Cj's 5.5in. Nike-Tomahawk [3in.] build-2 Stager..... 75mm to 54mm motors

[markg]

Well, been busy fix'n screw ups lately. As long as I have been building these things, Murphy finally caught up with me.
Last set of fillets [external] on sustainer refused to cure for 2 weeks, same batch of glue was used to tack fins in Booster.
Then cat knocks over booster [fins at top, over heater vent, top heavy] at 3 am. that was fun, thought my other half fell down the steps.
Since glue had not cured, 2 fins knocked out of alignment. They had to be removed and re-tacked into position.
I started back yesterday after dealing with above issues.

3sets of internal fillets injected & rear CR filled.
As mentioned previously, I added a CR and moved the rear one back to help with base drag & scorching inside of airframe.

Getting back on track next few days.

Hey CJ,

Did you take note of how much epoxy you injected for the internal fillets on the booster? I've done two sets so far, put 30ml (West 105/205) on each one and they seem pretty solid.

cheers - mark

 

[blackjack2564]

I used 15ml on each internal fillet. For externals I ran out of West and use Aeropoxy which is by weight works out to approx. 24gram per set.[before adding silica]
Just have one more set to go & I'm back in ball game. So much has got in the way of this build, longest one I have ever done...LOL

 

[Wallace]

I used 15ml on each internal fillet. For externals I ran out of West and use Aeropoxy which is by weight works out to approx. 24gram per set.[before adding silica]
Just have one more set to go & I'm back in ball game. So much has got in the way of this build, longest one I have ever done...LOL

I hear Ya. Mine pretty much stalled also. That damn life crap can be a real pain in the arse sometimes

 

[markg]

I'm plugging away at mine. I'm hoping to fly the sustainer alone on the 13th, and if that goes well full stack on the 27th. Booster is done, one more set of fillets on the sustainer should be finished tonight. Need to put together the I/S and AV bay for the sustainer. I'm going to share the sled with my other two-stage, but am swapping out a Eggtimer Quantum with a Proton to get more reliable launch detect.

Cheers!

 

[Tim51]

Mad Cow Nike Tomahawk came today...much larger than I expected. Here is the built Nike-Apache hiding amongst the parts & it's 5ft tall assembled!
Nicely packed & shipped well.
This kit features 75mm motor in the 5.5 diameter booster.
54 mm motor in the 3in diameter sustainer.
I will add 3/16 brake line for conduit & 1/4 in. sized parts/hardware.

My guess is add about 4 to 4.5 lbs for glue, hardware & recovery to the part weight of 16 lbs for a total of around 20 to 20.5 lbs finished. We'll see how close I get...... lol

I'm hoping to match this with motors that can keep it in the 4-6,000 ft level for home field flying fun!! I think I have a sweet spot weight wise so we will seeeee.....

View attachment 367679




Basic parts ...

View attachment 367670
Weights shown on sustainer are in LBS 1.5lbs etc.[ not lbs. and oz. like 1.8 ] in pencil next to letters
Weight on Booster parts are in grams.
I bumped a setting with a heavy part on my tiny scale.

Total weight of parts [kit] no hardware/glue/etc is 16.10---- sixteen lbs. & 10 oz.

View attachment 367677


ALL fins came stuck together from 2 sided tape glue residue. Used butter knife to pry apart, and clean with Xylene, Made quick work of gunky residue. WD-40-Acetone-Laquer thinner all work well also.
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Parts that come are shown above in full pic of Interstage/coupler [I/S]
Below I added 2 coupler BP's & 2 BP's to make av-bay lids.

This I/s in not like the one with Nike-Apache, & is going require re-thinking the entire build of I/S electronic bay The 2 CR's are very sloppy and were designed to fit inside the coupler...not on top of lid...like the Apache.
I must figure out to center one on the BP...not the same outer diameter.

View attachment 367673


Both sets of slots & fins for both Booster & sustainer do not fit.
All slots needed opening more, filed one side [same on all] of slot.
View attachment 367674

The parts are high quality, just some extra work compared to the N-Apache, where everything fill well.
Hope you guys don't get as bad a fit between the I/S transition & coupler like mine.I spent almost 2 hrs sanding there 2 items. Mine was not close to fitting I/S but perfect in the body tube.

So ya know exactly where the issue was...the I/S not coupler. But I figured split sanding between the 2.

Needed to sand both outside top 1.5in of coupler & inside of I/S transition substantially.
Spent 4-5 hours just opening slots-cleaning glue residue--fitting basic parts, so they will work.

Tip:
To evenly sand a tube/coupler mark around with pencil....then sand off marks & stop...check fit....mark... more sanding ...repeat till fits. This way, you sand equal amounts off object, as you only sand through the pencil marks.

First I measured depth of I/S that coupler would fill in shroud...drew line around coupler by inserting into airframe, up to my mark, and penciling circumference.
Did my scribble lines and sanded them off.
Inserted coupler into I/S went to line closest to edge.

Seen with second set of scribble lol ...ready for 2nd sanding.
It took a third before I had a smooth fit and 2 standings on the inside of I/S Yeah it was a cr-- ton of sanding.

View attachment 367675

Has this been completed / flown yet? If so, please post pictures - thanks!

 

[Cameron Anderson]

Finished mine last week, goes up at BALLS in a week...M2020 to L935. 25,000' simmed apogee.

 

[Wallace]

Finished mine last week, goes up at BALLS in a week...M2020 to L935. 25,000' simmed apogee.

Now that's a test flight..

 

[Cameron Anderson]

Now that's a test flight..

I'm not a fan of dedicated "shake down" flights with lower impulse motor set ups. It either works under intended flight loads, or it doesn't!

 

[Tim51]

Finished mine last week, goes up at BALLS in a week...M2020 to L935. 25,000' simmed apogee.

Very cool! Good luck with the flght.

 

[markg]

Finished mine last week, goes up at BALLS in a week...M2020 to L935. 25,000' simmed apogee.

Good luck! Are you using a cable cutter or something on the booster? I'm guessing it'll hit 10k or so?

cheers

 

[Cameron Anderson]

Good luck! Are you using a cable cutter or something on the booster? I'm guessing it'll hit 10k or so?

cheers

Thanks. It'll be my biggest 2 stage to date. Im bringing a bottle of champagne to celebrate...or drown my sorrows.

I'm using a JLCR on a 96" chute on a 15 foot line with a 30" heavy duty drogue to pull it all out at apogee (simming to 11k-ish, but I think that's optimistic).

 

[markg]

Thanks. It'll be my biggest 2 stage to date. Im bringing a bottle of champagne to celebrate...or drown my sorrows.

I'm using a JLCR on a 96" chute on a 15 foot line with a 30" heavy duty drogue to pull it all out at apogee (simming to 11k-ish, but I think that's optimistic).

I doubled up on the JLCR's in a redundant configuration to make sure it opened at 1000'. No drogue, 72" rocketman chute. Came down pretty quick about 90 ft/s from apogee and 35 ft/s under chute, I should probably size up the main a little. No damage landing in a soft field.

I'd like to put mine up on an M, but I'll have to get my L3 first, apparently there is some silly rule about now flying a multi-stage rocket for your L3.

Let us know how it goes!

cheers

 

[Cameron Anderson]

I doubled up on the JLCR's in a redundant configuration to make sure it opened at 1000'. No drogue, 72" rocketman chute. Came down pretty quick about 90 ft/s from apogee and 35 ft/s under chute, I should probably size up the main a little. No damage landing in a soft field.

I'd like to put mine up on an M, but I'll have to get my L3 first, apparently there is some silly rule about now flying a multi-stage rocket for your L3.

Let us know how it goes!

cheers

I like the redundant JLCR in series. I'm 0 for 2 with chute releases. First time the interstage on a K to i 2-stage never separated and my JLRC 2as reduced to dust when it came in ballistic. The second time, the rubber band was cut cleanly at ejection on the sharp fiberglass edge of the airframe and my main deployed on a very windy day at 15,000. Less than fun.

 

[blackjack2564]

Has this been completed / flown yet? If so, please post pictures - thanks!

What perfect timing! I actually have been working on this for several days after returning from LDRS. Haven't touched in in months. LDRS got my juices going again.
Installed bolt on retainer, made sled and drilled tons of holes for pins/rail buttons/rivets.
Sanded and filled imperfections in the G-10. There were far too many pin holes and divers in tubes and fin plate. But ya build rockets, not assemble them, so all par for the course!

I just came in from shed where sustainer sits in final coat of primer awaiting finish. Red/White Metallic silver for interstage.
So I am finally making headway & will take some pics. Got Stickershock vinyl in while back, so good to go there.

 

[Tim51]

What perfect timing! I actually have been working on this for several days after returning from LDRS. Haven't touched in in months. LDRS got my juices going again.
Installed bolt on retainer, made sled and drilled tons of holes for pins/rail buttons/rivets.
Sanded and filled imperfections in the G-10. There were far too many pin holes and divers in tubes and fin plate. But ya build rockets, not assemble them, so all par for the course!

I just came in from shed where sustainer sits in final coat of primer awaiting finish. Red/White Metallic silver for interstage.
So I am finally making headway & will take some pics. Got Stickershock vinyl in while back, so good to go there.

Fantastic! Glad it's on the move again - looking forward to watching.