lcorinth
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- Aug 5, 2014
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I started this rocket a few days before beginning the Nike Smoke build, and a couple weeks before starting the Leviathan build. While the Nike Smoke is built and just needs paint, and the Leviathan is ready to fly (for an L1 cert), the Ventris has taken me a little longer. Heck, they all took a long time, as I chipped away at them bits at a time.
I opened the package a year ago today, and laid out the parts. Nice looking kit!
The payload section is a little small.
I took a while to consider what I'd fly in this thing - a camera? Some kind of hot wire cutter for deployment? If need be, I could enlarge the payload by cutting open the base of the nose cone (in the end, I decided I'd just use a Jolly Logic altimeter, so there's plenty of room. I have three of these, so I can consider different options on different builds).
I really like the fins on the Ventris...
But I had to think about what to do with these. I tend to shape the fins on my smaller rockets. Rounding or beveling the leading edges of these would be simple, but with the curved trailing edge, I wasn't so sure. Maybe I'd try it, maybe not. I have streamlined balsa fins with curved trailing edges before, on a couple of Cosmic Explorers, and they look pretty nice.
And I did manage to do the same with plywood fins, on the Leviathan build:
[video=youtube;AI2jtedVBwI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI2jtedVBwI[/video]
But since I have three of these, I decided to keep it simple, and leave the fins square.
The launch lugs on the Ventris come with balsa standoffs, about 1/4 inch high, made from two pieces of balsa you glue together.
For this rocket, I wanted to use some of the mini-buttons from rail-buttons.com, which fit a metric rail. I have one, and one of our club members also has one, which can clamp right onto our 1010 rails. So, I'd need to figure out how to make a standoff. If I tried to use the balsa here, I would probably just split it in two.
I sanded the motor tube, and as per instructions, stretched out the green paper "spacer ring" by pressing it down over the nose cone. Finally, as I always do, I marked the forward and aft ends of the motor tube.