The Fun (and Challenging) Project Sale

[dixontj93060]

I'm putting this in as a placeholder for a sale to start on Friday (it will take me the next four days to gather up and inventory everything).

In a similar vein to my recent 3/4 Nike Smoke sale, due to my joint condition I have to dial down the scope of my HPR ambitions.

Right now I have a handful of high performance designs, which I have had on the drawing board, and have gathered parts for over the last decade. These are mostly carbon fiber and aluminum airframes and fins of carbon fiber plate and honeycomb laminates, and include 80%+ of what is needed to build the finished rockets. I am going to sell each parts set and pass along the Rocksim files for these designs. I'd like to see someone take advantage and build some screaming, high performance rockets! These are perfect for Black Rock or other high waiver venue.

Due to the intent of the designs and the materials used, I will only sell these to experienced L2 and L3 flyers. The package pricing on these will be at a considerable discount over what I paid, and certainly much better than current pricing on a kit/components that would be acquired today.

Please stay tuned.

From the Ether...

 

[blackbrandt]

A high performance build is in my future... you have my interest

 

[Cl(VII)]

I'm putting this in as a placeholder for a sale to start on Friday (it will take me the next four days to gather up and inventory everything).

In a similar vein to my recent 3/4 Nike Smoke sale, due to my joint condition I have to dial down the scope of my HPR ambitions.

Right now I have a handful of high performance designs, which I have had on the drawing board, and have gathered parts for over the last decade. These are mostly carbon fiber and aluminum airframes and fins of carbon fiber plate and honeycomb laminates, and include 80%+ of what is needed to build the finished rockets. I am going to sell each parts set and pass along the Rocksim files for these designs. I'd like to see someone take advantage and build some screaming, high performance rockets! These are perfect for Black Rock or other high waiver venue.

Due to the intent of the designs and the materials used, I will only sell these to experienced L2 and L3 flyers. The package pricing on these will be at a considerable discount over what I paid, and certainly much better than current pricing on a kit/components that would be acquired today.

Please stay tuned.

From the Ether...

Please tell me there is a 75mm MD CF "kit" in there. I promise I will do violent things to it.

 

[dixontj93060]

Please tell me there is a 75mm MD CF "kit" in there. I promise I will do violent things to it.

Yes there is. And not even the normal CF stuff--something much better!

From the Ether...

 

[dhbarr]

I'm putting this in as a placeholder for a sale to start on Friday (it will take me the next four days to gather up and inventory everything).

In a similar vein to my recent 3/4 Nike Smoke sale, due to my joint condition I have to dial down the scope of my HPR ambitions.

Right now I have a handful of high performance designs, which I have had on the drawing board, and have gathered parts for over the last decade. These are mostly carbon fiber and aluminum airframes and fins of carbon fiber plate and honeycomb laminates, and include 80%+ of what is needed to build the finished rockets. I am going to sell each parts set and pass along the Rocksim files for these designs. I'd like to see someone take advantage and build some screaming, high performance rockets! These are perfect for Black Rock or other high waiver venue.

Due to the intent of the designs and the materials used, I will only sell these to experienced L2 and L3 flyers. The package pricing on these will be at a considerable discount over what I paid, and certainly much better than current pricing on a kit/components that would be acquired today.

Would you consider someone who super pinky swears they'll do their L2 within the year -and- do a build thread -and- let a forum poll pick the motor? :-D

 

[djs]

Would you consider someone who super pinky swears they'll do their L2 within the year -and- do a build thread -and- let a forum poll pick the motor? :-D

My vote is to do your L2 on the L2500 ST motor.

 

[dixontj93060]

My vote is to do your L2 on the L2500 ST motor.

The 4" design that will be for sale is optimized for much larger motors than that. In fact with that stubby motor the design is unstable.

Well, you could always add nose weight, but that kinda defeats the purpose of high performance in the first place, I'd say...

From the Ether...

 

[Cl(VII)]

Yes there is. And not even the normal CF stuff--something much better!

From the Ether...

:dark:

...

 

[dixontj93060]

OK, I have everything inventoried and have updated the Rocksim files so the designs are completely accurate. The items will be posted at noon (EST) tomorrow allowing West coast rocketeers to participate. A few notes on the kits and pricing.

Three kits will be posted, one 2", one 3", one 4". All have different designs/materials combinations so the variety may appeal to some, but not all--that's OK. The basis of these builds harken back to when we used to have Mach Madness contests at Thunderstruck (Indiana site) each Spring. Simple contest really, the fastest measured flight wins. Competitors did much to hone their designs for optimum performance. After our launch site was lost for Thunderstruck, I had one kit in progress (which is now finished and not included in the sale) but many on the drawing board. Given there was no longer a 25Kft waiver to limit my designs, I decided to open the design options to a greater breadth and thus the step up from the nominal 2" diameter that was typical of Mach Madness entries. Well, I am coming to grips with my physical limitations, and a trip (or trips) to Black Rock are likely not in my future. Thus, I'd like someone else to move forward with these designs, or at least benefit from the materials that I will never fully utilize. In any case, what will be posted are what I would consider full kits that basically have all parts needed to complete the build. Now when I say complete the build, some of these kits are custom and need, well expect, to achieve full function and performance, will need various shaping, fitting, laminating to complete. This should be obvious for each kit and the explanation in the posts.

Regarding pricing... I have picked up these parts over the last 5 or 6 years. They are all in new condition. Saying that, I know I have bought some on discount, but equally have paid full price for some parts. My guess is that the range of discounting is probably from 0% (i.e., list price) to 20%, so first, I will assume 10% off list. From that point, I am taking 25% off each full package to get to a posted sale price. In addition, at least one piece part in the kit will be marked "FREE" ($0) as a bonus add-in to the overall combo. I believe this is more than fair given the quality of the kit combos. Although I will not post the exact listing and prices of each part so as not to offend any manufacturer/supplier in our hobby, I am happy to share in private the spreadsheet calculations if anyone has a doubt on the deal they will be receiving.

OK, that is about it. Still have pictures to take so I'm ready to post tomorrow. Cheers!

 

[dixontj93060]

Oh, one other note. In my first post I mentioned honeycomb laminate. As it turns out, that material is not part of this group of "screamer" designs. I have some exotic laminates that are associated with a couple of much larger custom and scale designs. Like this grouping, many of the parts associated with these larger designs are sitting ready for build. Given they are a different class of rocket, they are not included in this sale, but may be included in a separate sale in the future. Jury is still out on that grouping.

 

[ECayemberg]

Hi Tim,

#1: Good luck with the sale. No doubt, you'll offer some awesome high performance rockets and appropriate parties will get some great deals!

#2: An enabler/friend, I'd like for you to reconsider the "trip (or trips) to Black Rock are likely not in my future" statement. We can talk offline, but I personally feel that you should pencil in a trip to BR in the next few years. Having both flown to and driven to events out there, logistics can be difficult for us Midwesterners, but once you're there, in my opinion it is physically easier to launch and recover than what we're used to in the farm fields here. Additionally, there are people in our area that travel there regularly that are willing to help get "stuff" out there.

Disclaimer: Black Rock is NOT my favorite place to fly. I have had horrible luck (I'll call it that) out west. I've flown, or attempted to fly off of four different desert surfaces and not done well! It has become evident that I'm in my element in farm field locations (and BONG) and just plain suck at flying rockets on playas. Furthermore, I'm (almost literally) forbidden from attending launches there due to family *things*. That said, it's a place all rocketeers should experience!

So, let's get you there Tim; I'd be thrilled to help make it happen (plus it'd be a good excuse to get me out there again!). Standing offer...let's do this!

#3: I miss the Thunderstruck Mach Madness events. Only participated once; I wish it were a 25k' waiver, that 22k' made it tough! Oh to have 25k' waivers in Princeton, Ash Grove, or somewhere in the Midwest again.....Muskegon just got one, so there may be a glimmer of hope!

 

[dixontj93060]

Hi Tim,

#1: Good luck with the sale. No doubt, you'll offer some awesome high performance rockets and appropriate parties will get some great deals!

#2: An enabler/friend, I'd like for you to reconsider the "trip (or trips) to Black Rock are likely not in my future" statement. We can talk offline, but I personally feel that you should pencil in a trip to BR in the next few years. Having both flown to and driven to events out there, logistics can be difficult for us Midwesterners, but once you're there, in my opinion it is physically easier to launch and recover than what we're used to in the farm fields here. Additionally, there are people in our area that travel there regularly that are willing to help get "stuff" out there.

Disclaimer: Black Rock is NOT my favorite place to fly. I have had horrible luck (I'll call it that) out west. I've flown, or attempted to fly off of four different desert surfaces and not done well! It has become evident that I'm in my element in farm field locations (and BONG) and just plain suck at flying rockets on playas. Furthermore, I'm (almost literally) forbidden from attending launches there due to family *things*. That said, it's a place all rocketeers should experience!

So, let's get you there Tim; I'd be thrilled to help make it happen (plus it'd be a good excuse to get me out there again!). Standing offer...let's do this!

Wow, Eric, so nice! We can talk offline.

From the Ether...

 

[afadeev]

Intriguing...

 

[dixontj93060]

Maybe one more note on the sale before commencing tomorrow at noon Eastern...

Prices that will be posted tomorrow are for the kits only. They will not include shipping. So buyers, please do not send PayPal Friends/Family before I give you indication that you won, I get an address from you, I have time to box the kit so as to get you a total price with shipping. Please be patient as this may take a bit of time. Some of the kit materials are long and will probably have some shipping surcharges; not totally sure, but will need to work that out before giving you final pricing. Then once payment is received, boxed item will go out and you will receive shipping confirmation.

 

[dixontj93060]

Strive – 4” min. dia. (target motor: Aerotech N5800) - $475

SOLD



This design began back when Aerotech launched the N5800 challenge and is the most traditional of the three. Obviously that contest has come and gone, and the winner didn’t at all follow the direction that I had chosen here (instead he used a heavy aluminum airframe for his build to slow acceleration). This rocket on the other hand is on the other side of the design scale—lighter weight for performance. Don’t get me wrong, the airframe is on the beefy side and there are select choices in adding weight such as the minimum diameter retention that are all needed to optimize stability for big motors. For a bona fide N5800 attempt, augmenting of the fin attachment/root area was planned—happy to review this modification with buyer if that is one of their flight aspirations.

• 60” filament wound carbon fiber airframe
• 5:1 Von Karmen FWFG nosecone, hand selected for weight
• Max-Q aluminum fins with matte/sparkle finish
• Single break, head-end deployment design
• Anodized aluminum bulkheads
• Minimum diameter motor retention
• Motor retention set to adjust to motor selection
• Aluminum rail guides (included, optional use)
• Length: 81.1”, dry weight: 7.4 lbs, finspan 11.6”

 

[dixontj93060]

Off Limits – 3” min. dia. (target motor: Loki M2550) - $265

REMOVED



This design was one option pursued for a Mach Madness flight. Problem was that is was far too close to the waiver limit for me to feel comfortable pursuing. This build is extremely lightweight with all focus on maximum velocity (versus altitude optimization). As can be seen in the parts list, this design is narrowed down to only minimalist elements. Key design choices are tether deployment with open payload protection of the main chute (this implementation detail I write two pages on; will discuss in detail with buyer), uni-carbon fins for protection from flutter. Finish of the airframe was envisioned to include two inside wraps of Kevlar tissue to build dado slots and then manually work exact fit of the delta fins of course using high-temp epoxies. Further optimization comes in modifying the designated motor with a shaped ring to reduce drag (this step requires at a minimum L2/EX status). Note: picture looks a bit “blah” as my phone camera didn’t pick up the black on green too well in this shot. I added another picture with one tube slightly moistened do you can see the carbon fiber grain which would stand out after finishing the exterior.

• Minimum length, ultra-lightweight (0.04 wall) airframe
• Single break, tethered main design
• 4:1 Ogive ultra-lightweight gloss finish carbon nosecone
• Uni-carbon, high-modulus fins; delta cut and optimized for drag/flutter resistance
• Motor tailpiece to reduce drag
• Extra 4”x24” uni-carbon plate (optional if another fin design is desired or for use on another rocket)
• Length: 47.2” (with motor), dry weight: 1.6 lbs, finspan: 9.6”

 

[dixontj93060]

Aluminum Foiled – 2” min dia. (38mm MMT; hybrid-accommodating) - $230

SOLD



This is clearly not pushing limits like the first two listings. The genesis of this design came from advice received from attendees of Black Rock who recommend to the effect, “don’t roll the dice on one rocket, have a second one for fun.” This was meant to be that “second rocket” for “fun.” Not a slouch, but pushing some fun areas like construction emphasizing aluminum, back-burner plans to use 38mm SkyRipper hybrid for a flight or two, and a bit of bling with the Max-Q fin finish and use of aluminized fiberglass for the custom nosecone. Like the other listings, there are some build specifics needed here, e.g., retainer base exterior is scored with file or Dremel and epoxy is applied on exterior versus normal interior application (perfect fit inside/out). Happy to review these specifics with eventual buyer. Note: Kosdson case shown in picture not included, only shown as typical placement of CRs to accommodate best combo of motor lengths.

• One-piece anodized aluminum airframe
• No motor tube design w/lightweight “c-shaped” aluminum centering rings
• Max-Q aluminum fins with “dot” finish
• 1.9 in. 4:1 Aerotech nosecone for mold buildup
• 1+ yard of aluminized fiberglass for nosecone finish
• 38mm AeroPack retainer
• Length: 65.4”, dry weight: 3.2 lbs, finspan: 6.1”

 

[dixontj93060]

Strive is gone. Two left.

 

[dr wogz]

Not quite my thing, and definitely above my skill & pursuit level..

But still very very cool!! I have a deep appreciation for anyone who does stuff like this, and uses their brain & hands to pull it off. Carbon fiber just add to the whole thing!

Best of luck to the sale, and best of luck to the builders!

 

[dixontj93060]

Not quite my thing, and definitely above my skill & pursuit level.

Yep, not for everyone. Those showing interest are definitely experienced rocketeers.

And oh, yeah, Aluminum Foiled is sold.

 

[cavecentral]

Yes, these are very nice. I wouldn't do them justice in my building skills or my style of flying. I'm sure someone will make good use of these.

 

[sharkbait]

Yes, these are very nice. I wouldn't do them justice in my building skills or my style of flying. I'm sure someone will make good use of these.

You might just know someone that's going to make good use of one of these��

 

[cavecentral]

You might just know someone that's going to make good use of one of these��

I'm not the least bit surprised.

 

[CoyoteNumber2]

Yep, not for everyone. Those showing interest are definitely experienced rocketeers.

Did you turn away any buyers because you didn't feel they were skilled enough?

 

[dixontj93060]

Did you turn away any buyers because you didn't feel they were skilled enough?

No.

From the Ether...