First rocket finished, stability marginal.

[Senior Space Cadet]

I reached the point where the only thing I had left to do was work on balance.
I installed the largest engine I intended to use, a C6-5, and was really surprised at how heavy the rocket was. Instead of the balsa nosecone I intended to use I went with an Apogee that I could fill up.
I glued some weight in the nose cone (40gr airsoft BBs and a daisy glass ball slingshot ammo) and checked balance. It was light, so added a bit more.
It still wasn't quite where I wanted it, but my fins are oversized and swept back and I was really getting concerned about the weight. I was starting to think that, if the rocket didn't fly, I could use it for doing arm curls.
So, thinking I couldn't do the stability test, where you tie a string to the rocket and swing it in a circle, without gluing the base on the nose cone, that's what I did (Yes, I know I didn't need to.)
That turned out to be a mistake. I swung the rocket around and it was reluctant to point forward. Now I have to figure out how to add more weight. All I can think is to drill a hole in the base and add some steel BBs and glue.

It isn't pretty. I look at the rockets the rest of you build and they are all dressed up and looking beautiful. I figure I'll start by getting my designs to fly well, then I can worry about making them pretty.
I like to take my photos outside and it's 3:00am, so no photos right now. Maybe in a few hours. I hope none of the neighbors were looking out the window when I was standing in the street and swinging a model rocket around my head.

 

[OverTheTop]

Don't sweat the small things SSC. We have all made a few mistakes along the way. You are doing mostly the right things so don't be disheartened .

 

[BABAR]

“So, thinking I couldn't do the stability test, where you tie a string to the rocket and swing it in a circle, without gluing the base on the nose cone, that's what I did (Yes, I know I didn't need to.)”

I am hoping you meant you did NOT glue the nose cone in place. That would make ejection of the chute challenging.

You are posting a lot, which is great. Some pics would be good. Your descriptions are a bit hard to follow. Is this a kit? If not, how many kits have you built and flown recently?

Lots of philosophies on this forum, from @stickershock23 “Never Fly Nekkid” to (I think) @cwbullet “My rockets fly to earn their paint” (apologies for paraphrasing and possible misattribution!)

The majority of low power kits should be stable if built stock and flown with recommended motors and under reasonable winds (say 10 mph or less for low power, I won’t speak for HPR.). If you are scratch building, your first designs should probably roughly resemble a kit. I say roughly because there are some pretty wild kits out there



But for the most part, they share a basic common anatomy, a relatively pointy nose, a thin middle, and some fins possibly with rings or pods in the tail. Not that my comfort level is necessarily of significant interest to you, but in the interest of your own safety, those around you, and the continuance of model hobby as a recreation without any more regulation than already present, I really would like to see some pics of your designs and your plans on where and under what conditions and with who you plan to fly them. Have you looked to see if there is a NAR or Tripoli club near you

https://www.nar.org/find-a-local-club/nar-map-locator/

https://www.tripoli.org/Prefectures
From experience as one who flew solo for years before joining a club, I found flying with a club to be much more fun (it’s a 1.5 hour drive for me, so most of my flights are still solo in a local park), and I wish I had joined a club sooner as it may have saved me some bone headed mistakes that cost me time and money and caused some degree of frustration.

If your swing test with your rocket didn’t work, have you tried it with a known to be stable rocket kit loaded as recommended? I for one haven’t had much luck with swing tests even with STABLE rockets, maybe my lack of foot/mouth coordination (no, sorry, that’s my social problem).

Anyway, whether you go kit or scratch, start simple and work your way up. And as my former boss used to say, “if you aren’t having fun you aren’t doing it right.”

Wishing you generally straight trails (a little corkscrewing is okay as long as net trajectory is straight and mostly up!)

 

[Steve Shannon]

Swing tests are unreliable.
What do you mean by trying to get the rocket to balance? Everything balances somewhere.
With “large swept back” fins you probably wouldn’t have a stability issue.
Your nosecone must be able to come off for your parachute to deploy, unless you have a payload bay above the parachute.
Keep asking questions, but give people something to go on, such as pictures that show the rocket as built. They don’t have to be taken outside for people to offer suggestions.