Composite/Rocketry Warehouse X-Celerator take 2!

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Well thx a lot Bat-Mite!

While reading your thread this morning I finally realized "Composite Warehouse" was a separate entity from "Rocketry Warehouse" ala Madcow Rocketry, although they both share some of the same kits. (I am sure there is a convoluted story surrounding that relationship, but that is none of my bee's wax). Anyhoot while perusing the CW site, I discovered their Lotus 3 kit. And low and behold, it is on sale for 50% off. Well... I just had to buy it!!!

So when my better half sees the new box in the build pile and scowls, I'ma gonna blame you for starting this thread that led me to the CW site!

See, it's not fault. I am completely innocent of my actions.... 👼
 
Well thx a lot Bat-Mite!

While reading your thread this morning I finally realized "Composite Warehouse" was a separate entity from "Rocketry Warehouse" ala Madcow Rocketry, although they both share some of the same kits. (I am sure there is a convoluted story surrounding that relationship, but that is none of my bee's wax). Anyhoot while perusing the CW site, I discovered their Lotus 3 kit. And low and behold, it is on sale for 50% off. Well... I just had to buy it!!!

So when my better half sees the new box in the build pile and scowls, I'ma gonna blame you for starting this thread that led me to the CW site!

See, it's not fault. I am completely innocent of my actions.... 👼
That's a cool rocket for a great price! Just the filament wound nose cone alone costs more than the entire kit on sale. I just built a rocket with the standard conical fiberglass nose cone. Because of the seams it took a lot of work to get it looking perfect. The FWNC is a big plus!
 
A few more teasers. Man, with working evening shift and my wife's broken foot, I just can't find much time to work on this.

Rocketman chute and D-bag
View attachment 434284

D-bag closed up (this is the Rocketman D-bag with the sewn on pilot chute)
View attachment 434285

MMT (not epoxied yet)
View attachment 434286
Are the allthread and nuts just to hold all the centering rings in place while you epoxy them? I assume they come out after the epoxy dries, right?
 
Here's my X-Celerator (for the Fan Club) that's still flying. (Don't look too closely at the metalflake paint as you'll see lots of dings....) It has a Slimline Bell nozzle/retainer. It's rugged. Fell out of the sky at 4000' on only a drogue that was fired by a Quest Q2 backup charge as the other charges failed since they were suppose to be fired by the MJG firewire initiators. I got a box in 2015/2016 that had a 100% failure rate due to a raw material that was out of spec. MJG replaced my defective box. (I had reported on the failures before.) Because of the X-Celerator's ruggedness, I built my L3 project around their Blue Iguana V and it's proved to be rugged too.
 

Attachments

  • CSC_1495.JPG
    CSC_1495.JPG
    44.8 KB · Views: 40
Are the allthread and nuts just to hold all the centering rings in place while you epoxy them? I assume they come out after the epoxy dries, right?
I imagine so. That's certainly been the case with Bat-mite's other excellent build threads (check out 'My Quest for an O motor' thread if you haven't seen it already)
 
Are the allthread and nuts just to hold all the centering rings in place while you epoxy them? I assume they come out after the epoxy dries, right?
No, I leave them in to attach the thrust plate. They are super light aluminum and don't affect stability.
 
So, a sad announcement. Due to a weird fluke, a boogered up the MMT to booster attachment, and the lower half needs to be replaced. I also put in one fin before I realized it was fouled.

I have a call and e-mail in to Madcow and an e-mail to Composite Warehouse. Neither has responded. Sigh. Maybe after Black Friday.
 
No, I leave them in to attach the thrust plate. They are super light aluminum and don't affect stability.

My apologies if I am asking really obvious questions, I am still coming up to speed on construction techniques. I know what the purpose of a thrust ring is on a minimum diameter rocket. But you already have a motor mount and centering rings to take that force so why the thrust plate? Is this for added strength? Some sort of retention?
 
I like to use a thrust ring as it transfers power directly to the airframe. If all is positioned correctly thrust is transmitted from thrust ring to the body tube, CRs, and the fins with no gaps in between.
 
My apologies if I am asking really obvious questions, I am still coming up to speed on construction techniques. I know what the purpose of a thrust ring is on a minimum diameter rocket. But you already have a motor mount and centering rings to take that force so why the thrust plate? Is this for added strength? Some sort of retention?
I like to use a thrust ring as it transfers power directly to the airframe. If all is positioned correctly thrust is transmitted from thrust ring to the body tube, CRs, and the fins with no gaps in between.
Bingo. I don't need to epoxy the two middle CRs. I just put a fillet on the top one (the one that gets tugged by the drogue harness), and the bottom one to the lower fins. Then the thrust plate takes all the force of the motor. Not a good idea to use one if the extra weight makes the rocket unstable. But the lack of epoxy on the other CRs kind of balances out.
 
Bingo. I don't need to epoxy the two middle CRs. I just put a fillet on the top one (the one that gets tugged by the drogue harness), and the bottom one to the lower fins. Then the thrust plate takes all the force of the motor. Not a good idea to use one if the extra weight makes the rocket unstable. But the lack of epoxy on the other CRs kind of balances out.

OK I see. I assume you have internal fillets? If so I would think the two middle CR's get some epoxy. Thanks for explaining, I look forward to the rest of your build. It's good to see different ways of doing things.
 
Got the easy part done! NC coupler and eyebolt installed, AV-to-payload rivets drilled, NC to payload shear pins drilled, tapped. Everything except adding the wrap and attaching the alt. switches.

1605631053065.png

1605631075321.png

1605631096487.png
 
Got the replacement booster, CRs, fin and OneBadHawk Y-harness and bolts. Ready to start again, this time hopefully learning from my mistakes.
 
Hey John,
Were you ever able to salvage the MMT or booster?

Ya'know, if all else fails, maybe just stand the booster vertically with the MMT topside, rest a 3" plywood bulkplate above it and employ the following tool...

Steel Mallet.jpg
 
What about the people that say you should have 3 holes spaced equally apart in the vent bad so that the altimer readings don't get thrown off by wind? Is that bit of advice now outdated?
Yeah, what about those people? ;) Actually, you can't see them in the picture, but I do have three equal-size holes in the band, on 120*. Sometimes I use four, especially on bigger rockets where I don't want humongous holes. You could even use five or more, but you have to have room for switches, if you use external switches like I do.

The key is to get enough air into the bay for accurate sampling, and you don't want to create a weird pressure differential where air is rushing in but can't get out, or vice versa. Some people go with one hole, but I don't like that method. Air is fighting to get in and out of the same small hole. If using one hole, I'd go with one bigger than the calculator recommends.
 
Back
Top