Is glassing necessary?

[bibbster]

Thanks, Dave!

 

[rockets]

I was thinking maybe it was high velocity, enough to cause fin flutter and things like that.

Speaking of fins- the photographs in post #25 seem to have very large fins for a real sounding rocket. Wouldn't its CG be relatively close to the middle of the airframe? Model rockets usually have the penalty of having a heavy motor in the back and mostly light and empty airframe in front of it.

Is there a calculator or a way to figure out fin flutter?

Also - Yes the CG is towards the middle, I believe just past the end of the motor mount. I’d attach a screenshot if I had it

 

[Banzai88]

Is there a calculator or a way to figure out fin flutter?

Also - Yes the CG is towards the middle, I believe just past the end of the motor mount. I’d attach a screenshot if I had it

FinSim, if you can get a copy of it these days

 

[UPscaler]

I've got a 7.5" LOC Iris and I did fiberglass the airframe just for the sake of adding a bit of rigidity. I do plan on putting a 98mm motor in there eventually. However, I didn't glass the fins or even the fin can tube.

That being said, if I recall correctly, Dave from LOC did his L3 with a bone stock 5.5" Iris.

Braden

 

[DaHabes]

Is there a calculator or a way to figure out fin flutter?

Also - Yes the CG is towards the middle, I believe just past the end of the motor mount. I’d attach a screenshot if I had it

PM me.

 

[conneryc]

Is it necessary....NO. Especially if you are building something for fun. However, if you are building it for a Certification flight, then you want it to be solid as a rock so you have less chance of a failure, so for that'd I'd say "most definitely".

 

[thzero]

Is it necessary....NO. Especially if you are building something for fun. However, if you are building it for a Certification flight, then you want it to be solid as a rock so you have less chance of a failure, so for that'd I'd say "most definitely".

Nah, glassing is not necessary for a certification flight. If I wanted to go redo my Level 1 right now, I'd gladly take my LOC MicroMagg out and put an H128 in it and let it rip. Comes down just fine on a good parachute, even better with JLCR. No glass or anything fancy, just a pretty standard 3 fins and nose cone build.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Nah, glassing is not necessary for a certification flight. If I wanted to go redo my Level 1 right now, I'd gladly take my LOC MicroMagg out and put an H128 in it and let it rip. Comes down just fine on a good parachute, even better with JLCR. No glass or anything fancy, just a pretty standard 3 fins and nose cone build.

both of my L1 Rockets were not fiberglassed and one had a parachute rip off and came down without a chute and it didn't break a fin either.

 

[sharkbait]

both of my L1 Rockets were not fiberglassed and one had a parachute rip off and came down without a chute and it didn't break a fin either.

The great thing about this forum is that you always get full spectrum of answers and opinions from end to end. There’s always the guy who kevlar wrapped, carbon tip to tipped, and 4 wraps of 6oz glass on top with his Estes Alpha so it could survive a C6-5 flight. Then the guy who built a scratch MD bird with Estes BT-101 tube, blow mold plastic nose cone, surface mount bare 1/8” balsa fins, all assembled with Elmers School Glue and sent it up on an N-5800 no problem.

 

[tsmith1315]

The great thing about this forum is that you always get full spectrum of answers and opinions from end to end. There’s always the guy who kevlar wrapped, carbon tip to tipped, and 4 wraps of 6oz glass on top with his Estes Alpha so it could survive a C6-5 flight. Then the guy who built a scratch MD bird with Estes BT-101 tube, blow mold plastic nose cone, surface mount bare 1/8” balsa fins, all assembled with Elmers School Glue and sent it up on an N-5800 no problem.

That's also a great thing about this hobby. You can make it simple, or as complicated as you can imagine. Your choice.