The Emerald Star

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Neil

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(tentative name)



Well, I found a tube just sitting around from the tar paper that the contractor was putting on the roof of the inlaw apartment we are building... And I did what any good rocketeer would do: I grabbed it. Then I measured it. Then I went to Rocksim. :D

Just before I found the tube, I had almost decided that I wanted to buy the LOC Big Nuke. Something that I cant afford right now. So I am making a slightly smaller, shorter version out of the tube I found. I think I will call it the "Emerald Star". Its not carved in stone yet, though, so if you have a better idea, speak up... ;)

The tube is 128 MM ID, 136MM OD, with 4 MM wall thickness (I have metric calipers, and I am too lazy to translate... :rolleyes: ), and 36" long. With perfect shape.

The rocket will be pretty stubby compared to the rest of my rockets, only 66" tall. But, whos complaining. I just scored a tube for free which would have cost me $33 to buy from LOC Precision. :D

The rocket will have a single 54MM motor, triangular TTW fins (duh), a side-hatch electronics bay, and one of my parachutes to bring it home. And a nuts&bolts motor retention system.

Im going to build it like a tank...Im thinking of glassing the whole thing.... Not sure if it needs it, though, so I might not... But then again, I need glassing practice... So I guess I will. OK, 1 layer of 6 OZ glass, and, what the heck, tip to tip glassing. Overkill maybe, but I need glassing practice... :rolleyes:

So heres the rsim file....

Tell me what ya think!
 
I can't open the Rocksim because I only have version 5.

From the sounds of this thing, it's a brick. 4mm thick wall is pretty thick, almost 3/16". I doubt you'll need glass.

Since I can't see the Rocksim, what is your plan for a cone.

also, is it spiral wrapped, or straight wrapped tube?

my final question....where do you come up with these names...
 
Do you like the name or hate the name? :rolleyes:


Spiral wrapped... Just about the same as a LOC tube, ony the seams go down at a mcuh steeper angle.


Yes, I have my doubts about the need for glass too... But... Should I put a layer of 2 OZ glass for finishing purposes (the seams are pretty big...), or just leave it plain? I think one layer of 2 OZ would do it some good... I had to tear off some of the paper to get the tar from the tar paper off...


Well, heres how I come up with names:

I design the rocket, and once the rsim is finished, I go to close out of the program. It asks me what to name it. I sit there considering for 10-15 minutes (to the annoyment of whoever is waiting to use the computer after me), and finnaly come up with something. It takes anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes for something to pop into my head... :rolleyes: It usually has something to do with fire, flames, or LOTR. :D Fire in the Hole (fire), Shadow and Flame (LOTR), Firebird (fire), Emerald Star (nothing in particular... I had been sitting there trying to come up with a name for about half an hour and i was getting desperate...) ETC ETC ETC.
 
That is exactly how I come up with my names only I do it before I close out rocksim. I look at the flight sims and then I look at performance and looks combined and then I sit and I think and think. Then, instant name!
 
No Rocksim here, so I can't see the design :( But 5 foot 6, and 5 inches wide, it sounds like one heck of a rocket!

So, you've told us how you come up with a name. How about the paint scheme? Do you come up with it after the rocket's built, and try to fit it to the name?

Personally, I build the rocket first. Then I come up with a paint scheme (basically by sitting there and staring at the rocket, and then staring at my available paints, then back again). When it's all done I pick a name that meets the overall look and feel of the rocket (or that's the goal at least).
 
Well, first I design the rocket. Then I choose the paint scheme. Here are some of my fauvorites:

Red and Black
Red, yellow and blue
Green and silver
Yellow, orange and red
Orange and white

It all depends on which kinds of spray paint I have at the moment, though. :D

If you could see the rsim, the rocket will have a green nose and tube, with black fins.

I plan to turn the nosecone out of foam on a lathe, then glass it.
 
Not trying to be a buzz kill here, but just my .02

I think you might want to weigh this thing and do a mass override in rocksim, it might change more than a few things about your simulation and the CG
 
Havent gotten around to weiging it yet... But theres already a pound of weight in the nose in my design... Its proabably a lot heavier than rsim predicted (its telling me its under 10 pounds right now... That cant be right, can it?)
 
OK... I got the tube slotted, hatch cut, and coupler tube cut... The coupler brings to mind something else... The tube above the coupler. :D


The contractor put in a screened and roofed porch... :D Naturally, he used tar paper. Naturally, the tar paper came on a roll. Also naturally, he used the same kind of tar paper as last time, with the same tube in the middle...

So I was trying to climb up onto the roof to see what it looked like up there (dont ask. I was bored, and when I am bored, I climb. And this was the only thing for two miles that doesent have sap that sticks to my hands when I climb...))... And I saw he had finished tarpapering it. So I jumped down (no longer bored. :D), and ran towards the place where he dumps the trash to haul it away at the end of the week or whatever. And there is a perfect tube sitting there, and it as good as screamed "Make the Emerald Star 38" longer!!!!" So I cut a section of another tube about the same size to make a coupler out of... It worked, so now the rocket will be 100" finished instead of 62" finished! Its gonna be pretty cool.... Rsim sways itll only be 10 pounds, but I think itll be more like 15 dry.... Just got a feeling.

I was wondering about military surplus chutes... I found a place that sells 9' chutes, but im not sure what its made of, and I want to know its a good buy... I suppose I could make myself a chute the size of my choice, but I dont want to bother with it this time. :rolleyes: So... Are military parachutes good buys? Heres the link to where I saw it...
Military surplus chute. Scroll down. Its the 9 footer.


This rocket should be done (exept for nose cone, which will have to wait untill we get a late, sometime in September) within a few weeks... Should be fun! :)
 
Oh, and here is the rsim file... Tell me what ya think! :)
 

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