Level 3 Attempt Count Down to Launch

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

leegscott

Well-Known Member
TRF Supporter
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
467
Reaction score
1
Hi all!!

Well after talking about it for several years and after building for 6 months to a year I have lost track, it is about three weeks to launch. I thought I would post the last of the build on TRF. I did not post the entire build as I have used the same techniques as I used on the upscale THOR and NIKE which I posted on TRF a couple of years ago (I did not want to bore everyone). I am planning on posting the entire build on our website (www.scottrocketry.com) which Jonathan and I are trying to put together. It is in the very early stages but there are a couple of good videos of the Nike posted.

Ok status. We have just finished the ground testing and we are painting. On the Nike I went with automotive paint. However, on the Level 3 rocket, called Cyclone (Jonathans travel baseball team name), I went back to the old Krylon formula. The automotive finish was nice but not worth the health risk to me. The rocket has two onboard video camera and a RDAS section for live downlink and tracking. However, we are not planning on using the RDAS section for this launch, we are going to give it a try at LDRS next year. We are going to launch it on the new M1970skidmark. After the successful level 3 launch we plan to follow up with a M1850 and then airstarts of two J400ss and then two more J400ss. Hopefully we will be able to get some good video shots.

Here is a link to the photobucket album if anyone is interested.

https://s160.photobucket.com/albums.../?action=view&current=GroundtestFinish001.jpg
 
Thanks Dioxntj & David!!

So David where are you at these days?? I am guessing either the east coast or the farmland. Jonathan and I will miss you at Rocstock but I know we will see you at LDRS right? School can wait right? At least for one week right?? So as far as the Level 3 launch goes, know worries the rocket gods are not going to get us!! Ok enough with this we will have a steak for you at the bbq! Come home soon!!
 
leegscott, I have a question on how you wrapped the tubing in fiberglass. Is that a sleeve or did you take a sheet then wrap it and put the zip ties to keep it inplace while you applied the resin?

The rocket looks amazing! :clap:

Matt
 
It is a sleeve. It was my first time using one. I pulled it as tight as I could and zipped tied it to a pipe that I ran on the inside of the tube with cenering rings loose. I then used a foam roller and west systems epoxy. Finally before primer I skim coated the entire tube with superfill to completely fill the weeve and sanded it smooth. I think the next time I use the sleeve I will probably put wrap one layer of 4oz on top of it.

Thanks
 
It is a sleeve. It was my first time using one. I pulled it as tight as I could and zipped tied it to a pipe that I ran on the inside of the tube with cenering rings loose. I then used a foam roller and west systems epoxy. Finally before primer I skim coated the entire tube with superfill to completely fill the weeve and sanded it smooth. I think the next time I use the sleeve I will probably put wrap one layer of 4oz on top of it.

Thanks

Lee,

I also use sleeves quite a bit. I use centering rings that I pound into each end of the tube with a rubber mallet to keep the sleeve tight against the body tube, then I can put a piece of pipe through the centering rings and put it between sawhorses and then I can rotate the tube on the pipe. Good luck on your level 3. I am doing mine in Two weeks.

Patrick
 
So David where are you at these days?? I am guessing either the east coast or the farmland. Jonathan and I will miss you at Rocstock but I know we will see you at LDRS right? School can wait right? At least for one week right?? So as far as the Level 3 launch goes, know worries the rocket gods are not going to get us!! Ok enough with this we will have a steak for you at the bbq! Come home soon!!

The farmland... actually just north of dixontj according to Google maps! Hoping to make it back for LDRS, there's a P motor I made that I really wanna see go :D Can't wait to make it back to the west coast and fly with y'all again. I'm sure you'll nail the L3!
 
Airplanes beware! Level 3 rocket coming for you!

Rocket looks really good from the picture! I look forward to seeing how the paint job ended up, me being the Art Department and all. :)
 
Thanks Trudy and good to here from you David.

I finished painting today and I am in the process of stripping the masking. I used Kiltz as a primer. Mainly like a high build primer. I put 6 coats of Kiltz two a day and then waiting overnight to sand with 400grit between the two coats. The paint is the old formula Krylon. I put on four coats again two a day always waiting at least 8 hours between coats. I used the blue painters tape and waited 4 days before masking the lines. I am pleased with the paint job. I took a deep breath each time I pulled the blue tape but all of the lines came out nice and crisp.

The first couple of pictures are of the forward section of the airframe. I had Mark with Stickershock make me the vinyl cylcone sticker and it really came out nice. THANKS MARK

GroundtestFinish014.jpg


GroundtestFinish023.jpg


The next couple of pictures are of the forward section of the booster. I used a scale that I made from cad and then marked the linesso that would be equally spaced. I then used the blue tape and followed up with paint.

GroundtestFinish016.jpg


GroundtestFinish015.jpg


GroundtestFinish026.jpg


The next two pictures are of the ebay which will contain the video cameras.

GroundtestFinish018.jpg


GroundtestFinish022.jpg


The final pictures are of the booster section.

GroundtestFinish029.jpg


GroundtestFinish029.jpg


GroundtestFinish033-1.jpg


GroundtestFinish034.jpg


Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get the sleds wired and put it all together and verify the CG / CP relationship
 
Man I miss old Krylon.... :(

Those are some very nicely finished rocket pieces! I am looking forward to the shot of the full stack... :D

Beautiful job sir!
 
Good Luck on your attempt!

Great looking paint job. Nice classic looking scheme.

When you get to the Av. bay, how about a little detail on the set up as to what electronics, sequence on the timing of airstarts, type of igniter for same.


ps.... if you got enough room....you might just want to stick the R-das in there to go along for the ride, the data it gets is really nice and the graphs are fun to analyze.
 
Last edited:
Following are a couple of pictures of the video cameras

GroundtestFinish049.jpg


GroundtestFinish051.jpg


GroundtestFinish050.jpg


Next is a picture of the sled for deployment. We are using a Perfectflite MAWD and a Arts2. We have used this combination on several rockets and they have worked perfect every time.

GroundtestFinish043.jpg


GroundtestFinish044.jpg


Next are several pictures of the sled for the airstarts. We are useing two Perfectflite timers and two 9v batteries wired in parallel.

GroundtestFinish035.jpg


GroundtestFinish038.jpg


GroundtestFinish036.jpg


GroundtestFinish040.jpg


GroundtestFinish042.jpg


Jim planning on launching the rocket with just a M1770skid to begin with to hopefully get the level 3. If we have time and weather permiting we will launch it again with a M1850 with airstarts of 2-J400ss and then two more J400ss. If not we will do it at LDRS. As far as method, we have been launching our upscale thor with airstarts for awhile now and plan to use the same methods. 1st if we use cesaroni motors we just use the J-tek by itself (already has a pyrodex pellet). If we use aerotech motors we again use the j-tek but we coat the top 1/2" of the grain with pyrogen and wedge a pyrodex pellet in the core. In both cases we wire the igniters in series. So far it has worked everytime! We also use two 9v batteries wired in series. As far as the RDAS we will have that section of the rocket ready for LDRS.
 
Wow.... :y:

I was feeling pretty good about my mad building skilz... :blush: Not so much any more.

That sir is a work of art, and I don't just mean the finish. Very impressive! Thanks for the details on your electronics setup.

Good luck with the launch
 
That is just sick Lee!:D Looks awesome! Do I sense a little tidiness OCD going on in the electronics sections?:p I have taken the liberty of saving a copy of your sled pictures to emulate it into my L3 build..

Best of luck on your L3 flight!:clap:
 
David

The flight went great and the onboard videos came out great!! I will get some pictures posted as soon as I get them! Rick D. took quite a few. I will also post a link to the videos as soon as I can. They really came out nice. I am still shocked how clear they are!! The rocket only twisted a 1/4 turn the whole way up. The one camera got a great shot of the mountains. The other camera got great shots of the skid M1770.

Thanks
 
So, now you need to change your sig line Lee! :D Congrats! Eagerly awaiting pictures and video! ;)
 
So I talked to Lee a couple days ago and he told me to go ahead and post this pic I got of his flight. Unfortunately my camera is slow, so this is the only good one I got:

Lee_L3.jpg


The flight was perfect, as were the conditions. All in all it was a great day! Nice job, Lee. Congrats again!
 
Thanks Chris. I have been busy with Thanksgiving and trying to find time to edit the videos. It has been a little more difficult this time as the videos are a MOV HD format. The first video camera (down) conversion went easy. However, I am still working to get the video from the 2nd camera (side)converted to a format I can edit. But for now I will post some pictures that Stephen took as well as a couple of clips from the down camera.

714587305_KpLXw-O.jpg


CycloneLaunch1.jpg


CycloneLaunch4.jpg


CycloneLaunch2.jpg


CycloneLaunch3.jpg


Picturejpg2.jpg


Picturejpg3.jpg


Picturejpg4.jpg


Picturejpg1.jpg


CycloneRecovery3.jpg


Cyclonerecovery2.jpg


CycloneRecovery1.jpg


Again thanks to all of my friends that helped!! I will post links to the video as soon as it is complete.
 
Back
Top