Kirk G
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- Jan 9, 2012
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So today I took my Mega Mosquito out to fly again for the first time this spring. You will recall I built it last summer, and flew it a total of six times, on 3 D motors and 3 E motors. Five successful flights, though the Mylar chute started to melt.
Experiencing some singing of the Mylar parachute, I decided to swap it out for a yellow nylon reject from another rocketeer... and attached it with a fishing lure spring clip for my final flight of the year, last November. The shock of being opened before the rocket slowed sprung the clip, and the chute went floating away! The Mega Mosquito fell onto cut field grass, and survived without a break. Another veteran rocketeer offered to give me a brass swivel that was far more sturdy, and he looped it onto the shock cord about 1/3 of the way down from the nosecone. The yellow chute was rolled up and tucked inside the tube (WITHOUT RECOVERY WADDING) and sat all winter waiting.
Just before launching, I bought a new pack of D12-3 and prepared to launch, selecting a used red spacer to insert before the motor...which is held in place by a spring clip. Fortunately, a little voice told me to look for recovery wadding inside, and pulling the chute out, I found none in place. I took a hand of Dog Barf and dropped it inside as I normally do...but I also broke out two sheets of Estes Recovery wadding and wrapped it around the yellow nylon chute, to protected it from the gasses that had singed my last Mylar chute. Re-packing the chute, shock cord and nosecone inside, I assured that all was ready and prepared to launch.
I waited for the small breeze to slow, and then launched. The Mega Mosquito took off nicely, reached apogee or a little more, and then popped the nosecone off, BUT NO CHUTE DEPLOYMENT. The rocket and nosecone fell all the way to the short grass, but missed, and landed on a hard gravel road. Inspection reveals that one of the fins has cracked one side (fillet) but not the other. I examined the chute and wadding, and found the wadding was singed, but the chute was a little dirty but intact. I again carefully reloaded some Dog Barf, wrapped the chute a little tighter, and again wrapped 4 sheets of recovery wadding under the chute to protect it from hot gasses. Again, I reinserted everything in order...shock cord, chute, nosecone, and inserted the singed red spacer before walking and finding the final D12-3 motor and inserted it. The wire clip doesn't seem to be as tight, but it's still in there.
Again, I prepare to launch the final launch of the day, wait for the wind to die down, and again liftoff...sailing high, apogee, and then nosecone ejects, but nothing else. Again the rocket falls all the way to the cut grass surface, but this time, both sides of the fin fillet are cracked on that same fin. (Now, you'll have to note that when I assembled this bird originally, I didn't understand the necessity of gluing the root edge of the fin against the motor tube, and so though the fins are all filletted to the body tube, the inner most edge contacts the motor mount, but doesn't glue there...not at this time.)
As I walk to my car, I notice that the D engine has half ejected out the tail end of the rocket...no longer restrained by the metal clip. And as I get to looking inside the body tube, I find the Dog Barf and the yellow nylon chute both singed pretty darn good. I sit down in the drivers seat, and see laying in the green grass outside the door my singed red spacer...it may have fallen out of the rocket before I ever inserted the motor and I hadn't noticed. So I assume the last flight was without a spacer to take up space, force or blast. I had stepped on it as well, so it's now flattened anyway.
I am struggling to figure out what I have done wrong that my beloved Mega Mosquito will not eject a chute anymore. I have serious repair work on one fin if this bird will ever fly again. I have used up all my D motors at $5 each, and don't want to waste any more. Until or unless I am sure that it will eject and fly right.
What would you suggest I do to repair the fin?
Drill a hole in the rear centering ring and dribble wood glue down the root edge in a hope of gluing it in place?
Remove the fin and treat the end before re-inserting in the slot?
Use Super Glue? Carpenter Glue? Gorilla Glue?
How about the chute? Given that I'm using cord sewed into the 20" yellow nylon hexagonal chute, it's a little heavier, but now very soiled. I could remove it, wash it, but how to reattach? Should it be on the end of the nosecone? How about that brass swivel partway down the shock cord? I could move/remove that.
I have another red spacer for use if I need it for the next D motor, or should I try to reuse the original? And, I'm quite certain if the metal clip is still in place in the motor mount... I could bow it a little to hold better.
ANY advice would be welcome. I'd like to get several more flights out of this bird, rather than retire it. But what do you think?
I can post photos later to show any specific part.
Thanks.
PS: You may be wondering what came of the third D12-3 motor in that brand new pack. Just prior to these final two attempts with the MEGA Mosquito, I used the original motor in a Super Neon XL that had never flown, built just as the kit described down to the color scheme and fin placement..... And the bird flew perfectly. It went up, apogee, arced over and then ejected and opened the chute to a soft touch down on the cut grass surface. Very nice, satisfactory flight and performance. So I know the motors would appear to be correct and functioning well.
Experiencing some singing of the Mylar parachute, I decided to swap it out for a yellow nylon reject from another rocketeer... and attached it with a fishing lure spring clip for my final flight of the year, last November. The shock of being opened before the rocket slowed sprung the clip, and the chute went floating away! The Mega Mosquito fell onto cut field grass, and survived without a break. Another veteran rocketeer offered to give me a brass swivel that was far more sturdy, and he looped it onto the shock cord about 1/3 of the way down from the nosecone. The yellow chute was rolled up and tucked inside the tube (WITHOUT RECOVERY WADDING) and sat all winter waiting.
Just before launching, I bought a new pack of D12-3 and prepared to launch, selecting a used red spacer to insert before the motor...which is held in place by a spring clip. Fortunately, a little voice told me to look for recovery wadding inside, and pulling the chute out, I found none in place. I took a hand of Dog Barf and dropped it inside as I normally do...but I also broke out two sheets of Estes Recovery wadding and wrapped it around the yellow nylon chute, to protected it from the gasses that had singed my last Mylar chute. Re-packing the chute, shock cord and nosecone inside, I assured that all was ready and prepared to launch.
I waited for the small breeze to slow, and then launched. The Mega Mosquito took off nicely, reached apogee or a little more, and then popped the nosecone off, BUT NO CHUTE DEPLOYMENT. The rocket and nosecone fell all the way to the short grass, but missed, and landed on a hard gravel road. Inspection reveals that one of the fins has cracked one side (fillet) but not the other. I examined the chute and wadding, and found the wadding was singed, but the chute was a little dirty but intact. I again carefully reloaded some Dog Barf, wrapped the chute a little tighter, and again wrapped 4 sheets of recovery wadding under the chute to protect it from hot gasses. Again, I reinserted everything in order...shock cord, chute, nosecone, and inserted the singed red spacer before walking and finding the final D12-3 motor and inserted it. The wire clip doesn't seem to be as tight, but it's still in there.
Again, I prepare to launch the final launch of the day, wait for the wind to die down, and again liftoff...sailing high, apogee, and then nosecone ejects, but nothing else. Again the rocket falls all the way to the cut grass surface, but this time, both sides of the fin fillet are cracked on that same fin. (Now, you'll have to note that when I assembled this bird originally, I didn't understand the necessity of gluing the root edge of the fin against the motor tube, and so though the fins are all filletted to the body tube, the inner most edge contacts the motor mount, but doesn't glue there...not at this time.)
As I walk to my car, I notice that the D engine has half ejected out the tail end of the rocket...no longer restrained by the metal clip. And as I get to looking inside the body tube, I find the Dog Barf and the yellow nylon chute both singed pretty darn good. I sit down in the drivers seat, and see laying in the green grass outside the door my singed red spacer...it may have fallen out of the rocket before I ever inserted the motor and I hadn't noticed. So I assume the last flight was without a spacer to take up space, force or blast. I had stepped on it as well, so it's now flattened anyway.
I am struggling to figure out what I have done wrong that my beloved Mega Mosquito will not eject a chute anymore. I have serious repair work on one fin if this bird will ever fly again. I have used up all my D motors at $5 each, and don't want to waste any more. Until or unless I am sure that it will eject and fly right.
What would you suggest I do to repair the fin?
Drill a hole in the rear centering ring and dribble wood glue down the root edge in a hope of gluing it in place?
Remove the fin and treat the end before re-inserting in the slot?
Use Super Glue? Carpenter Glue? Gorilla Glue?
How about the chute? Given that I'm using cord sewed into the 20" yellow nylon hexagonal chute, it's a little heavier, but now very soiled. I could remove it, wash it, but how to reattach? Should it be on the end of the nosecone? How about that brass swivel partway down the shock cord? I could move/remove that.
I have another red spacer for use if I need it for the next D motor, or should I try to reuse the original? And, I'm quite certain if the metal clip is still in place in the motor mount... I could bow it a little to hold better.
ANY advice would be welcome. I'd like to get several more flights out of this bird, rather than retire it. But what do you think?
I can post photos later to show any specific part.
Thanks.
PS: You may be wondering what came of the third D12-3 motor in that brand new pack. Just prior to these final two attempts with the MEGA Mosquito, I used the original motor in a Super Neon XL that had never flown, built just as the kit described down to the color scheme and fin placement..... And the bird flew perfectly. It went up, apogee, arced over and then ejected and opened the chute to a soft touch down on the cut grass surface. Very nice, satisfactory flight and performance. So I know the motors would appear to be correct and functioning well.
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