LOC DoorKnob HED DD build

[Pyropetepete]

Can I ask a really random strange favour please. Could see how manny normal sized (80mm dia) tin cans you can fit (baked beans, soup etc) inside the dia of the body tube or coupler? Long story but a very cool effect for what it's for. Not food related

 

[ChrisAttebery]

Oh yeah Ari, I'm sure Sami would like to hang out with Lea sometime too.

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I had another great flight with the DoorKnob last weekend at LUNAR's last Snow Ranch launch for the season. I used a CTI K740 C-Star motor. The rocket screamed off the pad and flew with authority to 4243'. It took off so hard that it ripped both rail buttons right off. I also tried using the cable cutter with a 24" drogue. The main shook out of of the burrito at apogee but luckily the wind was fairly light so I only had a ~1/4 mile walk.

 

[ChrisAttebery]

The grass is starting to turn brown. :^(

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

That was a very cool launch. Huge rocket, gigantic flame, tremendous roar! What's not to like?

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I posted this in a new thread in the recovery section but I wanted to keep continuity in this thread so I copied the contents here:

I tried using a cable cutter on my 7.5" LOC Door Knob a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately the parachute came out at apogee. Luckily I didn't have to hike too far to recover it.

The rocket has a 58" parachute and a 24"x24" square nomex blanket from Top Flight Recovery. The blanket seemed way too big to me, but that was the recommended size for the airframe. I secured the bundle as tight as I could with the zip tie, but it just wasn't tight enough to keep the chute from unfurling.

I wanted a better way to keep the nomex securely closed until the cable cutter was activated. I remembered the way that racing car parachutes are bundled together, with a loop on one corner of the blanket passing through the other three corners. They are also tightly packed. After playing with it for a while I decided that a much smaller nomex could be used. I tried a 12"x12", but wound up using a 9"x9". I added a pair of grommets to each corner and then passed the zip tie through each pair. It is much more secure and the bundle is much smaller that before. It's only 4.5" x 4.5" x 2.5" now.

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[thobin]

Now thats a neat idea.

TA

 

[qquake2k]

Very clever!

 

[Red Phenix]

I've been busy today. I woke up and got the recovery system assembled, built a 2 gram ejection charge, and re-installed the altimeter. I used 2x 3/8" making tape strips to hold the nose on. I took the rocket out back and tested the ejection charge to make sure it was strong enough. After that I applied the decals on the nose and masked and painted the second color on the booster section.

[YOUTUBE]Iwrrmp-UYGw[/YOUTUBE]

Clever use of the vacuum cleaner - well done. Obvious, after you did it first. 👽

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I mentioned earlier that I saw this on someone else's youtube video. It was an "why didn't I think of that' moment.

Clever use of the vacuum cleaner - well done. Obvious, after you did it first. ��

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I flew the DoorKnob again yesterday on a CTI K515 Skidmark. It was a great flight and the RRC2+ beeped out 3667'. The main came out at apogee so my nomex blanket mod didn't seem to work. It landed in the middle of a plowed field so it was easy to track down and we were about to drive pretty close to where it landed. I had the Mobius camera on the rocket, but it sat on the pad for about 1/2 hour and the battery died after about 20 minutes.