Problem About Nose Cone

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xpertas

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So I'm making a rocket which apogee's is 6233.60 ft, max velocity is 213 m/s and max acceleration is 72.5 m/s^2. So problem is my nose cone doesn't fit so well in body tube. I can feel the ledge when I touch between nose cone and body tube and the ledge is nearly 1mm. Is it a big problem?
 
Which part is the "ledge" on? Nosecone or body tube? If it's on the body tube, then that will increase the drag. However, 1mm is not too bad. Do you have a nosecone that's meant for a thin wall body tube, and you have a standard wall thickness body tube? Post an image of the coupling. Does the nosecone coupler fit properly in the body tube?

You could sand the edge to profile it to match the other edge.
 
Last edited:
Actually I can't post my rocket right now however I can paint what it looks like. Nose cone has slipped 1-1.5 mm.
 

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How thick is the body tube? Assuming the nose cone is actually conical as drawn, it should work fine to just sand it to match the taper of the nose cone, or even blend the transition with a radius. Won't be as good as if the seam was at the full OD of the tube, but much better than a step. Work on making the edge of the cone and the edge of the tube both very clean and crisp to minimize the disruption caused by the seam. Fortunately, at 213 m/s, you don't have to worry about any transonic/shock wave issues.
 
Which part is the "ledge" on? Nosecone or body tube? If it's on the body tube, then that will increase the drag. However, 1mm is not too bad. Do you have a nosecone that's meant for a thin wall body tube, and you have a standard wall thickness body tube? Post an image of the coupling. Does the nosecone coupler fit properly in the body tube?

You could sand the edge to profile it to match the other edge.
I'm not going to sand if it's not necessary because I already painted the rocket. However If it's necessary I will sand the edge.
 
How thick is the body tube? Assuming the nose cone is actually conical as drawn, it should work fine to just sand it to match the taper of the nose cone, or even blend the transition with a radius. Won't be as good as if the seam was at the full OD of the tube, but much better than a step. Work on making the edge of the cone and the edge of the tube both very clean and crisp to minimize the disruption caused by the seam. Fortunately, at 213 m/s, you don't have to worry about any transonic/shock wave issues.
Thickness is nearly 2mm fiberglass
 
How thick is the body tube? Assuming the nose cone is actually conical as drawn, it should work fine to just sand it to match the taper of the nose cone, or even blend the transition with a radius. Won't be as good as if the seam was at the full OD of the tube, but much better than a step. Work on making the edge of the cone and the edge of the tube both very clean and crisp to minimize the disruption caused by the seam. Fortunately, at 213 m/s, you don't have to worry about any transonic/shock wave issues.
To be honest my drawing is terrible so it's not conical actually it's power series and the parameter is 0.7
 
It's real photo of the nose cone however rocket is at the workshop right now so I can't take another shot which is way more closer.
 

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It won't matter at all, it just won't go as high. Maybe it'll go 6150' rather than 6233'.

If that minor reduction in altitude is important to you, then sand it.
 
It won't matter at all, it just won't go as high. Maybe it'll go 6150' rather than 6233'.

If that minor reduction in altitude is important to you, then sand it.
So you're saying the rocket can't wobble and crash because of something that small.
 
I think it will fly just fine as long as the nose cone fits tight enough that it won't drag separate. If you want to fix it, you could either sand the top of the body tube as others have suggested, or, depending on the NC material, use some Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty to build up a fillet on the bottom edge of the NC.
 
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