Performance Rocketry Competitor 4

Onebadhawk
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Hi Dan,

wonderful pics - must be a bulletproof rocket...

BTW: How long did you wait to get your kit?

I´am waiting for my Nike Smoke now for 3 month, agreed 6 weeks.

High-end product, low-end service....

Eberhard
 
Took me about 2 weeks. Not too bad. The product is definately worth the wait!!!

I did more construction. All the fins are attached, and I did the first set of fillets. Here are the fins pre-fillet.
 
Here they are with the fillet. Thickened epoxy with milled fiberglass.
 
Here are the 4 altimeter bay bulkheads drilled. The light colored one is the one I made to fit on the inside of the coupler. Curtis only provided three (1 that fits the ID of the coupler, two that fit the ID of the tube), and I felt I needed the fourth to seal the other end of the altimeter bay a little better.

It's 1/16" G10, and oddly enough is the thinnest piece of G-10 in the rocket!
 
Here are the two external bulkheads drilled for the U-Bolts. The internal bulkheads will be drilled through once they are glued together so that the holes are coincidental.
 
And lastly, here are the bulkheads being glued together. The one that I made is not perfect, so the holes will be drilled to match the other bulkhead later.
 
I get lazy when I'm almost done with a project.

The rocket only needs railbuttons to be flightworthy. It will probably fly in April on either a 54-800 blue, or even a 38-900 of some sort.
 
Ok Dan - it's now been almost two months.......
More updates please!!!

I am presently waiting for my Performance Rocketry Little John and parts to build a 4.5" Tube Fin. The Little John may sit and wait till next winter. The Tube Fin is for NERRF!!!

If possible - please post more construction details of your E-Bay. I am intersted in how you constructed it and how you are attaching it both fore and aft. Is it glued to either side? Or is it screwed into both sides? Vent hole in the 1 5/16" ring?
Thanks
 
Just wondering...I have the same kit...how did you attach your recovery harness to the fin can...for flying m2200 skidmarks I was just going to use an eyebolt in the motor casing....but for 54mm and smaller 75mm stuff ,there just doesn't seem to be room for eyebolts. How about your solution? Jim H.
 
I have no permanent eyebolt in the fincan, just using the tops of the motors I plan to fly in it.

Greg - Those models sound good!! Here is a pic of the altimeter sled.
 
That's just the back showing my switch technique...I will get around to posting more altimeter bay stuff soon..here's the booster primed.
 
I just posted a bunch of pictures at the NERRF forum site. Check them out...

Pictures

The planned flights include a 54-800 purple as a shakedown, and then 4 29-450 motors at NERRF, equalling a 0.7s burn, 1800ns K2500. Should get mach and around 5,000'.
 
It worked. 54-1200 smokey motor, probably a J600 or so. perfect flight to 2,934', and touch down less than 200' from the pad.
 
It's finished, flown once on the smokey J, and ready for NERRF.
 
Put a big motor in it! Flew mine on an CTI L1115 to 14057'. Great flight but I had to bribe the unfriendly land owner to get it back.
 
Wow, very nice! I am putting a 76-3000 Purple L1000 into it. I'm looking at 8-9k' max.

050605_Grains.jpg


Those are the grains. Ready to fly!
 
I'm quickly trying to slam mine together for a launch this weekend.

The motor section is finished - the JBWeld is drying on the Aeropack retainer.

I machined a real air-foil taper onto the aft ends of the fins - looks much better than the rounded edge Curtis provides.

For the recovery harness, I did what the same thing I've used in many rockets that are not built for motor ejection.....

I take a length of 9/16th TN and glue it into the motor mount. First I file a flat spot on two opposite spots on the inside of the top CR. Then I take the TN and lay it along the sides of the top of the motor mount and hold it there with a three tie wraps. I loop it around the middle tie wrap and keep it flat with the upper and lower ones. Apply a liberal amount of epoxy and shove the top CR down over the MMT with the TN dressed into the slots.

I thread an big swivel onto the TN, so it's always there.
I make the resulting TN loo long enough so that it can reach out both ends of the rocket.
I push it out the aft end, pass the swivel though the eye-bolt on the motor, then shove the motor in. The swivel then gets pulled out the top and attached to the rest of the recovery harness.

This way I always have two pieces of TN being pulled out the top of the body, for better zipper resistance. I always have the swivel and I also have the motor attached to the recovery.

Works great, has never failed me.
 
Anybody done a rocsim model of the Competitor-4.

I have not had a chance, and I'm wondering if I need any nose weight. Curtis is notorious for fins on the small side.

Don't need to go skywriting when I jam an M in this weekend.
 
Dan - she looks great!!
Mine is coming together - nothing like a deadline to hurry the build!!! All the tubes are attached and I'm just laying in some fillets before the booster is ready for paint. The other tubes just need attachment to the e-bay and they are ready for paint. Nose cone already has primer on it.
 
At the last launch I was at saw one of these fly nicely on a K1100. Maybe try it on a K1100 or a K700.
 
Subject says it all - I'd like to know the Cp location for the Perf. Rocketry Competitor-4.

I've changed mine internally, but the stock Cp should be close if you ignore the AeroPack conical retainer.

Don't want it going all loopy on me.

I've got motors to build, don't want to sit in front of Rocsim tonight. As it is, it's going to fly naked - no time to paint.

Actually, naked seems to be the trend for EX'ers. ;-)
 
I just got this rocket painted professionally. My friends dad painted it for free, and it's amazing!!! I will let the pics speak for themselves.

It's fire engine red basecoat, with a pearlescent top coat with a touch of silver...it's amazing.









 
that looks awesome!!!!!!
you;re not gonna FLY it, are you????

:eek:
 

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