LVL 3 Cert ideas

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Dragoon

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So its that time where i break out the wallet and make it cry when i buy the lvl 3 rocket. That being said id like to do something different however i cant decide what. If all else fails ill buy a Wildman Darkstar Extreme because i love split fins but ive seen that cert flight about 8 times already and i havent even been in the hobby even half as long as most of you.

That being said heres what id like. Whats something you havent seen that youd like to see that is allowed for a cert 3. Whether it be a whole bunch of fins or a rocket only 3 people have ever heard of whatever the case may be throw it at me id love to hear the input you all have especially the vets around here.

Also this will be going up at AirFest this year if everything goes well.
 
Full scale Apollo launch escape tower.

*Edit: Better make it half scale...
 
3", minimum diameter, self designed.

I say that as I once considered that for my L3. I did my L3 with an Extreme Wildman.
 
It's your certification, so you are free to do whatever you choose, but I'm a fan of simple. I always recommend to people not to do something fancy for their cert flight, but to concentrate on maximizing their chances of success. Stick with what you already know; build a rocket that you can fly at your nearest fields; don't incur much debt.
I know that's boring and almost nobody ever takes my advice. That's perfectly fine as long as you enjoy the process.


Steve Shannon
 
It's your certification, so you are free to do whatever you choose, but I'm a fan of simple. I always recommend to people not to do something fancy for their cert flight, but to concentrate on maximizing their chances of success. Stick with what you already know; build a rocket that you can fly at your nearest fields; don't incur much debt.
I know that's boring and almost nobody ever takes my advice. That's perfectly fine as long as you enjoy the process.


Steve Shannon

:~(. I'll quietly cross off "I have a $500/yr rocketry budget so I'm going to build a $3500 rocket to fly in hardware I'm gonna have to borrow at a field that's so far away I can't afford to get there more than once in my life" off my list of possible build ideas.


In reality, I'm going the "safe" way. A 4" wildman that I'll be able to fly locally. Just because everyone's doing it, doesn't mean it isn't fun or cool. And it's probably a solid plan if that many people like it.
 
Pay attention to the minimum fineness requirement. That ends up ruling out many odd-roc types of things.
 
:~(. I'll quietly cross off "I have a $500/yr rocketry budget so I'm going to build a $3500 rocket to fly in hardware I'm gonna have to borrow at a field that's so far away I can't afford to get there more than once in my life" off my list of possible build ideas.


In reality, I'm going the "safe" way. A 4" wildman that I'll be able to fly locally. Just because everyone's doing it, doesn't mean it isn't fun or cool. And it's probably a solid plan if that many people like it.

That sounds perfect!

I've actually heard of rocketeers incurring a mortgage to do a large project. That's their prerogative, but I'm not going to do that.


Steve Shannon
 
What about a 1:1 scale missile (or sounding rocket)?
Like: AIM-9, AIM-120, AIM-54, Shrike, Exocet, Seawolf, Harpoon, Black Brant II..

How about a 6" Blue Bird Zero Upscale! (that would be, what, about 23' long!!)
 
That sounds perfect!

I've actually heard of rocketeers incurring a mortgage to do a large project. That's their prerogative, but I'm not going to do that.


Steve Shannon

I seem to recall that as well. I also remember the name, and the person shall remain nameless.
 
Ever heard of the IRIS-T? I think its its a cool looking Big-Missile.

Asking for a person: I suppose the L3 rules require the rocket to have fins.....?
 
That sounds perfect!

I've actually heard of rocketeers incurring a mortgage to do a large project. That's their prerogative, but I'm not going to do that.

man..... I don't even like putting something on a credit card. Sure, I got into a club simply looking for a better place to fly G80T's and things escalated a bit quick... but when you're putting your house up for a project, you may want to step back and think about things.
 
Find something in the upper L2 range and beef it up, add fins, etc. to make it have the requisite stability for a M motor. That is what I am doing, and it allows a $209 kit plus a single fin to perform like a $300 kit.
 
man..... I don't even like putting something on a credit card. Sure, I got into a club simply looking for a better place to fly G80T's and things escalated a bit quick... but when you're putting your house up for a project, you may want to step back and think about things.

I guess if you are single and childless, and you don't care what happens to your stuff after you die, then go ahead and borrow like a fool and then die and let them take your house.
 
A really big bottle rocket?

oh.. needs recovery... add an altimeter, and chute in a tube... :D
 
I guess I'm one of the guys you are referring to. I flew my Darkstar Extreme for my L3 at Airfest in 2014. No test flight, all my other Darkstars flew great, and I knew that "Red Tailed Extreme" would too.
010_1.jpg


Since then, I have flown it six more times. I also built an Ultimate, but have only flown it three times. It's a lot harder to prep and fly the Ultimate, and considerably more expensive.
My advise is to build something you like and will fly. If you are a split fin lover, the Extreme is the perfect rocket.
 
induction stabilization? I doubt you'd be able to get your L3 cert person to approve it though.

Highly unlikely lol. But someone out there laughed, so my mission is successful.


But to ward off the Super-Safers, I'll get back to reality.
I haven't seen any scale or sport scale IRISs out here yet.

Iris.png
 
I guess I'm one of the guys you are referring to. I flew my Darkstar Extreme for my L3 at Airfest in 2014. No test flight, all my other Darkstars flew great, and I knew that "Red Tailed Extreme" would too.
010_1.jpg


Since then, I have flown it six more times. I also built an Ultimate, but have only flown it three times. It's a lot harder to prep and fly the Ultimate, and considerably more expensive.
My advise is to build something you like and will fly. If you are a split fin lover, the Extreme is the perfect rocket.

+1.

Also, do not underestimate the amount of time it takes to complete a level 3 project. Airfest is just around the corner.
 
+1.

Also, do not underestimate the amount of time it takes to complete a level 3 project. Airfest is just around the corner.

This. I took 10 months....

Granted that is largely a function of how much free time you have.
 
My advice is to build something that can fly well under the waiver at your "home" field, whatever that may be.

If your waiver is 10K then build something that will do 3K - 5K on a small M. That will give you room to fly the larger "fun" motors you will find later.

If you want something different, think about up-scaling your favorite smaller rocket, like a 16" diameter Fat Boy?
 
This. I took 10 months....

Granted that is largely a function of how much free time you have.

Same here. 9 months, but I did not work at it regularly. But a lot of the time was spent posting questions on TRF and waiting for all the good answers to come in. Or needing to get to the HW store but can't go till the weekend, or stopping to build something smaller for another launch, or ....
 
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