ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK 38mm submin w/ forged hair fins (experimental full I motor) - One Giant Leap for Mankind

[charrington]

How was sanding done? If you wet sand by hand im sure it would reduce the smell produced.

 

[bad_idea]

On a more serious note, I did come across this local supplier in Brisbane.
In addition to lots of great looking carbon/kevlar/fibreglass fabrics and tubes, they also sell Flax for laminating.

It got me thinking whether I could roll a tube or make some fins with this for a more bio-friendly rocket. Any suggestions (gross included ) for adhesives other than epoxy?

Search for "bio epoxy." There are more and more epoxy systems with high biological content in place of petroleum products.

 

[SolarYellow]

I don't think you have any idea how bad it smelled when I was sanding them. The scent got through my respirator while outdoors and it was starting to make me sick. Probably would delaminate before ablating tho

I wonder if it's better or worse than actual burning hair? I've smelled that and it was bad.

It smells so much worse than burning hair. Id assume cuz its a bunch of dust and has so much more surface area

There's nothing worse that the smell of burning hair, especially when its my own .

How was sanding done? If you wet sand by hand im sure it would reduce the smell produced.

My first thought was the smell of hair burned by Mach 2 airspeed. But imagine if you used dog hair. Mmmmm - burning wet dog hair at Mach 2. Try to get that smell out of your car after the drive home.

Second thought: What's the hairspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

 

[ljwilley]

I have two reactions to this thread. 1: where on earth did you get this gross idea, and 2: that is awesome I can’t wait to see that thing fly!

 

[BrendanH69]

Search for "bio epoxy." There are more and more epoxy systems with high biological content in place of petroleum products.

Thanks for pointing me in that direction. I've googled it and straight away there are suppliers here in Australia selling 100% bio-based epoxy and hardeners that I could use. I feel a 100% bio build project coming on - Mega Der Red Flax!!

 

[kjhambrick]

Thanks for pointing me in that direction. I've googled it and straight away there are suppliers here in Australia selling 100% bio-based epoxy and hardeners that I could use. I feel a 100% bio build project coming on - Mega Der Red Flax!!

Hmmm @BrendanH69 ...

Nice idea there -- along the lines of canvas phenolic but kooler and maybe less brittle with the right bio laminating goo.

Your rocket, your name ... but my German ancestors screamed at me: Mega Der Goldene Flachs

Seriously, this sounds like a kiiler idea. Please let us know how it goes !

-- kjh( so where do I get me some 2-oz -per- square yard spider silk fabric ? )

p.s. I read about the golden spider silk cape years ago and just now found a video.

Would this be the ultimate bio fabric ?

YouTube: How was it made? Golden Spider Silk

I dunno ... maybe a little expensive for a model rocket, but "It is good to be the king" -- Mel Brooks

 

[Brainstormz123]

I realize I have done you all a disservice not reporting about this launch. On Friday night/Saturday morning, we assembled the motor (drilled cores/nozzle and bonded things and such) and epoxied on the coupler for the nosecone. We also decided we may as well fly a tracker because I had 5 of them and why not right.

Rocket in the tower:


Launch video:
View attachment IMG_4318.MOV

This launch went pretty great:


We were able to recover almost all parts of the rocket, but it does appear it shredded around 80% of the way through the burn. The reason we suspect this to have happened is that it ended up sitting on the pad for around 2 hours in the super hot sun (black rocket and a lot of PLA lol), which really weakened the epoxy in the fins along with the PLA coupler that the nosecone was slid around. We found the motor and fincan on the floor in one location, the tracker fell out of the sky on its own, and the nosecone + parachute + kevlar landed somewhere else.

In these photos, you can see the fincan is noticeably warped and carbon delaminated, probably from the heat.



Also it really weathercocked which is pretty funny:


View attachment I600_hair_fins_gopro_real.mov

 

[Brainstormz123]

Parachute, nosecone, and kevlar along with tracker antenna recovered as we were leaving the site (someone else found it after I had gone home).

What I find extra funny is that the ejection charge on the motor didnt go off until it hit the ground (shreds do that I guess), but the shock cord was torched on the coupler end. That means that it fell directly into the exhaust of the motor which is pretty funny. Also my parachute was tangled to heck and the antenna for the tracker torn off.

Tracker survived and we threw on a new antenna and flew it again later that day. 10/10 great flight, was a very funny meme rocket

 

[eJar0k]

This thing flew unreasonably well for how questionable basically every part of it was. The motor itself was super interesting, because we ended up mixing red and green grains to make it—one red and the rest green in a 4-grain EMK. Vibrant yellow/orange after the thermite igniter popped (undersized, later that day I got instant on in another motor).

 

[Brainstormz123]

Im a dummy, that was the wrong launch video (had too many cool ones on that day)
View attachment IMG_4319.mov

 

[Brainstormz123]

This flight made me so happy, and cost so little. Ill be living the high performance meme rocket lifestyle from now on I guess

 

[kjhambrick]

This thing flew unreasonably well for how questionable basically every part of it was. The motor itself was super interesting, because we ended up mixing red and green grains to make it—one red and the rest green in a 4-grain EMK. Vibrant yellow/orange after the thermite igniter popped (undersized, later that day I got instant on in another motor).

So that IS a small green flame at ignition followed by a BIG orange flame at the top of the tower in the first set of photos !

I was wondering when I first saw it ...

Very nice effect !

Thanks for posting @Brainstormz123 and @eJar0k

-- kjh

 

[OzHybrid]

Why was it sitting on the pad for 2 hours? In Oz nothing sits on the pad for more than about 15 mins max. Thats if you're last launched.

 

[Brainstormz123]

Why was it sitting on the pad for 2 hours? In Oz nothing sits on the pad for more than about 15 mins max. Thats if you're last launched.

Because this was an experimental motor launched at FAR in California, which means its gotta be launched in a bunker call. I had it ready first thing in the morning, but we needed to wait for a second experimental rocket to launch in the same slot. Reasoning for that was it was a busy day and calling everyone to bunkers takes time and is annoying.

 

[OzHybrid]

Because this was an experimental motor launched at FAR in California, which means its gotta be launched in a bunker call. I had it ready first thing in the morning, but we needed to wait for a second experimental rocket to launch in the same slot. Reasoning for that was it was a busy day and calling everyone to bunkers takes time and is annoying.

But that wait then creates a different safety issue with the rocket overheating. Safety trumps annoying.......

 

[Seatechnerd83]

Also it really weathercocked which is pretty funny:
View attachment 605199

View attachment 605200

To me it doesn't seem to be weather cocking, it looks like it fell over in the tower? Idk how that works but it looks like it was a good 10+ degrees cocked over while in the tower.

 

[b.wieting]

I've got some epoxy that requires an oven post cure and was instructed by my "epoxy dealer" to not use my own oven under any circumstances....
That bad?

Gotta be worse. Use to occasionally burn some arm hair while glass blowing. I think my nose was trying to tell me it's something to avoid.

 

[b.wieting]

But that wait then creates a different safety issue with the rocket overheating. Safety trumps annoying.......

September is still a little toasty at FAR.