Off Grid Gecko
Well-Known Member
Giving up on any kind of answer to my question straight from madcow. I sent them an email over a week ago and there has been no response.
TLDR: Will a 4" fiberglass nose cone fit well on a 4" madcow cardboard/phenolic body tube?
Background:
Building a DX-3 kit from MadCow Rocketry, the nosecone came a little oddly shaped. Point not centered, out of round, etc. With heat and pressure I was able to form it most of the way, but there's still an unnerving gap between where the nose cone joins the tube, exposing the end of the tube fully for around 1/4 to 1/3 of the circumference.
I've decided that I'm not going to fly it like that.
Dillema:
I don't want to trust another madcow nose cone. I know they are supposed to be the bees knees and all this, but I'm having trouble knowing at the moment who to trust with a plastic nose cone that will fit the tube well. Apogee has a 4" plastic cone for about $22 which is more than reasonable and I plan on getting some chutes from them anyway with my next order.
The more I think about it though, I tend to have the feeling (correct me if I'm wrong) that a fiberglass nose cone would be built to more exacting standards considering the price, and less prone to these silly kinds of deformations that plastic can be subjected to. They also tend to be hollow base out of the box and if it comes with a piece of coupler, I could use the cone in the future for experimental payloads, perhaps even move the NC from one rocket to another and let them share, as this is not the last 4" rocket I ever plan to build.
Has anyone had any experience mixing FG/Phenolic/Plastic in their kits? What has been your experience on fitment? Are the dimensions pretty much true across the board. I mean, the tubes seem to be mostly standardized, so I would hope that this would be an issue that wouldn't come up, but I haven't worked with fiberglass rockets at all so there's no way for me to know for sure without dropping close to $100 on a NC just to try.
Any help appreciated.
Afterthoughts:
I yanked the nose this morning to see about the possibility of cutting it, then heating and stuffing a coupler tube inside to "force it" to shape, but I'm uncertain of this strategy as well, and it seems like at the very least it will be a frustrating experience and more likely I'll end up destroying my nosecone and a handful of coupler tubes only to end up with an unsightly seam near the NC base that will never go away.
TLDR: Will a 4" fiberglass nose cone fit well on a 4" madcow cardboard/phenolic body tube?
Background:
Building a DX-3 kit from MadCow Rocketry, the nosecone came a little oddly shaped. Point not centered, out of round, etc. With heat and pressure I was able to form it most of the way, but there's still an unnerving gap between where the nose cone joins the tube, exposing the end of the tube fully for around 1/4 to 1/3 of the circumference.
I've decided that I'm not going to fly it like that.
Dillema:
I don't want to trust another madcow nose cone. I know they are supposed to be the bees knees and all this, but I'm having trouble knowing at the moment who to trust with a plastic nose cone that will fit the tube well. Apogee has a 4" plastic cone for about $22 which is more than reasonable and I plan on getting some chutes from them anyway with my next order.
The more I think about it though, I tend to have the feeling (correct me if I'm wrong) that a fiberglass nose cone would be built to more exacting standards considering the price, and less prone to these silly kinds of deformations that plastic can be subjected to. They also tend to be hollow base out of the box and if it comes with a piece of coupler, I could use the cone in the future for experimental payloads, perhaps even move the NC from one rocket to another and let them share, as this is not the last 4" rocket I ever plan to build.
Has anyone had any experience mixing FG/Phenolic/Plastic in their kits? What has been your experience on fitment? Are the dimensions pretty much true across the board. I mean, the tubes seem to be mostly standardized, so I would hope that this would be an issue that wouldn't come up, but I haven't worked with fiberglass rockets at all so there's no way for me to know for sure without dropping close to $100 on a NC just to try.
Any help appreciated.
Afterthoughts:
I yanked the nose this morning to see about the possibility of cutting it, then heating and stuffing a coupler tube inside to "force it" to shape, but I'm uncertain of this strategy as well, and it seems like at the very least it will be a frustrating experience and more likely I'll end up destroying my nosecone and a handful of coupler tubes only to end up with an unsightly seam near the NC base that will never go away.
