Cherokee-e

For those who have built but not flown this model, I urge you to do so now. Absolutely gorgeous flight on the D12-5, First launch I went straight up and had about an 800 yard drift. Narrowly missed a little retention pond. Second flight I angle about 15 degrees and only had to walk about 100 yards for a perfect catch. I will be purchasing another one of these!

Since there will be snow and rain this weekend, I've built up a small que of builds to begin!

 

great flight, even with the fins on upside down! The Cherokee-D and its up/down scale variants are one of my favorite rockets. I have have 5 currently a BT50, BT-55 (D and E), 4" and 5.5".

 

Ha! I didnt even notice! It sure flew awesome tho!

 

For those who are interested... I've got a sim (with the fins oriented in the stock direction) of the Cherokee E

 

I built mine "upside down" too, but instead of the fins being backwards, the body tube is reversed.

I used the longer tube for the booster and the shorter tube and coupler as a payload bay. I made a plywood bulkhead for the coupler that has a screw eye to attach the shock cord, which is kevlar thread attached to the motor mount.

Haven't flown mine yet, or even painted it for that matter. I'm going with the face card scheme on this one, which is pretty unusual for me!

 

I plan to do the same as Mugs914... Except that I am planning on using a balsa bulkhead from Semroc/eRockets and an eyebolt.

 

I do like that idea too, I will do that on the next one for sure, and I'll make sure fins are right

 

I too will jump on board the "reverse body tube" crowd, and instead will use a plywood bulkhead inside the coupler to attach my eye screw to. As for the color scheme, it will nearly always be traditional white body with red nose cone (blue in the case of the E version) as its just such a perfect color scheme.

 

Just picked one of these up from a local H/L. So anyone else think to take that lower body tube and convert it to a boat-tail? Mount the fins forward of that and I think that’d look pretty sweet. Gonna have to try it out in OpenRocket later and see how it looks. I have a bunch of extra 24mm tube so this would be pretty easy to do.

On that note...anyone know how to make a boat tail?

 

Why convert it, hang the mmt tube out the back a 1/2" or so and use a shroud generator (OR, RocSim, VCT tools etc) to generate a conical paper shroud, double the thickness and done. Of course I am a Cherokee-D snob (or have become one) so adding a bottail to an already perfect rocket is heresy...

 

Oooh now I know what I’ll call it: “Cherokee Heresy”.

ROFLOL

 

I was a little disappointed that it was merely a -D stretched, rather than an upscale. But for $15 for the model and $15 each for 3-packs of E motors, what the heck...

 

Ok so yeah...after doing a quick and dirty OR file of this thing I don't think I'll be putting a long boat-tail on this thing cause that looks hideous. Sort of one of those, "It sounded like a good idea on the inside" things haha. I will be leaving the 6" additional tube off of it though. It looks way too long built stock.

 

K'tesh will know the proper length of tube, but the original version of the Cherokee-D was shorter than later versions. The rocket was made longer to increase the margin of stability.

 

Follow the link, and you can find the .ork files for the original short version of the Cherokee-D, the later long version, and the Cherokee-E.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/kteshs-openrocket-files.123564/#post-1433619

 

Built mine stock.
Good looking rocket.
Never thought about the reverse tube idea.
Think I will need to buy another one now.
Still too hot to fly in Texas.
Hurry Fall!

 

Part of the reason I decided to put the shorter tube on the North end of the thing as a payload bay was so that It could be flown as designed or as the short version that looked a bit more like the original.

 

I had to have one too - I’ve built a number of Cherokee-D Models over the years, BT-55 16.5” (2), BT-55 18” (3), BT-70, 2.6” (L1), and a BT-5. Working on a BT-4 now. All except the BT-5 have accurate Secant-Ogive cones.

 

The nose cone is one area that several of my upscales are lacking, at least until I have time to turn a plug on my lathe for a 3", 4", and 5.5" (4 and 5.5 rockets are already built) to mold my own.

 

Sad day, my Cherokee is with the rocket gods wherever they are. Launched with an e12-4 never saw the ejection charge or parachute deployment. Didnt hear the audible sound of the charge either. I assume that the charge never went off and my rocket came in ballistic and is buried in the tall grass somewhere.

 

Offering to the Rocket Gods, pretty frequent with Cherokee's on a D motor....almost certain on a E motor...sorry for your loss.

 

Just saw on FB a Cherokee has been found near Camp Butner, NC

https://m.facebook.com/sharer.php?f...iew_time.1570451192:filter.h_nor&__tn__=J*W-R

 

Nice, that would have been the most epic e launch ever !

 

I flew mine first flight on a F21. Never lost site of it especially when the florescent pink chute deployed. However the winds took it for well over a mile. With a little help from me friends, it was recovered whole.

 

I'm currently waiting on estes to respond. And I filed a mess report. But in the mean time, I'm going to HL after work and replacing it. I absolutely loved the flights I did get out of it.

 

Since I donated one to the oblivion, I had to get another. Well 2 to be exact. Here's to the start of a windy snowy friday.

 

Update

I decided I would make an attempt at papering fins today and I will be doing this from now on. The threads in the forum were extremely helpful!

I did the engine mount first as these are pretty standard in the estes kits. Then i papered the fins and let them sit for about 5 hours. I then trimmed excess paper and sanded the leading edge round ish. (My sanding skills still need improving.) And I now have the fins attached to the booster.

I saw on a different thread about using the longer tube as the booster and I liked the idea so that at a later date I can turn the smaller piece into a payload bay. Will be attaching shock cord, payload and nose cone here soon.

And ps. I got the fins on correctly this time

 

Today's progress.

Got the primer on and base coat of pink doing the body in purple fins pink.

 

Complete except clear coat. Plywood fins and epoxy used

 

BAR here. I have almost finished my E. Added an Estes Screw on retainer. Figured out my fins are also Upside down. Decided I would do a swing test since I move the motor mount back. Upside down. Decided I would do a swing test since I move the motor mount back. CG Is approximately 26 inches from tip of nose cone. Swing test has the rocket swinging vertical as if sitting on the launch pad. Any suggestions as to whether this is OK or how to fix it?