Hey everyone!

[zjnoel]

Hey everyone! I'm an engineer in the aerospace industry looking to get into high power. The last time I launched anything was in undergrad (13ish years ago?!).I keep finding myself directed here as I'm planning/reading up on building an L1 cert rocket, so I figured I may as well make a account. Looking forward to learning with y'all!

 

[Hobie1dog]

With your background it'll be a piece of cake do you already have hey rocket picked out for your L1? Has there are lots of lots of threads that have been posted by people wanting to know what everybody's recommendation is so if you do a search for it you will see that there are always 20 different people suggestion or recommending the model they like the best.

 

[2-0turbo]

My suggestion is don’t overthink it. Just go pick a nice LOC kit that appeals to you and build it stock. Fly it on an F or G to knock the rust off and then a baby H.

I’m an engineer too and we often get into analysis paralysis. Just go do it and then there is plenty of time to experiment.

These are my opinions. This advice is worth what you paid for.

 

[zjnoel]

Thanks! I've seen a lot of that around. Naturally I have to make things complicated, so I'm looking at scratch building. Right now I had (I failed to hit the save button) an openrocket model based on a Cesaroni 3 grain 29 mm case that would support a large G or some of their H motors. I also want to build up my own arduino based avionics, which is the real stretch for me. So I'd use that rocket to get test data before I try and dual deploy or use my own electronics, which would hopefully be an L2/post-L2 goal.

 

[zjnoel]

My suggestion is don’t overthink it. Just go pick a nice LOC kit that appeals to you and build it stock. Fly it on an F or G to knock the rust off and then a baby H.

I’m an engineer too and we often get into analysis paralysis. Just go do it and then there is plenty of time to experiment.

This are my opinions. This advice is worth what you paid for.

For what it's worth I've already stepped back quite a bit... I initially wanted to run my own electronics and dual deploy on an airframe built to carry L1 and L2 motors. After reading a bit I decided to slow down and build up to that in the future. This is one of those things that's been on the back burner since I graduated and I'm actually starting to make progress on laying out a configuration. Not ruling out building a kit though, just to get something done if I get slowed down.

 

[cwbullet]

welcome to the forum. Post your plan and we will help.

 

[teepot]

Welcome to the Forum. Keep the L1 rocket simple. Keep it low and slow. Use motor eject. The simpler it is the less that can go wrong.

 

[bschultz32]

zjnoel, the "low, slow, simple" advice you got from several flyers above is right on. At our prefecture, we see a lot of Apogee Components Zephyrs on certification flights. You can do an exotic scratch-build with Onboard Cold Desktop Nuclear Fusion Reactors and Proton Hyaluronic Transmogrifier Packs later. For now, just focus on getting those magic 1 and 2 numbers on your TRA card as simply as you can, while taking your time mastering the craft and enjoying the ride.
I'm an engineer too, I know the "swing for the fences" itch you feel right now, but resist it by staying basic.

 

[KenECoyote]

!
Great intro and happy you decided to join in on the fun!

Yeah, generally certification isn't the time to try and test new things... that's for after (this is coming from someone who often comes close to breaking that rule! ). The focus is on success vs. creativity and you basically can be creative, but after you've ensured to the best of your ability that success has the best chances of being met.

Did you hear about the color on the first failed Wright Brothers airplane? It's "Who cares?"