Josh's 29mm Big Daddy

[joshismycaptain]

Plan change,,, no longer building this...

I'm buying a Big Daddy kit today. The reason is to replicate the kit with an 8" concrete form tube (see my other thread). As long as I will have the Big Daddy kit and a 29mm motor tube with retainer I'm not using out of my Argent kit, it only makes sense to make a 29mm Big Daddy.

 

[BDB]

I'm buying a Big Daddy kit today. The reason is to replicate the kit with an 8" concrete form tube (see my other thread). As long as I will have the Big Daddy kit and a 29mm motor tube with retainer I'm not using out of my Argent kit, it only makes sense to make a 29mm Big Daddy.

Go for it! I love to fly my daughter's 29 mm Big Daddy with DMS F and G motors. You may want to pick up a Jolly Logic chute release too. This is the perfect set up for it.



Two more things....be sure to add 4-5 oz of nose weight for stability purposes, and seriously consider modifying the nosecone shoulder, like several of us have discussed here and here to prevent the dreaded, but all too common, BD lawn dart.

 

[rstaff3]

+1 on the Chute Release. My 29mm Daddy is pretty much stock except for the motor tube and the nose mods, which are pretty much what BDB showed. With the stock balsa fins, using an oversized chute that opens at 200' is perfect! An undersized chute means you'll probably have to fix a fin post flight. Your field conditions may vary.

 

[K'Tesh]

Just in case you haven't read my reply to your earlier thread... Many here modify the nosecone of their Big Daddy rockets to reduce the likelihood of a lawndart.

 

[rstaff3]

That's probably less of an issue with a 29mm ejection charge but a 29mm Daddy begs for more weight and more internal space too as the motors are longer.

 

[BDB]

I should say that I papered the stock fins too. Made them pretty strong. Though I still dinged the leading edge of one fun when it fell off my workbench this week.

 

[rstaff3]

Actually, I may have pspered mine too. I would have to go look. Pre chute release I tried a ginormous streamer...bad idea with balsa.

 

[joshismycaptain]

Chute release, larger chute, weight in nose, modified nose cone. Got it! Thanks!

I did have a stock Big Daddy back in the day which I had no issues with. I ended up giving it away to someone I met at a launch who had no rocket (a serious problem). It was probably one of my favorite rockets to launch!

 

[rstaff3]

I had many flight on mine with no problem until one fateful day they mine lawn darted right after another one did. Someone offered that the snugness of the cone is a factor. If the nose is on the tight side, it tends to come off more energetically and hence there isn't time for the charge to vent before deployment. Still, I'd follow K'Tesh's advice even on otherwise stock builds. Easy to do and you get more room inside anyway.

 

[joshismycaptain]

Change of plans. Just got back from Hub Hobby in Little Canada, MN. Instead of buying the Big Daddy kit I bought a 54mm heavy duty tube and an ogive nose to fit it and some 29/54 motor mounts... Scratching the 29mm BD plan...

 

[Nantucketdink]

My stock Big Daddy floated out into the oblivion of the Atlantic ocean this week after just its second flight. So sad. It screamed off the pad on a composite F44-4 and whistled the whole way up. Pretty impressive. Once I saw the parachute open up way way up there I knew I was gonna be in trouble. Oh well. I highly recommend those F44s for this rocket, but a bigger field is definitely in order.

 

[K'Tesh]

My stock Big Daddy floated out into the oblivion of the Atlantic ocean this week after just its second flight. So sad. It screamed off the pad on a composite F44-4 and whistled the whole way up. Pretty impressive. Once I saw the parachute open up way way up there I knew I was gonna be in trouble. Oh well. I highly recommend those F44s for this rocket, but a bigger field is definitely in order.

Welcome to the Goldfish Club! Sorry you had to lose the rocket to do it.

 

[rstaff3]

My stock Big Daddy floated out into the oblivion of the Atlantic ocean this week after just its second flight. So sad. It screamed off the pad on a composite F44-4 and whistled the whole way up. Pretty impressive. Once I saw the parachute open up way way up there I knew I was gonna be in trouble. Oh well. I highly recommend those F44s for this rocket, but a bigger field is definitely in order.

Sorry about your loss. Sounds like you had plenty of field but unfortunately is wasn't the dry kind.

 

[joshismycaptain]

My stock Big Daddy floated out into the oblivion of the Atlantic ocean this week after just its second flight. So sad. It screamed off the pad on a composite F44-4 and whistled the whole way up. Pretty impressive. Once I saw the parachute open up way way up there I knew I was gonna be in trouble. Oh well. I highly recommend those F44s for this rocket, but a bigger field is definitely in order.

Ahhhh. I believe that would be a land breeze...

 

[JimJarvis50]

I have (had?) a couple of slightly enhanced Big Daddy's. Both have most of the original parts (tube, fins & cone), but with some reinforcements. One has a 29mm mount. It flew maybe 50 times on a couple of H motors, but mainly F and G motors. Unfortunately, it's sitting in a tree somewhere, but it was always fun to fly it. The other has a 54mm mount and flies on 2-grain J motors. The most recent flight was an I210 red, which was very nice. That flight was with a chute release, but the chute release got smacked in some manner and was lost. I suspect the weighted nose cone did that deed. I'll probably try that again, as it's the only practical way to do the flight.

Jim

 

[joshismycaptain]

I have (had?) a couple of slightly enhanced Big Daddy's. Both have most of the original parts (tube, fins & cone), but with some reinforcements. One has a 29mm mount. It flew maybe 50 times on a couple of H motors, but mainly F and G motors. Unfortunately, it's sitting in a tree somewhere, but it was always fun to fly it. The other has a 54mm mount and flies on 2-grain J motors. The most recent flight was an I210 red, which was very nice. That flight was with a chute release, but the chute release got smacked in some manner and was lost. I suspect the weighted nose cone did that deed. I'll probably try that again, as it's the only practical way to do the flight.

Jim

How do you get that look? Glass it and spray black?

 

[JimJarvis50]

How do you get that look? Glass it and spray black?

Both have a layer of carbon fiber over the cardboard tube. For the one on the left, the carbon piece was just epoxied into place, but no attempt was made to flatten it (commonly done by putting a layer of peel ply over the carbon). So, it has a little texture to it and is not perfectly smooth. I just clear-coated the carbon to add the shine. I used the peel ply technique on the one on the right to make the surface flatter. For whatever reason, the epoxy got a bit cloudy - happens sometimes. I would likely have tried to shine up the sanded epoxy surface using Finesse-it II, which I also used on the paint on both cones.

Jim

Edit - The fins are a layer of carbon over the original balsa, finished similarly.

 

[Lowpuller]

Sticker shock can also do this with a wrap

 

[TangoJuliet]

Does anybody sell 29mm centering rings for the Big Daddy BT, or do I have to make my own? I was going to do this as a simple stock build while at work during the holiday, but I've decided I want to upgrade it to a 29mm MMT instead.

 

[dhbarr]

Does anybody sell 29mm centering rings for the Big Daddy BT, or do I have to make my own? I was going to do this as a simple stock build while at work during the holiday, but I've decided I want to upgrade it to a 29mm MMT instead.

It's just a 29mm/3in, lots of places have them.

 

[rharshberger]

It's just a 29mm/3in, lots of places have them.

Does anybody sell 29mm centering rings for the Big Daddy BT, or do I have to make my own? I was going to do this as a simple stock build while at work during the holiday, but I've decided I want to upgrade it to a 29mm MMT instead.

BMS has them and probably Semroc as well.

 

[Threemorewishes]

You could use a 38mm mount and use a 29mm adapter for a lot more motor options.

 

[dhbarr]

You could use a 38mm mount and use a 29mm adapter for a lot more motor options.

Particularly being able to use the Loki no-haz loads, although that puts QUITE a bit of mass aft.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Upon further reflection, I think I'll just stick with the 24mm mount it comes with, but lose the thrust ring. There's plenty of AT 24mm SU options that would out-perform the Estes offerings in the MPR range.

 

[jd2cylman]

Upon further reflection, I think I'll just stick with the 24mm mount it comes with, but lose the thrust ring. There's plenty of AT 24mm SU options that would out-perform the Estes offerings in the MPR range.

And CTI once they're up and running on all cylinders again. CTI 24mm 6 grain has some fun reloads...

 

[dhbarr]

And CTI once they're up and running on all cylinders again. CTI 24mm 6 grain has some fun reloads...

Those are pretty long for this model though, well up inside the nose.

 

[jd2cylman]

Those are pretty long for this model though, well up inside the nose.

If you do the nose cone mod they mention above... No prob... :wink:

 

[TangoJuliet]

Yeah... That might still be a little over the top for my taste. :wink:

 

[Threemorewishes]

Particularly being able to use the Loki no-haz loads, although that puts QUITE a bit of mass aft.

Estes Big Daddy on a CTI 38mm 5 grain I297 Skid. Has also flown on CTI 29mm 2 and 3 grain reloads with motor adapter. A little nose weight opens a whole world of possibilities.

 

[ccollier]

Some ply centering rings from bms, a 29mm mount, and some BBs in the nose made this rocket my favorite flyer!