Club pad want's & desires (HPR pads)

[dr wogz]

Just that, at your club launch, as you load up the 4" Mega-Nanno with a K456 onto the pad/rail.. what's that one thing you curse, or love about your club's pad?

• Upright rocket too high? too low?
• Standoff / end stop missing?
• No support for the igniter wire?
• the knobs are too small? too tight? to hard to access?
• You need 3 hands to load easily?
• ugly paint job?

If you could redesign the pad, what would you add? Remove? Keep?

 

[dhbarr]

I really like the Kloudbuster pads. Inexpensive, durable, straightforward to clean, use, & repair.

 

[cwbullet]

I like pads that are easy to store and assemble.

 

[LithosphereRocketry]

Just that, at your club launch, as you load up the 4" Mega-Nanno with a K456 onto the pad/rail.. what's that one thing you curse, or love about your club's pad?

• Upright rocket too high? too low?
• Standoff / end stop missing?
• No support for the igniter wire?
• the knobs are too small? too tight? to hard to access?
• You need 3 hands to load easily?
• ugly paint job?

If you could redesign the pad, what would you add? Remove? Keep?

Do I sense a CRMRC pad rework in the works?

 

[cwbullet]

If you do a rework, can you post photos and a build thread?

 

[David Schwantz]

the away cell not weighing a ton and a half.

 

[dr wogz]

I really like the Kloudbuster pads. Inexpensive, durable, straightforward to clean, use, & repair.

do you have a photo to share?

 

[rcktnut]

Self-Cleaning.

 

[dhbarr]

do you have a photo to share?

Apparently I have a bunch of different birds sitting on rails, but none of the feet.

 

[JackC]

Just that, at your club launch, as you load up the 4" Mega-Nanno with a K456 onto the pad/rail.. what's that one thing you curse, or love about your club's pad?

• Upright rocket too high? too low?
• Standoff / end stop missing?
• No support for the igniter wire?
• the knobs are too small? too tight? to hard to access?
• You need 3 hands to load easily?
• ugly paint job?

If you could redesign the pad, what would you add? Remove? Keep?

Try Royce Frankum pads from Frankum Performance. They check off most of the things people like for pads.

 

[Sandy H.]

I think this applied to all pads, LPR->Away Cell and also bugs fliers and the people who have to maintain the pads: Clips.

I think it is a pain to keep them clean and functional due to the corrosive effects from the exhaust and that translates to a person or two having to rebuild the clips more often than not (maybe every 6-10 launches???). Then you get the issue of dirty clips not giving consistent continuity, so multiple launch attempts. The experienced fliers should hopefully be able to pick up on this quickly, but sometimes not. Lastly, wind knocking clips loose (or people tripping over wires).

If there could be a practical, windproof, non-corroding design that would last 5 years with no maintenance and be compatible with all igniters from Estes to Copperhead to E-Match to hand-dipped, whoever came up with it would go broke and hear endless complaints from rocketeers from the East Coast to the West Coast about cost, delivery and shipping. Then you'd get those guys from Australia saying how cheap, quick and low shipping cost it is to get in the US. . .

But seriously, I think if there is a good solution for long-term/reliable connections that are better than allegator clips, it could be cool. It actually gave me an idea I think I should try. . .

Sandy.

 

[rharshberger]

Try Royce Frankum pads from Frankum Performance. They check off most of the things people like for pads.

So do the Apogee Gun Turret pads...and both are expensive (relatively) and expensive to ship, that being said MOST clubs have individuals that can assemble the pads if they have the parts supplied to them. I built the majority of our clubs pads, Padzilla is my variation on the Coker pad, our Red Pads are variations of the Apogee Gun Turret pad, we have four PVC MPR pads, and several Jawstand pads with rails for MPR and small HPR.

Any club looking to buy pads really needs to look at their club members and their capabilities first, do they have someone thats proficient at metal fab if so and the person is willing then the club can supply them with the materials and that person builds them. When we built our Red Pads thats exactly what we did, the club provided the materials for 5 pads (for similar cost to ONE Apogee Gun Turret Pad), and I donated the labor. Pads need to be maintained and repaired, I am fixing one with a bent blast deflector this weekend (a K motor CATO'd on the pad deflecting the 1/4" steel plate about 1") the new plate will cost $32 for materials and CNC Plasma cutting (I dont have a Oxy-Acetylene torch or I would have cut the plate out of material on hand for nothing.

Building pads can allow a club to have a number of similar pads for less money which simplifies setup, since the pads are identical.

Padzilla our away cell pad weighs about 100lbs without blast deflector plate, the blast deflector plate weighs another 40 lbs. Padzilla is built from 3"x3"x .083"wall steel square tube and easily handles 100+lbs rockets. If we had the capability and the funds it would be really cool to have it be built of aluminum just to save transport weight, but the weight of the steel helps the pad be rock solid.

Just to be clear I am not cutting down the commercial pad builders they all make great products.

 

[dr wogz]

Guys, exactly what I'm after!

thanks!

 

[tjsnakez]

I really like the Kloudbuster pads. Inexpensive, durable, straightforward to clean, use, & repair.

This. The best launch pad design in my opinion. Can fly anything from an F to 60lb N motors off the same pad. Easy to make, use, and transport. Very compact for their stability.

People love pads that have the rocket higher off the ground, but it moves the leverage point up requiring a larger footprint for a given size of rocket.

 

[Antares JS]

The perch is a bit too long. For skinnier rockets, I have to lift them up to get access to the bottom so I can put the igniter in, and then I end up fumbling around making sure the igniter is fully inserted and secured in place while also trying to hold the rocket up.

It's not a huge deal, but it is annoying.

 

[rharshberger]

The perch is a bit too long. For skinnier rockets, I have to lift them up to get access to the bottom so I can put the igniter in, and then I end up fumbling around making sure the igniter is fully inserted and secured in place while also trying to hold the rocket up.

It's not a huge deal, but it is annoying.

Somebody needs to post a picture of the pads, the Kloudbusters website is woefully devoid of a gallery section, and of few photos of rockets on the pad, none show the pad with any clarity

 

[cwbullet]

I made a thread to post photos of your launch equipment.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/gallery-photos-of-launch-equipment.175261/

 

[Sooner Boomer]

Pads at Argonia:

Low power


High power


I have other pictures, but these pretty much show what's there.

 

[Handeman]

Being part of the club I've got a different take on what makes a good launch pad. We launch on a farm after the crops are harvested, so the pads get put out late October and sit in the field until we bring them back in the spring. Then they sit outside, stacked against the sea-container we use for storage.

Our most important features is weatherproof and durability. They are all aluminum and SST, with a few rusting screws and steel blast deflectors. They are over 11 years old and never been inside so I find it hard to believe we could ever find any that are better. We have replaced the steel blast deflectors after year 9, and the actual rails after year 11, but that's pretty good in my book and from a club perspective, trumps a few usability issues.

Just a different POV.

 

[cwbullet]

Self-Cleaning.

that is a plus.