New guy. asking for BIG Daddy tips,??

[William]

Guess I got lucky I just got the big daddy, now i here thay discontinud it, to bad. so i am asking for any tips to make it better, or modifications that any one will share, thanks.

 

[Donaldsrockets]

Make sure your nose cone isn't too tight. A friend of mine had his Big Daddy lawn dart on it's second flight due to the nose cone being too tight and that was AFTER I sanded the crap out of it to make it fit.

Oh BTW, use an 18 inch parachute, the included 24 inch chute is too big and can result in excessive drifting.

Good luck.

 

[William]

ya the 24" chut is big i was also thinking about going with nylon.

 

[William]

with out sounding stupid, what stops me from flying big daddy on E motors??

 

[Karl]

Nothing but on E motors, make sure you only use the 18" 'chute that you where going to use. And make sure you have a reasonable legnthed 4/5mm launch rod.
Karl

 

[JStarStar]

Is the motor mount tube long enough to accommodate the longer E motors (3.75" vs 2.75")??

I haven't built my kit yet but I just normally do that now with any D-engine kit I build - build the motor mount an inch longer so it can use E's.

I keep a few extra BT-50s sitting around to cut longer motor mount tubes if needed. I also picked up a half-dozen longer E-engine hooks to use in the mounts.

If it just has a stock D engine mount, you could fly it quick and dirty with the D engine hook simply taped to the side of the E engine, instead of snapped over the end.

Keep in mind E engines are both longer and heavier than D's so there may be some CG ramifications. Make sure your CG/CP situation is still ok - you may need to add some weight to the nose cone. Do a swing test with a loaded engine before you fly. I think the Big Daddy is ok with an E engine. But make sure before you launch.

 

[William]

ya the engin mount is long enought, but i already glued the green ring in it to acomidate the D engin, but i havent glued the hole engin assemble into the bt yet, so can i take and cut a bt-50 tube to make a new mount, then glue it in with out that green ring. so i can fly it with D and E's i dont really nead that green ring in there do I ??

 

[rocketkid88]

green ring = thrust ring, must have IMO.
If you have some other BT-50 and a spent 24mm motor, though, your good to go. just cut a .25" or so section off of the old engine and install like you would have the 'green ring', only 1" higher. Also, use a pliers to bend the top of the motor hook out so that it won't stick into the MMT (or get a 3.75" long motor hook).

My Big Dady is still waiting to be built, but its going to get a 3.75" 24mm central mount with 4 18mm out boards... Like they said before, check your CG/CP. I'm going to take the botom of the NC off and epoxy a bolt in the NC so i can have removable weight... this probobly isn't necesary for what your doing, but you may want to consider it.

And get a nylon 'cute if you can... i just got some in today from Neil, of which i plan on putting the 18" one in my Big Dady!

Also, why stop at an E9... go for an F21

 

[BlueNinja]

You do not need the green thrust ring. You can use masking tape wrapped around the nozzle end of the motor to keep it from flying through the rocket. Yes this works, I have seen a pic of an O motor with masking tape retention.

 

[Zonker]

If you're looking to try something different, go for a 24mm cluster. My big daddy flies great on 4 D12s. Switched to a nylon 24" chute, made my own fins from 3/16 plywood, added nose weight and used a kevlar heat shield. Works flawlessly every flight! (so far....probably shouldn't have said that Puts on a good show, but stays nice 'n low so I can find it.

Zonker

 

[Karl]

I dont mean to hijack the thread but.... I have a 4x 24mm Big Daddy too Zonker. How much noseweight did you need?
Cheers
Karl

 

[loopy]

With mine, I coated the centering rings with epoxy to strengthen them a little, replace the balsa fins with basswood, used a LOC/Precision 24mm motor tube with an Estes E length hook. For recovery, I wrapped a piece of kevlar line around the motor tube behinde the upper CR, then fed it through and out the top of the body tube about 4 inches, then tied a loop, and attached an elastic line to the nose cone (about four times the length of the original shock cord). I use a heat shield and the nylon chute from my AT Mustang when I fly it, and it flies on 24mm composite reloads, and loves it. I added some nose weight, but can't remember exactly how much off the top of my head. I think I just added nose weight in the same amount as the weight of an F12 reload, since that's the heaviest motor I would put it up on, since the F12 is heavier than the other reloads.

Loopy

 

[sandman]

The Este "E" motor is PERFECT for the Big Daddy.

Move the thrust ring up an inch and add a longet motor hook.

I make my own motor hooks out of old wiper blade metal inserts.

 

[grimlock3000]

Here is what I did when I built my Big Daddy. I used a much longer shock cord, nylon chute + swivel, created a baffle to free up room in the BT, and used a wire lead for the shock cord attachment. Not shown is the doubled up centering rings, and the epoxy fillets for the fins, and added weight in the nose (two nickels):

This rocket was awesome, I built it to fly on Fs. Got stuck in a tree on its first flight on a D12, never recovered It was a nice flight though, very pretty rocket in the air and mine flew perfectly with the mods I listed.

Goodbye Big Daddy:

 

[Zonker]

Karl,

I ended up adding 4oz of weight to the nose. You might be able to get away with a little less depending on the construction methods used.

Zonker

 

[cydermaster]

Along with the HIGHLY recomended mod of putting a smaller 'chute in; I tied & epoxyed some kevlar thread to the motor tube, so as to mount the shock cord the Quest way. I also added a 4" square of nomex, to reduce the amount of wadding needed.

I've got another Big Daddy, in the post at present, from Hobbylinc. I'm gonna be putting 1x24mm and 4x18mm motor-mounts into it! :evilgrin:

 

[JRThro]

Originally posted by william
Guess I got lucky I just got the big daddy, now i here thay discontinud it, to bad. so i am asking for any tips to make it better, or modifications that any one will share, thanks.

william,

I bet that if you use the "search" button at the top of the page, and search for something like "Big Daddy modifications" or "Big Daddy cluster", you'd find all sorts of cool threads with just what you're looking for.