Bertha's breech baby ...

[BABAR]

My baby bertha has lost a nose cone on ejection twice and both times tumble recovered perfectly. Although with a stuffer tube for gap staging it might push the cg slightly forward compared to unmodified.

Let’s hope for the best!
Make sure you have a designated spotter for the booster, whether it tumbles or not, can be a challenge to find as it comes down quick , isn’t very big, and has no streamer or chute to flutter in the breeze!

 

[nosecone]

Nice, I'd like to see photos when you finish it. Also, if you do anything different, post it!

Hello,
Unfortunately, my Baby Bertha came in the mail yesterday and the body tube was completely crushed almost flat on one end with major creases. Looks like I will have to wait
N.C.

 

[ebruce1361]

Will the booster remain stable after separation? If so it may core sample

The booster on my gap staged BB has a streamer pulled out at ejection.

 

[beantownJPL]

Hello,
Unfortunately, my Baby Bertha came in the mail yesterday and the body tube was completely crushed almost flat on one end with major creases. Looks like I will have to wait
N.C.

What a bummer. Can it be saved considering the nose cone will be glued on? Or is it just created too badly?

Contact Estes, they'll send you a new BT. They'll just want a photo.

 

[BABAR]

The booster on my gap staged BB has a streamer pulled out at ejection.

Like to see details

 

[beantownJPL]

Here she is in paint. I had tried to go for some stripes above the fins, but the red paint wrinkled there when I shot the clear coat. Fortunately no problem with the red of the fins. I sanded out the wrinkles and just shot another coat of the black metallic, and then another coat of clear over it. That's the second time I've had a problem with that Krylon Fusion red wrinkling on me ... I'll keep that in mind!

 

[neil_w]

Nice paint! Is that Rusto black metallic, or Krylon?

As an aside, *every* *single* *time* I see the title of this thread I think of this:

 

[beantownJPL]

Nice paint! Is that Rusto black metallic, or Krylon?

As an aside, *every* *single* *time* I see the title of this thread I think of this:

Thanks! The paint is Rustoleum.

That video made me LOL.

 

[beantownJPL]

Speaking of video, here's the maiden on a B6-4.

 

[nosecone]

Awesome. How did the ejected parts handle it ?

 

[beantownJPL]

Awesome. How did the ejected parts handle it ?

No damage. Flew it again on a C6-5, but didn't get a video. (Actually I did, but the framing was off, so I deleted it).

 

[ebruce1361]

Like to see details

The sustainer pulls out a foot of kevlar that is taped to the inside of the body just below the motor mount. After that is the streamer followed by about another foot of kevlar. There is an additional nylon string that runs down the outside of the booster and is looped around the motor mount so the booster will descend horizontally under the streamer.

 

[beantownJPL]

Flew the Breech Bertha again twice this weekend on C6-5. It flies very nicely, and the rear ejection is working flawlessly.

The first launch singed the chute a little, but it still mostly deployed. I noticed the motor tube had eroded a bit where the upper part of the motor hook goes through it. I patched the hole with a couple wraps of blue tape, and the second flight was perfect.

I'm going to permanently patch that hole with some epoxy.