Big Battle Axe

[dixontj93060]

Well thought I'd kind of finish out this build thread by posting a picture of Axe to Grind's first flight at Thunderstruck this past weekend (photo courtesy of David Reese). Flight was great; fairly straight and true on the J340 Metalstorm. Recovery as planned at apogee but the main deploy was a bit wonked. The main chute got stuck in the nosecone. If you have been following this build, you know that the LOC Blue Tube project pack has a very small payload section and to get the room I moved the connect point in the NC way forward. The room in the NC is almost as much as the payload after the av-bay is attached. In any case, it came down on drogue and as the LCO said, "I stuck the landing", i.e., the axe blades came down right into the ground and the booster stood there straight up. Well, as some might know, I build a pretty tough rocket. Turns out no issue at all with the rocket save two minor scratches in the clear coat on one fin's side which I will clean up quickly with a little ammonia and more Future Finish. In the future I will fix the main deploy issue by adding a pilot on the main. Upon inspection the chute just dropped right out of the NC so it won't take much to sequence/stage things so I make sure it gets both out of the payload section, and then subsequently out of the nosecone.

 

[kenstarr]

Sir, ye build an exceptional axe! All the kingdom stands in awe. Mine own "Bad Axe" awaits the maiden voyage in yonder stable.

 

[dixontj93060]

Sir, ye build an exceptional axe! All the kingdom stands in awe. Mine own "Bad Axe" awaits the maiden voyage in yonder stable.

Wow, would have thought yours would have seen a bevy of "bloody" skirmishes by now!

 

[hornet driver]

Just friggin NICE--Well done!!

 

[bobkrech]

Cut's through the air magnificantly!

Bob

 

[JStitz]

That turned out perfect! And sparkies are the motor for this axe..(grinding sparks)

I can see a prop built from pvc and styrofoam in your launch tent!

 

[qquake2k]

I just ran across this thread. Magnificent!

 

[Scotty Dog]

AX-celent!!!!

 

[Coop]

I completely dig this. Well done!


Later!

--Coop

 

[cwbullet]

It seems to fly very well. I think this would sell as a kit. Great job.

 

[blackbrandt]

Frickin' Awesome!

 

[DM1975]

Very cool rocket. I had thought about something like this in the past but didn't think it would turn out looking good. I can see now I was way wrong as this rocket is awesome. You sure pulled it off.

 

[dixontj93060]

Guys, thanks for all the nice comments. Yes, a fun build. Like my Little Green Man and Color the Sun rockets, I always like to have at least one oddity to take out to the pads at a launch. I look forward to flying it for many years to come!

 

[neond7]

Can I "axe" you a question? Sorry for the pun.... ;-) But did you use shear pins for this rocket? I'm still debating whether to install them on my Excel rocket.

 

[dixontj93060]

Can I "axe" you a question? Sorry for the pun.... ;-) But did you use shear pins for this rocket? I'm still debating whether to install them on my Excel rocket.

Sure. I always use shear pins both in the av-bay and nosecone.

 

[terryg]

Do you have a RockSim file that you would be willing to share? This design is very cool!

 

[dixontj93060]

Do you have a RockSim file that you would be willing to share? This design is very cool!

Well, used to, but think it was copy/pasted to the person I sold it to. But really, not tough as it is just a 4X upscale of the original RocketHead design: https://www.rocketreviews.com/unknown-battle-axe.html.

 

[terryg]

Just finished, after many years my version of this the "Dragon Axe". It flew really well on a Loki I377CT.