L2 Questions?

[blackjack2564]

Wet sand.

 

[Steve Shannon]

It seems like working on fiber glass requires a great deal of attention to safety which I'm all for. Maybe I should stick with QT or card board only because I'm not familiar with fiberglass. I don't want particles hanging out in my work area. Although I can sand outside in the backyard I guess that would be fine?

I think one of the best lessons I had regarding fiberglass was “Don’t sand into it. Why remove any of the stuff you just added to strengthen your rocket?” I think it was Dave Triano’s videos.
Instead, add a thin layer of body filler and sand that.

 

[afadeev]

So its that time for me to bite the bullet and move up to get my L2 certification and as always relying on the input from you guys for some possible suggestions?

Whatever you decide to build/fly - make it fun!
This is not your first or last rocket, so build something you like, and stick an J+ motor into it for one of the flights to get the cert. Don't build a "safe" cert-rocket, just to put it away and never fly it afterwards - that's a waste.

No point in fretting over the certification aspect of the flight!

• 
  
  
  • Tracking devices - When do you determine a tracking device is necessary?
  • Target Altitude - Whats a good altitude to shoot for?

The two are related.
If going much above 4-5K, you will want a GPS tracker.
An DD electronics to shorten the recover walk.

• Test Questions - I know there are questions on the NAR website, but how did most of you study? How did some of you study? Was it knowledge or memorize the Q&A

Test questions ARE the super-set of questions you will get on the actual test.
Most of them are common sense. A few require memorization, but nothing difficult.

so I decided to go with the WM Wild Child. It's not expensive and WM offers a DD option for the kit. I just want to experiment with DD and figure this is a nominal investment to under stand the basic principles behind the concept.

Doesn't WildChild come with a 29mm MMT?
I am not aware of any 29mm J-motors available for sale commercially. Are you going to upgrade the MMT to 38mm?

Assuming so, even the smallest J will send it north of 11K feet.
Definitely will need GPS if you want to ever see it again!

a

 

[Chris_H]

I think one of the best lessons I had regarding fiberglass was “Don’t sand into it. Why remove any of the stuff you just added to strengthen your rocket?” I think it was Dave Triano’s videos.
Instead, add a thin layer of body filler and sand that.

Correct.

The biggest offenders are in finishing bevels, cutting G10 sheets, sanding G10 to dimension, sanding epoxy fillets with fillers, and truing things up. Maybe a little dust from surface prep, and maybe some 'cleaning up' of poor sanding of nosecones during the manufacturing process. Cutting into structural fiber is counterproductive. Building kits with premade bevels will help. I suffer from scratch building fever, so every process makes dust. Excessive sanding is not one of the processes.

 

[58pan]

It's a cert flight. I recommend Low, Slow and Simple.
For my L1 used a 4 in. Mad Cow Torrent, dual deploy because I wanted to get into electronics too. But for the L1 I put the main in the bottom and the drogue in the top. Backwards? Yes. But even if the electronics failed the motor ejection would bring out the main and I would still qualify.
Don't recommend a chute release, Lots of times they work great, sometimes they tangle and crash. Just an added thing to go wrong, Get your L2 then start trying other things.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

In general, I’d say approach your L2 the way you should approach any kind of hobby activity — make it fun and enjoyable. There may be some stress because it involves a test, but choosing, building, and flying the rocket should be fun.

I chose to use a kit for my L2. I picked a LOC Warlock. I like big rockets. It was affordable and seemed easy to build. I am used to cardboard and wood, so I wanted to stick to that. I also wanted a rocket I could test fly a few times before the cert flight. This rocket easily flies on a lot of I motors, even a few fast H motors, so I could fly it on level 1 motors before flying it on a J for the cert flight. LOC makes a lot of kits that can straddle L1 and L2. And they make some bigger ones that are strictly L2 or L3 and too big to fly on L1 motors

I flew my cert flight with motor deployment, not electronic. I was used to it and didn’t want to try something new for the cert flight. I did end up using a Jolly Logic chute release. I had not planned to. But the wind was a little stronger than I liked, and I was using a big chute to guard against landing damage, so I decided to use the chute release to minimize the chances of drifting into a nearby corn field. It went against my KISS strategy for cert flights, but I had used chute release before, so I was familiar with it, and the chance of having a problem with it seemed lower than the chance of losing the rocket to the Children of the Corn.

The Warlock kit actually is not set up for dual deploy and does not include an AV bay or dual chute compartments. LOC makes them separately and you can add one to the rocket if you want. I won an Attebery nosecone bay in a contest, so after my cert flight, I added that to the rocket. I use an Eggtimer quantum for electronic deployment with motor backup now. I also built a huge removable payload section for dumping loads of cargo, like monkeys or buckets of candy. Now the rocket is HUGE. But for the cert flight I kept it simple.

I do not use a tracking device. I do not fly high enough to need one. Personally, I don’t like flying very high by most rocketry standards. My cert flight went a bit over 2,000 feet, probably under 2,500. I don’t remember precisely now. My eyesight is not good, and I don’t like losing sight of my rockets, so I keep them under 3,000 feet, and I use binoculars. Also, I enjoy watching the deployment, so I keep it low enough to see the chutes come out.

For the test, I memorized the questions.

My strategy was to keep it simple and not do anything I hadn’t tried as an L1. Same basic techniques, just a bigger motor. If you want to use dual deployment and trackers, or even a chute release, I’d try it a few times as an L1 before your cert flight.

 

[ATGaric]

I personally jumped head first into the deep end with my certs. Went from a f black powder to assembleing a h999 for a wildman Jr with electronic dual deploy. Flew it twice that weekend then went and got my L2 a few weeks latter. I acctually studied to learn. Not just memorized the answers. I like how I did it because im Intrested in big fast and crazy rockets. But we had a kid come up to a club launch with an entirely scratch built rocket. He used a carpet tube from Lowe's made his own nose cone. Had his mom teach him to sew to make his own chute ect. He was so proud of what he did at the end of the day and really enjoyed it. Me after my L2 I was instantly asking about my L3. Sure I guess I missed out on some of the self pride and such but my interests are heavy in "going big or going home" he was just enjoying the sport. So it really is what you want to do. Now I didn't finish reading this thread so you may have gotten it but for anyone else seeing this. Do what you want to do. I don't like cardboard and I don't like motor ejection so that puts me somewhere else where someone who does enjoy that. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[OverTheTop]

Fly what you want to fly, and how you want to fly. Everyone is different. Listen to other ideas, but be your own flyer! And fly within the rules, of course.

 

[Ez2cDave]

I like how I did it because im Intrested in big fast and crazy rockets.

Take a look at this video, especially from the 0:27 point onward . . .

 

[Fattbank64]

A couple words about working with fiberglass. A lot of people recommend washing all the parts in soapy warm water before you start assembly. I would add that you should take some 220 grit paper and knock the edge off of all the cut edges before washing the parts. A lot of the cuts have sharp fine bur's in my experience.

+1

 

[OverTheTop]

+1

+1 more

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

Like @afadeev said about the Wild Child...
This is a 38mm rocket with a 29mm hole...
I would not suggest that for a L2 attempt. It would have to be made into a minimum diameter and would almost definitely need tracking.

@AfterBurners I know you mentioned using the Wild Child for DD practice and not necessarily for your L2. Still, it can be tough to get everything into a 38mm bay. If you want to practice DD and glass, step up to at least 54mm size. Wildman's "Junior" line will probably be the cheapest option, though Mach 1 has a lot more options in that size, and Madcow also have them of course.

Or get you a 3" paper kit for DD practice. The larger airframe will be easier to fit everything into and easier to watch the events. Not to mention lighter and draggier, so it will be able to fly lower and slower to watch the events. You can watch you chutes open and what not, see if there is anything you can improve folding/packing wise.

On the other hand, if you get something wrong a glass bird has a better chance to survive a lawndart or tangled chute recovery.

 

[OverTheTop]

Personally, I love the resilience of a fiberglass rockets for many reasons. YMMV.

 

[Antares JS]

Like @afadeev said about the Wild Child...
This is a 38mm rocket with a 29mm hole...
I would not suggest that for a L2 attempt. It would have to be made into a minimum diameter and would almost definitely need tracking.

@AfterBurners I know you mentioned using the Wild Child for DD practice and not necessarily for your L2. Still, it can be tough to get everything into a 38mm bay. If you want to practice DD and glass, step up to at least 54mm size. Wildman's "Junior" line will probably be the cheapest option, though Mach 1 has a lot more options in that size, and Madcow also have them of course.

Or get you a 3" paper kit for DD practice. The larger airframe will be easier to fit everything into and easier to watch the events. Not to mention lighter and draggier, so it will be able to fly lower and slower to watch the events. You can watch you chutes open and what not, see if there is anything you can improve folding/packing wise.

On the other hand, if you get something wrong a glass bird has a better chance to survive a lawndart or tangled chute recovery.

+1. The LOC Deployer or the Madcow Torrent make much better first DD rockets. The Deployer in particular is a relatively small rocket that you can fly low and slow on a G with DD. I use my Deployer to test out new electronics I haven't used before.

 

[Andy Greene]

Which field / ceiling? Local launch or regional?

The standard advice is to get a vanilla 4fnc ( no aft sweep ) fiberglass bird, send it up low and slow, and do it at a launch where you'll have plenty of air & eyes.

THIS !!!!! X10 - The opening statement being the most important imho - " what field / what ceiling ? " Fly the field , build something that suites you that will fly as described above- and can and will be suitable enough to handle more power so your desire - And You Will