Fred Garvin
Male Strumpet
- Joined
- May 22, 2013
- Messages
- 1,686
- Reaction score
- 5
For my NARTREK Silver Level, I have to build and fly a cluster rocket of at least 3 motors. I chose the Cerberus from Rocketarium. This sleek bird flies on 3 18mm motors, from A's to C's......I bet she really screams on 3 C6's......
Pretty standard fare kit, it was packaged well and everything was there.
Laying out all the parts, seems to be a nice kit. I do not like the chute though, it's like a very thin plastic bag from the dry cleaners. I'm going to replace it with a better one.
First order of business is to assemble the motor mounts. There are 3 tubes for 18 mm motors, 3 thrust rings and a bulkhead...sort of a change from the typical centering rings, but the body tube functions as that. Install the thrust rings:
Then glue the tubes together. Carefully glue the first two and when setup, add the third tube taking care to make sure they're even:
Then install the bulkhead to the end with the thrust rings. It's an exact fit, getting them centered up on the bulkhead. I also filleted the joint between the motors:
The fins are two part. They're pretty thick, but man they're the softest balsa I've ever worked with:
The instructions have you install the rear fins first, and when setup install the longer front fins to them and the body tube. I decided to deviate a bit and glue the fins together, taking care to get them even. Once setup, I'll sand them together, then sand each one, rounding the edges. I'll be able to get them even and like each other, much better this way:
The motor tube assembly is inserted and glued into the body tube leaving 3/16" of the motor assembly exposed.
That's it for the night....I'll let everything cure overnight and get the rocket glued up tomorrow. If I start early enough I might get a coat of primer on tomorrow night.
I also have a glider to build...I chose the Astron Skydart II....I hope to get a 30 second flight out of it....a guy had one at the last launch and it was setup well...the flights were really nice...big slow circles all the way back down.
Pretty standard fare kit, it was packaged well and everything was there.
Laying out all the parts, seems to be a nice kit. I do not like the chute though, it's like a very thin plastic bag from the dry cleaners. I'm going to replace it with a better one.
First order of business is to assemble the motor mounts. There are 3 tubes for 18 mm motors, 3 thrust rings and a bulkhead...sort of a change from the typical centering rings, but the body tube functions as that. Install the thrust rings:
Then glue the tubes together. Carefully glue the first two and when setup, add the third tube taking care to make sure they're even:
Then install the bulkhead to the end with the thrust rings. It's an exact fit, getting them centered up on the bulkhead. I also filleted the joint between the motors:
The fins are two part. They're pretty thick, but man they're the softest balsa I've ever worked with:
The instructions have you install the rear fins first, and when setup install the longer front fins to them and the body tube. I decided to deviate a bit and glue the fins together, taking care to get them even. Once setup, I'll sand them together, then sand each one, rounding the edges. I'll be able to get them even and like each other, much better this way:
The motor tube assembly is inserted and glued into the body tube leaving 3/16" of the motor assembly exposed.
That's it for the night....I'll let everything cure overnight and get the rocket glued up tomorrow. If I start early enough I might get a coat of primer on tomorrow night.
I also have a glider to build...I chose the Astron Skydart II....I hope to get a 30 second flight out of it....a guy had one at the last launch and it was setup well...the flights were really nice...big slow circles all the way back down.
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