- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
- Messages
- 32
- Reaction score
- 54
I used to think I was too good for motor retainers and didn’t want to dream of spending a dime on anodized aluminum for my leightweight rockets.
I had not yet encountered anything in life that couldn’t be fixed with electrical tape. Naturally it became my form of motor retention for my 24mm rockets. After about 6 flights on E and F motors I had an omen. (Image 1) 24/40 casing was nearly ejected out the aft end of my favorite rocket. So I learned my lesson and added an additional wrap of electrical tape to my preflight procedure.
7 flights later (it’s always flight 13) the case was ejected from the rocket at apogee (~900ft). I knew it landed close by since the flight was arrow straight. After a bit of pacing through the field, the sun began to set and I was without casing. The field is huge (it’s called “60 Acres Park”) and the grass is normally short but it’s at least 24.1mm tall making the motor not easy to find. The field gets muddy so while it rained for two days, I didn’t make the drive to look for the casing. On day 3 I spent a few hours of an audiobook and a mild sunburn walking through the field until I found o’ reliable (image 2), more beaten up than she deserved. A bath of vinegar and a thorough scrub later, everything was in good shape.
To celebrate the recovery, I spent some money on various motor retention mechanisms for my fleet. It might not be the most fun money to spend, or the most efficient use of mass on a rocket, but it sure beats hours of walking through a field looking down at grass.
Bonus picture of the offender/rocket in flight.
I had not yet encountered anything in life that couldn’t be fixed with electrical tape. Naturally it became my form of motor retention for my 24mm rockets. After about 6 flights on E and F motors I had an omen. (Image 1) 24/40 casing was nearly ejected out the aft end of my favorite rocket. So I learned my lesson and added an additional wrap of electrical tape to my preflight procedure.
7 flights later (it’s always flight 13) the case was ejected from the rocket at apogee (~900ft). I knew it landed close by since the flight was arrow straight. After a bit of pacing through the field, the sun began to set and I was without casing. The field is huge (it’s called “60 Acres Park”) and the grass is normally short but it’s at least 24.1mm tall making the motor not easy to find. The field gets muddy so while it rained for two days, I didn’t make the drive to look for the casing. On day 3 I spent a few hours of an audiobook and a mild sunburn walking through the field until I found o’ reliable (image 2), more beaten up than she deserved. A bath of vinegar and a thorough scrub later, everything was in good shape.
To celebrate the recovery, I spent some money on various motor retention mechanisms for my fleet. It might not be the most fun money to spend, or the most efficient use of mass on a rocket, but it sure beats hours of walking through a field looking down at grass.
Bonus picture of the offender/rocket in flight.