FlisKits Corona! Nice!

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eugenefl

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I just finished up my FlisKits Corona today. (It's painted too!) I was torn up on whether I should go with the stock paint scheme or do something a little my way. Typically, the cover art provides a good enough challenge. Since I do live in Florida and the summer is coming, I figure a long skinny rocket will be susceptible to warping in the sun with the stock black and purple paint scheme. (Hmm, maybe shoulda gone with purple and white. Eh...)

Rated a Skill Level 3 kit, I do think it could have fallen in the Skill 2 set easily. Given the tail ring assembly, I suppose it might give enough challenge to warrant a Level 3. At any rate, it is a great Skill Level 2 1/2 rocket. ;) The build went very well and was straightforward. (Sorry, no pictorial documenting on this build.) The kit has a fantastic instruction set as all FlisKits rockets I have built so far do.

Pros: Sleek, arrow-like, lightweight, quick-build
Cons: Tail ring is a coupler that has a big groove that needs to be filled - not a true body tube ring. Nothing a little Fill 'n Finish won't take care of. The fins will need to be sanded to get the ring to fit. Not really a "con", but just a heads up.

Recovery: I went with the 12" template. I don't think this kit will need a full 16" chute.

Tip: Paint ring separately before gluing to fin set. I think this is mentioned in the instructions. See my parachute shroudline attachment tip to follow.

I can't wait to fly it. It's first flight will more than likely go on a B6-4 (or whichever the recommended B motor is). First flight will be on the 20th of March.

First picture is of from the top.
 
Here is a good view of the ring and fin unit. Very sleek. The rocket looks fast just laying on the floor.
 
Here's the opposite side of the ring. This perspective is from the top down.
 
Exploded view with the chute in its "deployed" state. Notice the chute attachment point. Jason and I learned this tip from Jim himself. Form a loop in the shockcord and you've got yourself an instant chute attachment point. This will also prevent your nosecone from drifting off with the parachute if the screweye ever comes loose. It also insures your rocket always comes back safely *under* a chute!
 
cool paint job :)

I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone... :D

The aft ring is a stage coupler for a reason...

...how else would one attach the lower stage for the future 2-stage Corona??

:D :D :D
 
After having several plastic tape discs fail, I decided to use them a little differently. I stuck the tape disc to the parachute, poked a tiny hole though the disc and chute (end of a compass point), and knotted and tied the shroud line. This should hold much better than the traditional tacky stick method.
 
WOW! Eugene, that thing is GORGEOUS! I was having trouble visualizing it over the phone, but now I see what you was talking about! That is a beautiful rocket, bud! Great job!

Time for an upscale? Maybe kit bash a Richter Recker or Mean Machine? ;) :D :D

Jason
 
LOL, this is wild... i happen to hit this thread *as* you're writing it....

i keep hitting reload... ...it's like being in chat!
 
you like the macro-lens on your camera, eh?? :)

seriously, great job. The Corona and the Praetor are two rockets that I absolutely love but, while they sell well, they are *big* sellers. I never knew why...
 
Originally posted by jflis
cool paint job :)

I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone... :D

The aft ring is a stage coupler for a reason...

...how else would one attach the lower stage for the future 2-stage Corona??

:D :D :D

Oh-ho REeeeallly??? Jason and I were on the subject of a 2-stage Corona this evening too! Oh man...
drool.jpg
 
Originally posted by jflis
you like the macro-lens on your camera, eh?? :)

seriously, great job. The Corona and the Praetor are two rockets that I absolutely love but, while they sell well, they are *big* sellers. I never knew why...

Yep, new digital camera toy! ;) LOL! This thread is gonna have like 30 replies in less than 5 minutes! Yeah...I need to win against 2 other competitors in the DOM so I can get me a Praetor. I'm brewing some cool designs over here. Coming soon!
 
Originally posted by eugenefl
After having several plastic tape discs fail, I decided to use them a little differently. I stuck the tape disc to the parachute, poked a tiny hole though the disc and chute (end of a compass point), and knotted and tied the shroud line. This should hold much better than the traditional tacky stick method.

That is how I always build my chutes. Jim and I discussed this. I suggested finding a ticket punch to premake the holes in the disks ;)
 
Great job Eugene, looks great. Gonna order me one soon.
About those tape discs. Just go get some of these paper reinforcements, and build your chutes like Estes. I actually put one on each side of the chute for extra strength. You can get them at Wal-mart in the paper/label section. This pack contains 900 pieces and was only a buck or 2. Should last a while.

Tim
 
Greetings all. Today I flew my Corona for the first time. My first motor of choice was the C6-5. The wind wasn't too awful although there was a breeze that tended to blow off and on. At any rate, the flight was not successful. Nearly 50-75ft off the pad the Corona went unstable and went end over end until the motor burned out. The model landed safely in the grass horizontally.

Has anyone else experienced this? Jim, I am willing to admit that I may have omitted something in the instructions - I tend to "know it all" from time to time; however, I didn't see any clay noseweight with the kit so I didn't investigate further. Luckily, there was absolutely no damage so I *will* get another shot at making it fly pointy-end-up. ;)

EDIT: I just read through Greg Deeter's review of the Corona on EMRR and it appears his has flown successfully on a C6-5 multiple times. Any ideas where I may have gone wrong?
 
I can't imagine a rocket that long and skinny ever needing nose weight.

Did you look it over closely after the "incident". Fin loose? Engine mount secure?....Kinks or weak spots in the body tube? etc. etc. If all else fails...you could always do the old swing test.

Good Luck,
John
 
Yea, I witnessed that flight, my heart skipped a beat, especially considering Eugene's luck:(

Nonetheless, a beautiful roc. hopefully next meet we'll see it again in a more stable flight..
 
well you said it was windy and that ring probably causes a ton of drag so a gust the right way could have sent it end over end
 
Originally posted by flying_silverad.
Could it have been a bad nozzle in the motor?

Hmm...I suppose. I have the spent casing still. I'll have to look at it closely. Perhaps a defective nozzle could angle the thrust off. Eh...I don't know...

Originally posted by Ryan S.
well you said it was windy and that ring probably causes a ton of drag so a gust the right way could have sent it end over end

If wind was a factor and there was drag on the fins, wouldn't the rocket act as a weathervane, pivot on its center of gravity, and weathercock into the wind? Even if a gust of wind threw it off course the rocket would have righted itself and headed in one direction.
 
Although I've never experienced exactly the phenominum Eugene had; I did have my Carona get caught by a gust of wind the split second before the motor ignited. This caused my crappy Quest launch rod to 'whip', which sent my Carona off flying horizontally. This was on a B6-4 BTW.

I'm just wondering if rod whip could be the cause of the instability?
 
I've been flying Corona's for 15 years now and it was the anniversary kit of the 1990 NEMROC and over a hundred were built and flown that weekend. Have only seen *one* unstable flight and that was at CMASS last year of a FlisKits kit version.

What happened in *that* case was the builder felt that the fin construction was too complicated and he decided to cut the 2 piece fin as one long fin. To make cutting easier, he had the wood grain parallel to the root edge (this is not good).

The result was one of the fins cracking on boost and that part of the ring not having any support. Its movement during boost sent the Corona unstable.

I would check to see if the ring came loose from any of the fins or a fin from the body. This would cause just this kind of instability.

I am assuming that you constructed the fins as shown in the instructions. For the record, and for others reading this thread, it is critical that you construct each fin in 2 parts with each part having the grain parallel to the long edge of the fin, as shown on the fin pattern, then these two fins are glued together to form one fin.

One other point that I noticed: One of my Corona's was painted basic black, overall. Then I masked and painted one *side* a metalic color. The body tube was bisected (left black, right metalic). The *problem* here is, I noticed while it sat in the sun at CMASS that it warpped (bent) an incredible amount while having one side facing the sun. **IF** I had flown it, it would have spun circled in the air. What I did was to turn it over and let it heat up on the other side. ONce straight, I flew it and it flew just fine.

hope this helps!
jim
 
Eugene, did you ever figure out what caused your Corona to go end-over-end?
This did seem a bit strange considering it was a stock kit.
 
Originally posted by pdooley
Eugene, did you ever figure out what caused your Corona to go end-over-end?
This did seem a bit strange considering it was a stock kit.

No I didn't. I looked at the fin/ring arrangement and one of the fins is fractured on the tail end. The fin didn't separate or break entirely so I can't really see how it could have caused instability. I'll bring it up to Whitakers so Jim can "bless" it for me. :D I just think I was having some inexplainable bogus luck that day. I'd like to take it out again and put a B in it.
 
Eugenio, yea, I was going to ask you to bring it to Whitakers so that I could take a look at it. Just don't tell anyone else that I make service calls in the field... LOL
 
I have flown my Corona twice and both times I had unstable flights. Not end over but it was like the a dog dragging it's butt on the ground. It went up about 50-75 feet and acted as if the tail end was too heavy and kinda went sideways. after the first flight I noticed that the ring was a little loose, before I flew it again I made sure it was glued down. It didn't help. It seemed as if it needed some nose weight.
 
ok, now my curiosity is peeked...

I will get my corona out and into the air on a variety of motors and give it a look.

truely odd as this design has about 15 years of history...

jim
 
Originally posted by kelltym88
I have flown my Corona twice and both times I had unstable flights. Not end over but it was like the a dog dragging it's butt on the ground. It went up about 50-75 feet and acted as if the tail end was too heavy and kinda went sideways. after the first flight I noticed that the ring was a little loose, before I flew it again I made sure it was glued down. It didn't help. It seemed as if it needed some nose weight.

Just curious, but what motors did you use? This info would be important for testing purposes. My flight was on an Estes C6-5.

EDIT: I just looked at EMRR and it appears others have flown their Corona's on C6-5s with no problem. Hmm...maybe the cellulose went down to the bottom adding more weight?
 
Originally posted by eugenefl
Hmm...maybe the cellulose went down to the bottom adding more weight?

I agree that this may have been a *small* problem, but on a rocket that is this long which *should* be super-stable, I think it would have a minimal effect. It may be worth a shot trying to run this bird through Rocksim and seeing what happens when you add a miniscule mass object down near the bottom of the tube.

I'll probably bring my unpainted Corona to Whitakers to see how she flies - maybe we can experiment with it - doesn't really matter to me if it breaks...I can always fix it!

It is interesting, isn't it Jim? You don't think of a rocket like the Corona being unstable...

kellytym88 - It's likely your wasn't unstable by your description, but neutrally stable...:confused:

Jason
 
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