Estes DOM Moonik-I

[kenobi65]

I'm impressed that you took on the rebuild.

I wonder if having the ball split open wasn't a blessing in disguise -- it might've let you get a better seal at the junction of the two tubes than you would have otherwise been able to achieve.

Fingers crossed!

 

[JAL3]

I'm impressed that you took on the rebuild.

I wonder if having the ball split open wasn't a blessing in disguise -- it might've let you get a better seal at the junction of the two tubes than you would have otherwise been able to achieve.

Fingers crossed!

That's pretty much what I was thinking although I would rather that it had not split to begin with.

 

[JAL3]

After the silver paint dried for a few days, I took out the Testors Copper paint and repainted the ribbon by hand and touched up some of the overspray on the legs.

It is ready, I think, for another launch attempt in the morning.

 

[JAL3]

My try at another maided launch got delayed for 2 weeks but finally happened on Saturday.

I replaced the nylon chute with an 8" mylar one and that definitely made a difference in trying to pack it into the tube. I loaded it with a D10-3 and took it to the pad hoping for the best.

 

[JAL3]

I had never seen this or any other Sputnik style rocket fly before so I was pleased when it went up just like a regular rocket.

 

[JAL3]

It got quite a bit higher than I expected.

 

[JAL3]

When the chute came out, it was pretty much a non-event. It was too small to do much good and it seemed to be caught up in the turbulent zone right behind the ball. Still I was glad it had deployed as it was supposed to.

 

[JAL3]

When I picked it up, I found that the ground impact had done some cracking but, compared to the original cato damage, this is going to be an easy fix. I think I am going to try a 12" mylar chute with a 24" leader and see if that helps.

 

[MarkII]

It got quite a bit higher than I expected.

Well, uhhh, yeah, with a D10... ... for the maiden flight. :y:

Nice flight. Great pictures, too.

 

[JAL3]

Well, uhhh, yeah, with a D10... ... for the maiden flight. :y:

Nice flight. Great pictures, too.

I picked that one because this thing is a lot heavier than a foam ball. I have not weighed it but picking it up seems out of the C6 capability. That's probably not correct so I will experiment next outing...after I add some more weight with another repair.

 

[MarkII]

I picked that one because this thing is a lot heavier than a foam ball. I have not weighed it but picking it up seems out of the C6 capability. That's probably not correct so I will experiment next outing...after I add some more weight with another repair.

You're probably right; I didn't realize how much mass was added to the ball during the build. I was half-joking, but actually I can't fault you on your motor choice; that looked like a spectacular flight.

In retrospect, perhaps splitting the ball in half in order to install the angled motor/recovery tube combination was the better construction technique. It allowed you to install the tube with a properly sealed and reinforced joint, which is vitally important in this design. I am quite surprised that the fins/legs held on, given that they were bonded just by their tips to the soft Styrofoam.

 

[JAL3]

You're probably right; I didn't realize how much mass was added to the ball during the build. I was half-joking, but actually I can't fault you on your motor choice; that looked like a spectacular flight.

In retrospect, perhaps splitting the ball in half in order to install the angled motor/recovery tube combination was the better construction technique. It allowed you to install the tube with a properly sealed and reinforced joint, which is vitally important in this design. I am quite surprised that the fins/legs held on, given that they have a very small attachment point at one end and are bonded just to the soft Styrofoam.

Remember that I did not discover lightweight spackling until after the cato. The foam was filled with several itteration of FnF. I had doubts for a while about even trying to fly it. As it is now, the FnF is the brittle part. Hopefully, a bigger chute will help.

The legs seem to have had not problem at all. I embedded them fairly deeply with epoxy. Also, take a look at the last pic on the way down. Its almost horizontal. It might have been a different story if it came down legs first.

 

[MarkII]

The legs seem to have had not problem at all. I embedded them fairly deeply with epoxy. Also, take a look at the last pic on the way down. Its almost horizontal. It might have been a different story if it came down legs first.

The parachute tube is located in order to produce that orientation during the recovery, I think.

I will attempt to coat mine with Foam Finish, the product that I mentioned awhile back in the thread. As someone mentioned earlier, coating it with diluted white glue ought to work very well to add strength to it, but then you would still have to use something to fill the surface to make it smooth.

 

[JAL3]

The parachute tube is located in order to produce that orientation during the recovery, I think.

I will attempt to coat mine with Foam Finish, the product that I mentioned awhile back in the thread. As someone mentioned earlier, coating it with diluted white glue ought to work very well to add strength to it, but then you would still have to use something to fill the surface to make it smooth.

I agree about the positioning of the tube. I had assumed that.


I need to go back and re-read this thread. I don't recall the post about Foam Finish.

 

[MarkII]

Well I thought I talked about it here, but I guess not. It must have been in another thread.

OK, here we go. https://www.rocketryforumarchive.com/showpost.php?p=483995&postcount=16

Obviously I never completed it.

 

[MarkII]

Apparently this stuff (Foam Finish) no longer exists. All of my links to it are dead and I have not been able to find any evidence of it after an hour and a half of searching on Google. All trace of it has been erased. The Beacon Adhesives website is stonewalling the whole matter. So much for that whole "conservation of mass" thing.

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Actually, the two 7.5 oz. jars of it that I have were never supposed to be part of this universe. William Bell helped me to bring them over from The Other Side. But only temporarily, and I was supposed to bring them back to Walter Bishop's lab so they could be sent back. But I didn't, though, and apparently The Observers have forgotten that I have them. That's OK, since I have decided to keep them. They'll never miss the----

What? Who are you? You want the jars? No, I'm not giving them up. If you want them, you'll have to pry them from my cold, dead han...

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