LOC BIG NUKE 3E BUILD

[patelldp]

Wow! GREAT job on the paint! Looks automotive quality!

 

[Rocketeer Gator]

Paint looks great Jeff! Hope my current project turns out as sweet as the mirror finish.

 

[DAllen]

Dry weight so far without motor casing and recovery equipment is 12.2 pounds.

Nice! Even with the glassing that isn't bad for a rocket that size. At that weight it would even be fun on a lot of J motors.

 

[neond7]

I forgot to add the final design for the vinyl. The black text on the payload section will be a bit smaller than what is shown in the picture, also the "+" symbol will be on the other side of the tube opposite the other text.

I thought the "nuclear battery" theme paid homage to the LOC Big Nuke roots of this kit.

 

[DAllen]

I forgot to add the final design for the vinyl. The black text on the payload section will be a bit smaller than what is shown in the picture, also the "+" symbol will be on the other side of the tube opposite the other text.

I thought the "nuclear battery" theme paid homage to the LOC Big Nuke roots of this kit.

I like it but you forgot the negative symbol on the aft end.

 

[neond7]

Ground testing was completed this morning!

https://youtu.be/5_tn4-n1ZLs

Based on the ground testing results, I will use the following:

Drogue Primary: 1.5g
Drogue Backup: 2.0g

Main Primary: 2.0g
Main Backup: 2.25g

Those with sharp eyes will notice I failed to attached the 25ft Kevlar shock cord, which almost earned me a hole in our fence. Oops!! My wife would have killed me!!!

The "Duracell" vinyl should be arriving today per the tracking number from Stickershock23. Now that ground testing is complete I can paint the nose cone and this rocket will be ready to fly!!

 

[neond7]

The vinyl is on!! The nose cone is still in primer, should be done on a few days.

And as always, Mark from Stickershock did an awesome job.

Counting down the days and keeping an eye on the weather for maiden launch March 9th up in Bunnell.

 

[JP Morgan]

That looks fantastic!
Good job.

JP

 

[MasonH]

I am curious, why put the K700 and it's impulse down?

 

[neond7]

I am curious, why put the K700 and it's impulse down?

Good question! The quick answer is that rocket was built with goal of flying the K700W, although the first two flights will use K550W's.

The actual Duracell battery I based the design on has some 1.5v info there, along with the "AA" size. I thought the K700W specs were more appropriate along with AP Instead of AA.

 

[neond7]

Ready to fly tomorrow at the Tampa TTRA launch!! Final weight including the recovery gear is 15 lbs 11 oz. OpenRocket predicts 3700 ft on an Aerotech K550W.

Looking forward to an awesome day, weather prediction is almost too good to be true.

 

[Aksrockets]

Fantastic paint job, Neond. (as usual). I like your spin on the traditional paint schemes (duracell, coca cola and such).
Get some good video!

Alex

 

[Rocketeer Gator]

Man that looks sweet Jeff! I'll try and pay attention to get some launch pix and vid tomorrow.If ya get froggy I have K700 in the motor box. LOL
See ya out there bud.....

 

[MasonH]

Nice. Very, very nice.

 

[Rocketeer Gator]

It was a awesome flight Jeff!! Was great meeting ya down there just wish I had my camera under control to get some pix.

 

[neond7]

It was a awesome flight Jeff!! Was great meeting ya down there just wish I had my camera under control to get some pix.

Definitely a just plain awesome day! I got a few pics, meant to get more but I think I was just too excited.

It looked nice sitting next to csoechtig's Hyplerloc.

Final altitude was just under 3,300 ft. My original Openrocket calculation was done prior to adding the extra weight in the nose, so it came in lower than my first simulation predicted. I'll definitely be investing in some bigger motor hardware so I can stuff a K700 in there.

 

[MitchR]

I flew my Big Nuke 3E on an M1297 - 10,700ft and screaming - awesome flight! Love your build, never a bad choice. =)

 

[neond7]

I uploaded a video of yesterday's flight!

https://youtu.be/FJkgFkqEGFk

What a day, not a cloud in the sky........

 

[berlinetta]

Beautiful flight and recovery. What was your altitude?

 

[neond7]

Beautiful flight and recovery. What was your altitude?

Thank you. I was actually more nervous on this launch than I was my L2 flight last year.

I had done my first dual deploy flight earlier in the day on a LOC Fantom with an I435T to 2982'. It helped me build confidence for the Big Nuke launch.

Final altitude for the Nuke was 3236'. I'm hoping for a mile on a K700. I'm all stoked for an L3 attempt now!!

 

[mohmes]

Thank you for the great thread neond7!

I am thinking of building a Big Nuke 3E as well - looks like a great, solid rocket - especially the way you built it. However, as a recent BAR I still need to complete my L1 cert. LOC Precision shows that you can fly this rocket on an I engine, but I am worried that if I go through the glassing process that it might be too heavy. Do you think your build could fly on an I engine?

One thought was to go ahead and glass everything but do the L1 cert flight with only the main parachute, nose, and main lower tube, leaving the electronics bay, drogue, and upper tube section out - thus a single deploy instead of a dual deploy. I could then reassemble everything to carry out the L2 cert and subsequent flights.

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this. Thanks.

 

[neond7]

Thank you for the great thread neond7!

I am thinking of building a Big Nuke 3E as well - looks like a great, solid rocket - especially the way you built it. However, as a recent BAR I still need to complete my L1 cert. LOC Precision shows that you can fly this rocket on an I engine, but I am worried that if I go through the glassing process that it might be too heavy. Do you think your build could fly on an I engine?

One thought was to go ahead and glass everything but do the L1 cert flight with only the main parachute, nose, and main lower tube, leaving the electronics bay, drogue, and upper tube section out - thus a single deploy instead of a dual deploy. I could then reassemble everything to carry out the L2 cert and subsequent flights.

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this. Thanks.

I would have to say, no way this would fly on an "I" motor as assembled, and if you leave out the upper tube and av-bay, the CG would probably be too far back. The non-dual deploy version of the big nuke has a longer body tube to get the CG further forward. You should have at least a 10 to 1 thrust to weight ratio.... an "I" motor just wouldn't cut it. Even a "J" wouldn't get barely get it high enough to make dual deploy worthwhile. I built this thing for "K" and "L" motors so I could gain experience before I started my L3 project.

Instead of compromising it try to get both certs on the same rocket, build a LOC IV or something along those lines (and easy on the wallet) and get a quick and easy L1 on an "H" motor. Or better yet, since you are aiming for an L2, build something like the LOC Fantom EXL or Binder Design Excel, which would fly great on an "I" and give you experience with dual deploy before diving into a bigger/heavier/more complex build.

 

[mikec]

I would have to say, no way this would fly on an "I" motor as assembled...

I agree. FWIW, I flew my Big Nuke 3E (fairly lightly constructed, no fiberglassing) on an I540 for my first dual deploy. But it only made it to 1700 feet, so obviously the DD was unnecessary.

 

[berlinetta]

I won't fly my Big Nuke on anything less than a J. My Big Nuke 3E has only two flights on it with both on M1500Gs.

 

[mohmes]

Thanks guys - I figured it was a bit too big for an "I" but I wanted to get some expert opinions. I will play with something else until I am ready for my L2.

 

[neond7]

My Big Nuke had its third flight last weekend, first time using a K700W. Really a killer motor for that rocket.

[video=youtube_share;cLaH1TZDnuk]https://youtu.be/cLaH1TZDnuk[/video]

 

[csoechtig]

Nice flight Jeff - - - We need to drag race our Big Nukes at some point. Dual K700's would be something to see!

 

[berlinetta]

Awesome flight. 5100 ft blew away your prediction. You may also like the K550 for it as well. My Big Nuke went to 4289 feet on that motor. After seeing your flight, I want to fly the K700.

 

[neond7]

Awesome flight. 5100 ft blew away your prediction. You may also like the K550 for it as well. My Big Nuke went to 4289 feet on that motor. After seeing your flight, I want to fly the K700.

I've had two K550W flights with this rocket - awesome motor! Your Nuke must be a lot lighter than mine, as I only get a little over 3,000'. I'll always regret all that nose weight I added.... I had downloaded a RockSim file somebody created, and they had configured a CG override. From that experience, I always load up rockets in their flight configurations and manually determine the CG.

I bought three more reloads recently - a K805G, a K695R, and a K540M. I might fly the K540M in my Thor clone, though. Last weekend I used my first metalstorm motor (J340M) in my Binder Design Excel and wasn't very impressed. I'm eager to fly the K805G since I'm planning on flying an M1500G for my L3 attempt. I want to see a big green motor in person.

 

[neond7]

Nice flight Jeff - - - We need to drag race our Big Nukes at some point. Dual K700's would be something to see!

Chris - I think that can be arranged. I won't get my hopes up for a win..... my Nuke is a big, fat, heavy pig. :flyingpig:

I'm still thinking about a K456DM for it - low, slow, loud and plenty of smoke and fire. Hopefully in a few months there will be enough rain to green up the field so we can fly sparkies.