SammyD
Well-Known Member
I designed and built this pad about 12 years ago when I first got back into rocketry, flying everything from little Estes Bull-Pups up to the scratch-built Strong-Arm you see on the pad (she flies with redundant dual-deployment altimeters in a forward AV Bay, fiberglassed airframe, and a long 29mm motor mount flies and has enjoyed everything from G-64 to I-200 AT motors).
I'm only selling the pad since shipping is going to be high enough without adding a 60" stainless launch rod to the mix, but, of course, anything can be accomplished for the right amount of $.
As for construction, the pad is built from solid aluminum, brass, stainless steel and fiberglass legs. The frame is 1/8" angled aluminum miter-cut to match the 8-sided 1/4" thick, hand-cut deck on top, then the welded frame was bolted to the deck via holes drilled through both pieces to accept the stainless screws with stainless nylon lock-nuts you see in the photos. Reflective hazard tape was applied in the locations visible. Last, the leg braces were added at the "corners" and legs cut from a fiberglass 48" construction level.
Off-center of the main pad a hole was drilled to accept a custom-built center support made of brass plumbing fittings topped with a large stainless bolt through which a 1/4" hole was drilled to accept a launch rod of 1/8", 3/16" or 1/4" diameter. There is a thumb-actuated set screw in the base under the pad to lock the launch rod to the pad.
I've shown some of my launch rods with the notch cut in their base to secure the rod to the pad so no rocket can leave the pad with the rod...
This is more of an eclectic piece of art to me, though I've used it to launch plenty of mid-power rockets. The blast plate is, if I remember correctly, 16ga stainless steel, but I replaced it along the way with a new plate after the original got beat up pretty badly. In short, you can use this pad to launch your rockets, but it also makes a nice place to set up a rocket for display in a man-cave, garage, etc.
Let me know what you think too. I've used it for the last 5 years or so just to display 3" and 4" rockets in my home (using just the main pad without the legs), but it needs to find a new home now... :-(
Again, I'm not really interested in shipping 60" long stainless steel launch rods as they're pretty easy to get from local sources all across the country (I cut the 1/4" rods to 60" and notch them for retention, and debur both ends to prevent snags on launch lugs). For smaller rockets, the 3/16" and 1/8" rods can be notched too and cut to about 36-40" in height for good launching.
The orientaion of the rocket on the pad is nearly center for 2" to 4" airframes because I offset the hole through the pad plate. The only thing I wish I had done differently with this pad was to cut the hole in the blast plate off-center too, so that everything would be centered prior to launch (purely aesthetic however). Maybe you'll want to do that, which gives a nice effect for photos with a rocket on the pad ready to launch.
Asking $235 for this pad plus shipping. Yeah, I know that seems like a lot, but this is hugely sentimental to me. See photos for size and scale - there's a paint can in one of the pics for reference.
Thank you!
I'm only selling the pad since shipping is going to be high enough without adding a 60" stainless launch rod to the mix, but, of course, anything can be accomplished for the right amount of $.
As for construction, the pad is built from solid aluminum, brass, stainless steel and fiberglass legs. The frame is 1/8" angled aluminum miter-cut to match the 8-sided 1/4" thick, hand-cut deck on top, then the welded frame was bolted to the deck via holes drilled through both pieces to accept the stainless screws with stainless nylon lock-nuts you see in the photos. Reflective hazard tape was applied in the locations visible. Last, the leg braces were added at the "corners" and legs cut from a fiberglass 48" construction level.
Off-center of the main pad a hole was drilled to accept a custom-built center support made of brass plumbing fittings topped with a large stainless bolt through which a 1/4" hole was drilled to accept a launch rod of 1/8", 3/16" or 1/4" diameter. There is a thumb-actuated set screw in the base under the pad to lock the launch rod to the pad.
I've shown some of my launch rods with the notch cut in their base to secure the rod to the pad so no rocket can leave the pad with the rod...
This is more of an eclectic piece of art to me, though I've used it to launch plenty of mid-power rockets. The blast plate is, if I remember correctly, 16ga stainless steel, but I replaced it along the way with a new plate after the original got beat up pretty badly. In short, you can use this pad to launch your rockets, but it also makes a nice place to set up a rocket for display in a man-cave, garage, etc.
Let me know what you think too. I've used it for the last 5 years or so just to display 3" and 4" rockets in my home (using just the main pad without the legs), but it needs to find a new home now... :-(
Again, I'm not really interested in shipping 60" long stainless steel launch rods as they're pretty easy to get from local sources all across the country (I cut the 1/4" rods to 60" and notch them for retention, and debur both ends to prevent snags on launch lugs). For smaller rockets, the 3/16" and 1/8" rods can be notched too and cut to about 36-40" in height for good launching.
The orientaion of the rocket on the pad is nearly center for 2" to 4" airframes because I offset the hole through the pad plate. The only thing I wish I had done differently with this pad was to cut the hole in the blast plate off-center too, so that everything would be centered prior to launch (purely aesthetic however). Maybe you'll want to do that, which gives a nice effect for photos with a rocket on the pad ready to launch.
Asking $235 for this pad plus shipping. Yeah, I know that seems like a lot, but this is hugely sentimental to me. See photos for size and scale - there's a paint can in one of the pics for reference.
Thank you!
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