jerrymazzer
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2013
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
Like many of the posters I've seen on here, I'm returning to model rocketry after about a 25 year hiatus since launching LPR as a kid. I just started building a Ventris. I dry-fit everything and it seemed good to go so I jumped in. I got the motor mount assembled and installed (all tite-bond) and am reasonably confident that it's secure. I then proceeded to attach the two body tubes using the 4" coupling tube, and this is where I hit my first snag. I guess I took too long applying glue to the coupling tube. When I went to slide it into the lower body tube, It stopped about 3/4" short of the center mark. I couldn't get it to budge. So, panicking, I tried to quickly glue and slide on the upper body tube. It, too, stopped about 3/4" short of the center mark on the coupler. So now, my lower and upper body tubes are separated by about 1-1/2" of exposed coupler tube, with 1-1/4" of coupler glued inside each body tube. The alignment of the two tubes is slightly off, too. If I roll the entire body along a tabletop, the body shows about a 1mm dogleg. Is this enough to warrant cutting the lower body tube, getting a new coupler tube and upper body tube, and regluing? Or is a 1mm dogleg not enough to disastrously affect flight? I'll be launching this on a G40-7W the first go. I've got a G80 waiting in the wings if all goes well. Second question is in regards to the plastic transition piece. I've seen some posts on here regarding how some of them were too loose, and an offer from Estes to replace them. How loose is too loose? With everything dry-fit, I can move the nose cone back and forth about an inch from the line of the body. Seems like it ought to be more snug, but is it worth requesting the replacement, or should I just use masking tape to snug it up? Also, I'd rather not glue the nose and transition to the av bay(?-the bigger bit at the top of the rocket). I'd like to get an altimeter and sonic locater to put in that section, so I'm planning to attach the two plastic bits together with some elastic banding or shock-cord.
Well, this is a bit longer post than I'd planned, but thanks for reading and thanks for any advice!
-jerrymazzer
Well, this is a bit longer post than I'd planned, but thanks for reading and thanks for any advice!
-jerrymazzer