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A bit over a decade ago, I flew my first dual deploy flight ever on a three-grain 54mm research motor in a BSD 4" Little John built by the legendary @blackjack2564 , whom you might know as Crazy Jim.
Crazy Jim is one of those people that always kept my ridiculous and unattainable rocketry dreams alive. Unfortunately, I sold the rocket about 10 years ago. So, when Mad Cow had a huge sale back in 2020, I decided it was time for me to buy another. Over two years later, I finally started working on it!
Step one was to wrap the airframe with two layers of 6oz fiberglass. While I was at it, I put a layer of 6oz glass on each side of the fins. They're 1/4" ply, they certainly don't need it. However, this is effectively going to future proof this rocket for any motor I could fit in it.
Speaking of which, I cut the tube down to a split of 21 and 10 inches, respectively, so that I can fit the 54/1706 case with the extended forward closure. K185, anyone?
I also cut down the motor tube to just 8 inches so I'd have adequate recovery room.
After the basic assembly, as usual, I put a set of fillets on it to finish the major parts of the build. Now it's just a matter of sanding, painting, and finishing as well as putting an electronics bay together. Not sure what I'll fly it on as of yet, but I've got a few options kicking around the motor stash!
Braden
P.S. - you can watch the build below!
Crazy Jim is one of those people that always kept my ridiculous and unattainable rocketry dreams alive. Unfortunately, I sold the rocket about 10 years ago. So, when Mad Cow had a huge sale back in 2020, I decided it was time for me to buy another. Over two years later, I finally started working on it!
Step one was to wrap the airframe with two layers of 6oz fiberglass. While I was at it, I put a layer of 6oz glass on each side of the fins. They're 1/4" ply, they certainly don't need it. However, this is effectively going to future proof this rocket for any motor I could fit in it.
Speaking of which, I cut the tube down to a split of 21 and 10 inches, respectively, so that I can fit the 54/1706 case with the extended forward closure. K185, anyone?
I also cut down the motor tube to just 8 inches so I'd have adequate recovery room.
After the basic assembly, as usual, I put a set of fillets on it to finish the major parts of the build. Now it's just a matter of sanding, painting, and finishing as well as putting an electronics bay together. Not sure what I'll fly it on as of yet, but I've got a few options kicking around the motor stash!
Braden
P.S. - you can watch the build below!
). It basically started spraying plaster. So, while the paint was still soft, I decided to get after it with a non-marring scraper.
