the three fins in place with *this Eric* providing extra hands and moral support where necessary while receiving a nice sun burn from the weld process (not that I’m complaining). After welding, the fin can and motor casing is delivered to *Scott* who is to bore out the ID to fit over the case. That’s where it sits right now; I hope to retrieve the completed assembly today or tomorrow. *This Eric* will add a small cosmetic high temp epoxy fillet over the welds simply to smooth the transition into a uniform somewhat aero-friendly radius. As you can see, this has truly been a team effort. There is no way I could have created this assembly by myself; it is the work of many of which I am truly thankful for their marvelous efforts!

Before dropping off the welded can for boring, here she sits on a sunny afternoon:

Pertinent Paperwork

As Mark reminded me above, the Tripoli Class 3 Rocket Committee (C3R3) announced in April of this year that any rocket designed to fly above 50,000 feet regardless of the impulse is required to contact the committee regarding the level of submission required to ascertain dispersion within an allowable radius. I began filling out the paperwork several months ago; so with the projects coming together and Balls rapidly approaching, I’ll be targeting completion of the Project Submittals for both 20 Year Itch and September Fate-Carbon Slipper this week.

More to come as projects progress!

-Eric-

 

[prophecy]

Hi Eric,

Funny, we have the same project but mine's a composite case. When I saw your Balls thread I half expected to see the Hobbs/FK rocket I almost bought for my project last year before I decided to go ahead and start my composite case tear. Anyway, mine's a full scale Arcas with 60" of pro with pretty tight cores, should be fun. See ya out there, just beware the bar at Bruno's is a little different than the bar at the Days Inn Princeton

 

[dixontj93060]

Eric,

On the fillet test can you tell us what specific Cotronics and Proline offerings you were using? Also did you do the temp cycling/soaking per Cotronics (and possibly Proline's) data sheets?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[SS/EA 6BBL 71 Cuda]

HardDrive with Lou Brutus?....well that too; I might’ve even listened to a Five Finger Fruit Punch song to appease Manny and Gus.

-Eric-

It is Manny who is completely enamored with "Five Finger Punch Buggy".....whereas i am still stuck in the 80's Rokken with Dokken.
I even have a Camaro in my garage too prove it.

 

[chadrog]

It is Manny who is completely enamored with "Five Finger Punch Buggy".....whereas i am still stuck in the 80's Rokken with Dokken.
I even have a Camaro in my garage too prove it.

But do you still have the mullet???????

 

[SS/EA 6BBL 71 Cuda]

But do you still have the mullet???????

I wear a hat too contain what's left.....I blame my mothers side for those genetics.
I THANK my dads side for "The other genetic *Thingy*"

 

[ECayemberg]

Hi Eric,

Funny, we have the same project but mine's a composite case. When I saw your Balls thread I half expected to see the Hobbs/FK rocket I almost bought for my project last year before I decided to go ahead and start my composite case tear. Anyway, mine's a full scale Arcas with 60" of pro with pretty tight cores, should be fun. See ya out there, just beware the bar at Bruno's is a little different than the bar at the Days Inn Princeton

Composite Arcas:
Very interesting; am quite excited to compare results!!!! Without getting into too many details, I have changed the design of the Itchy Arcas so many times; ie: end burner, moon burner, bates, composite cased, aluminum cased, composite fin can, metal fin can. I'm thinking this is #1 in the series of Arcas like rockets I'll be working on. I've already talked with Curtis/Gary T who assured me that their new 1:1 Arcas could be custom ordered with a 60"+ long booster with a few molded-in nozzle options. Very exciting news; though I'm happy I didn't wait to go that route this year.

Alternate projects:
Indeed, the Hobbs/Helmonds/Kosdon P hardware was an option; as was an O25,000 boosted dart. I convinced myself to slow down and focus on these two relatively smaller projects for the time being.

Days Inn vs. Bruno's
We can all be thankful for that; I think! I promise not to drink Mr. Selmi dry of gin; I vow to properly use the facilities provided; I pledge to (attempt to) leave a positive lasting impression on any and all 90 year olds who own the town.

-Eric-

 

[ECayemberg]

Eric,

On the fillet test can you tell us what specific Cotronics and Proline offerings you were using? Also did you do the temp cycling/soaking per Cotronics (and possibly Proline's) data sheets?

Thanks,
Tim

Hi Tim,

Cotronics 4525 and Proline 4500. All epoxies were post cured for 3.3 seconds of fury and an additional ~16 seconds of hissing smoke:wink:. Beyond the resonant heat from the motor burn, no other post curing was done.

-Eric-

 

[ECayemberg]

Stan, Manny, Dennis, Chuck, Gerald, Griff, Gus TOO!!!

Thanks guys! I'll do my best; really looking forward to this adventure. Mixing another 7kg of "Superballs" this evening:cyclops:.

-Eric-

 

[SS/EA 6BBL 71 Cuda]

Stan, Manny, Dennis, Chuck, Gerald, Griff,

Thanks guys! I'll do my best; really looking forward to this adventure. Mixing another 7kg of "Superballs" this evening:cyclops:.

-Eric-

Gus too:sigh:

Chad, let me elaborate further on previously asked question......"You can't prune a dead tree but, with the grace of divine intervention you can inherit somewhat of a *unique* sense of humor......"

That's probably NOT what you all were thinking.....:no: This is a clean forum.

 

[ECayemberg]

Gus too:sigh:

Chad, let me elaborate further on previously asked question......"You can't prune a dead tree but, with the grace of divine intervention you can inherit somewhat of a *unique* sense of humor......"

That's probably NOT what you all were thinking.....:no: This is a clean forum.

Mr. Gus, Of course you too! just went back through the thread and targeted who I hadn't yet responded to....since I had already replied to at least one of your posts, I didn't include you in that list. Truly, I do appreciate your presence. Honestly, I appreciate anyone and everyone that stops by and bothers to read my mumblings; especially those who take the time to post a comment or two! To all who are following: Thank You, as it helps motivate me to keep rolling on!

Gus, I love your posts, even if I don't understand 1/3 of what you are saying. You add a lot more flair to posts than I could possibly ever hope to add! It is apparent that you wear all 37 pieces of flair!

-Eric-

 

[Green Jello]

Man, I really wish I could go to Balls. Are you sure you don't want to bring this stuff to XPRS instead?

 

[ChuckH]

Eric, reading Gus's posts might be detrimental to your project timeline :lol:

 

[ECayemberg]

Work continues on the projects at a good clip; much progress has been made over the past several days; my wife is no longer amused that I have been spending more time with my precious rockets than with her.

ISPy completion

So ISPy is now functionally complete. Pending time, the non-motor sections of the rocket will receive paint. It's looking like the final product will tip the scales at just under 4 lbs...not bad for a little K motor powered bird. She's a dense little critter.

Now for some super exciting construction photos. First up, the root fillet area to be bonded is thoroughly cleaned, and the spill-over area masked off.

Shortly thereafter a 10g batch of Proline 4500 was mixed and applied to the root. First plopped into place like the top fillet, then smoothed with a constant radius stick like the near fillet. I'll admit, I'm a skeptic; products must be proven in order to make their way into my shop; consequently I'm often the last to jump on the bandwagon. That said, I like Proline 4500; in proper applications I consider it the equivalent and/or replacement for some of the much more expensive Cotronics products that I've been using for a long time. Attaboy Performance/Proline Rocketry!:clap:

Do those clouds really say "GO PACK GO"?

Monday, August 5th was a good day for the 20 Year Itch project! A nice custom nose cone showed up and the fin can was functionally finished. I took the opportunity to assemble the airframe as a whole for the first time; allowing for some critical measurements needed for the hi-alt application's completion. It occured to me that this would be an appropriate time for a quick snapshot preview. No fancy backdrops or idealized lighting, but the airframe assembled in its entirety for the first time nonetheless!

Right now, it appears that the final on-the-pad weight will be right around 69.5 pounds. More to come...

-Eric-

 

[patelldp]

op:op:op:op:op:op:op:

 

[Dwatkins]

That's nice!! Hope I get to see this up close in about 6 weeks.

Dennis

 

[Eat, sleep, and Fly]

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!

These projects are SOOOOOO cool! I wish I were going to BALLS so badly, just to see those two take skyward!

What are the specs on the motors for... well, all of them!

How many Jarts do toy have?

 

[Eric1]

Eric That Look Great! Wishing you an Awesome Flight!!

 

[ECayemberg]

Thanks fellas:blush:! I truly do appreciate you taking the time to peruse and comment; danke buds!

In order to submit the requisite Class 3 Submittals, I needed to do some prelimary assembly of the two stage project. In doing so, I thought it to be another opportunity to snap a photo. Another pair of less-than-glamorous teaser photos; much work left to be done on this project.

This project has potential; suffice it to say that if achieves even 1/3 of the simulated altitude, I'll be a happy camper!

-Eric-