So, it looks like it was three months ago that I decided, a little spur-of-the-moment, to build a new stabilized rocket that I could fly more often than just at Balls. It was more difficult to do than I thought, but the rocket is done. A few pics of the rocket are attached. As previously discussed in this thread, the rocket has a revised stabilization section with much stronger servos. The last step here was to mount the support bearings for the servo axles. The rocket also has a spin can to avoid control reversal from the canards ahead of the fins.
The next step is a test flight, hopefully, over the next few weeks. I have a couple of L motors for flights between 6,000 and 8,500 feet (maximum velocities of 700 to 860 ft/s), so I need to choose one of those. I want to set the launch angle at somewhere between 5 and 10 degrees and then have the rocket go vertical. I need to engage the roll control right from the start of the flight, as roll does not help the gyros at all. But, I need to decide whether to activate the vertical stabilization from the start, or alternatively, a second or so after launch. Any thoughts on that?
Actually, I'm not quite done - I need to mount a camera. As much as I'd like to have the canards in the view, I'm not sure mounting a (key chain) camera around the joint between the cone and the stabilization module would be a good choice. Thoughts on that?
Can't wait to fly this again!
Jim