FSI Intrepid

[JAL3]

I figure its about time for me to wind up this build thread and get around to the actual maiden flight so here goes...

When I peeled the masking, things looked OK from a distance but up close it was a disaster. Using the clear to “seal” the masking tape had not worked out well at all.

 

[JAL3]

I used a brush and some black acrylic to try and clean up the lines along the boosters a bit.

 

[JAL3]

I also wanted to do something about the vents on the booster nosecones. I figured that ejection charges would dirty them up somewhat since they are white.

 

[JAL3]

I tried, and failed miserably, to brush black into the interior spaces. Be that as it may, this is as far as I would get before the maiden flight.

 

[JAL3]

I took the Intrepid out for a test flight way back on 13 April. I cannot find my records and, for the life of me, I cannot recall what motor I loaded. I know that I loaded only the central motor tube with a 29mm. It was probably a Roadrunner. I do remember having the bad realization that I recalled nowhere in the instructions any mention of a standoff for the launch lug so that the rod would clear the payload section. When I tried it, though, the lug was far enough back that it fit OK, if not perfectly.

 

[JAL3]

I should mention at this point that another member was kind enough to provide me with my own personal LCO.

 

[JAL3]

My LCO reported continuity and that all systems were go for launch.

 

[JAL3]

She must have pushed the button extra hard because the Intrepid took off very quickly. I remember thinking it would lift off much more slowly.

 

[JAL3]

I also remember being quite surprised at just how high this beast got.

 

[JAL3]

The ejection came about when it was supposed to and I was lulled into thinking that all was right.

 

[JAL3]

I continued to think all was well until I realized that the chute was staying “way up there” but the rocket was not.

 

[JAL3]

The rocket tumbled back down and did not break anything when it struck. The RSO was kind enough to remind me that he did not approve of tumble recovery in MPR projects. He was not impressed when I claimed that the chute was stripped when the LCO pushed the button too hard.

 

[JAL3]

An inspection of the rocket revealed a mild zipper, easily repaired.

 

[JAL3]

My LOC felt so bad about pushing the button too hard and stripping the chute that she took it upon herself to go find it. The point of failure was at the snap swivel. It opened right up.

 

[JPVegh]

It's a poor astronaut that blames his LCO. :wink:


I could have warned you about those snap swivels but then we wouldn't have witnessed the strength of your building techniques. Didn't even break a fin, perty dern tuff rocket!

How long has FSI been out of business?

 

[JAL3]

It's a poor astronaut that blames his LCO. :wink:


I could have warned you about those snap swivels but then we wouldn't have witnessed the strength of your building techniques. Didn't even break a fin, perty dern tuff rocket!

How long has FSI been out of business?

It bounces well too.

Mark II is the real FSI authority around here. The last FSI catalog I have is from 1993.

 

[mwtoelle]

I think FSI went out of business around 1994 or 1995. The last FSI catalog on the ninfinger site is 1993. No hobby shops in my neck of the woods (north Alabama and middle Tennessee) ever carried them. I always wanted to try some of their F100s.

 

[JAL3]

I never even heard of them until 2007. When I was a kid, I knew about Centuri and Estes. In the early 90s I found LOC Precision and Quest. All the others I learned about since 06, mostly here and in the magazines.

 

[mwtoelle]

I found out about them from reading a copy of the 4th edition of Stine's The Handbook of Model Rocketry. They were listed in the back of the book with other manufacturers at that time. They were definitely during my first stint in the NAR (1980-83), but I didn't have enough money or flying space to justify buying anything bigger than a D during those years. When I started flying again in 1993, FSI was on the way to joining the ranks of out of business model rocket companies.

 

[JPVegh]

I have one F100-0 left. I burned the last of my F7s about ten years ago.

I never had any of their rockets but I bought a few of their motors back in the good old days.

 

[rocketron1948]

Here is a link to mine. I haven't got around to flying it yet.

https://www.angelfire.com/space/r_watkins/FSIIntrepid.html#intrepid

Rocketron

 

[JAL3]

Here is a link to mine. I haven't got around to flying it yet.

https://www.angelfire.com/space/r_watkins/FSIIntrepid.html#intrepid

Rocketron

I like the look of it. I say that even though I don't like orange. On yours, though, it looks good.