Updates...

[Back_at_it]

Started with the rebuilt Ion Pulsar that lawndarted with the C6-5. I added 8oz of clay (not 8#) in the NC and it flew straight up. I replaced the broken MM with a retainer.

Love the videos. Reminds me that I need to start recording my launches. I just keep forgetting to take the GoPro so all i end up with is grainy IPhone video and some pics.

One thing caught my attention. You said you added 8oz of nose weight to the pulsar. I'm just curious why you added so much. Seems like a lot in a rocket that only weights about 2.0oz stock.

Mine is stable with a C6-5 motor without any nose weight even on a slightly windy day. Typically when weight is required I creep up on it .25oz at a time.

 

[Sandy H.]

Wow! Saw this in the rocketry forum 'recent posts' email just now and watched the last video. It may be a few days, but I'm going to go back to the beginning and watch the rest! Great models, great recording and great editing.

Thanks for posting and letting us fly with you.

Sandy.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Love the videos. Reminds me that I need to start recording my launches. I just keep forgetting to take the GoPro so all i end up with is grainy IPhone video and some pics.

One thing caught my attention. You said you added 8oz of nose weight to the pulsar. I'm just curious why you added so much. Seems like a lot in a rocket that only weights about 2.0oz stock.

Mine is stable with a C6-5 motor without any nose weight even on a slightly windy day. Typically when weight is required I creep up on it .25oz at a time.

Cricky, I’m weight illiterate lately. In the video, I said 8#. I was already uploading to YouTube when I realized I meant 8oz. Now that you mention it, I meant 8g. Previously, it didn’t do so well on the C6-5.



It’s a good thing I’m not a real rocket engineer.



I just realized that the order I made on Cyber Monday with Estes didn’t go through or at least can’t find it online so I’m pissed. As they say, there’s always next year.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Wow! Saw this in the rocketry forum 'recent posts' email just now and watched the last video. It may be a few days, but I'm going to go back to the beginning and watch the rest! Great models, great recording and great editing.

Thanks for posting and letting us fly with you.

Sandy.

The first video I posted in March is an embarrassment. I was using my DSLR and was waving all over the place yet it has 853 views.

Of course, the video with the most views is a clip from Top Secret with 38k views.

 

[BABAR]

Wow! Saw this in the rocketry forum 'recent posts' email just now and watched the last video. It may be a few days, but I'm going to go back to the beginning and watch the rest! Great models, great recording and great editing.

Thanks for posting and letting us fly with you.

Sandy.

Another reason to just keep posting to the same thread. There is a consistent resonant theme and high quality and fun factor.

 

[neil_w]

Of course, the video with the most views is a clip from Top Secret with 38k views.

That was my favorite scene from that movie by far. Genius.

 

[kuririn]

Winds 6-10 today, 5-7 tomorrow.
I may launch a few.
Wanna see your BT-80 MR fly.

 

[mbeels]

Another reason to just keep posting to the same thread. There is a consistent resonant theme and high quality and fun factor.

Yeah, I like having them in the same thread as well, I know where to tune in to find the latest rklapp family escapades. Over time, I can see your videos definitely getting much better as well, there is a story in the longer time line, as well as the day to day launches.

 

[neil_w]

Agree with the above.

One storyline I’m especially enjoying is “how am I going to use up this can of turquoise paint.”

 

[BABAR]

Agree with the above.

One storyline I’m especially enjoying is “how am I going to use up this can of turquoise paint.”

That's "Ocean Breeze " to you, buster!

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Winds 6-10 today, 5-7 tomorrow.
I may launch a few.
Wanna see your BT-80 MR fly.

Yeah, we're a go for launch in Waipahu. The evening winds are only 5 to 6 mph but hard to resist that 0mph in the morning. The problem with morning launches is that I start with the smaller rockets and work my way to the bigger ones, but the winds increase in the morning. Obviously, it's the opposite in the evening with better lighting up until sunset. However, evenings risk the possibility of a baseball game occuring. They seemed a bit distracted by us at the Kamehameha Park last month. The coaches get annoyed because they have to yell at the kids more to get them to focus.



Over the past week, I've been making my way through the Apollo 11 day 5 mission. The YouTube video quality is really good.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

The winds were promising to be much lighter than they actually were. They were supposed to go from 0mph at 8am to 4mph at 11am. This was not to be so didn't launch the Mars Mars and the Odyssey. (Apogee calls it that because the whole name is Destination Mars Mars Longship.)

@BABAR suggested I have the ground camera in portrait which I think works better because I'm able to adjust the video in the software allowing me to show more of the ascent if I wanted to. I tried the flight camera twice but both times, the video shut off, probably because I inadvertently hit the off button before flight.

I'm not sure what was going on with the failed chute deployments. I repacked the chutes the night before incase they've expanded and get stuck in the BT. I use talc powder on the chutes including the new Big Daddy. Eventually, I'll upgrade to nylon, eventually. The Protostar didn't deploy which was probably good because it might've landed in the tree/canal. I was hoping for a Cyber Monday spare, but that was not to be.

The Mercury Redstone BT-80 from Boyce was awesome. It almost landed on the landscaper. I don't understand their motivation. They drive their truck on the lawn to repair the sprinklers which causes damage to the sprinklers so they drive their truck on the lawn. Anyways, this was my first dual deployment which sorta worked. The capsule Kevlar cord is about 5ft long so tried to keep it contained in a short tube. The homemade baffle busted and there isn't enough room for both chutes, so I'll sand out the remains. Any LPR suggestions for dual deployment?

The Big Daddy worked great except for the failed chute. It streamer'd down so no damage. I didn't do any crazy mods to the NC, just covered the NC hole with tape, talc'd the shoulder, and taped the front of the shoulder. Seems to work fine for now.

Timeline:
00:00 Intro
01:09 Orange Bullet
02:03 Checkmate clone
03:15 Neon clone
04:11 Hyper Bat 514ft
05:21 Cobra
06:20 Mercury Redstone BT-80
08:40 Big Daddy
09:44 Protostar

 

[kuririn]

Beautiful flight videos.
Did you have snap swivels on your chutes? Might help prevent the tangling.
I repack my plastic chutes just before launch.
Plastic can stick together if its been packed a length of time.
And what kind of talc?
Check the ingredients and make sure it doesn't contain corn starch, it can burn.
Rub the talc on the plastic then loosely pack.
I go with shroud lines inside the burrito, easier for the laundry to unfurl.
Laters.

 

[BABAR]

Overall another good day.
Picking chutes the day before saves time in the field, but plastic chutes seem to have some “memory”, and even when talced tended to keep their (folded) shape oven when loosely packed.

I like the portrait mode on the ground camera, you really get a bit more of the flight in the frame!

Too bad about the onboard camera not working, looks like wouldhsve gotten great footage with those flights.

Only thing I can think of to add to your editing is a single frame (non-video) beauty shot of each bird (like when you posted them after build but before flight.). These are great builds as well as nice fliers. Certainly NOT essentially, kind of like Sprinkles on top of Icing.

Thanks for posting these!

 

[Back_at_it]

Cricky, I’m weight illiterate lately. In the video, I said 8#. I was already uploading to YouTube when I realized I meant 8oz. Now that you mention it, I meant 8g. Previously, it didn’t do so well on the C6-5.

Ahh got it... 8 grams makes sense. If my math is correct that's touch over a 1/4oz. Made for an entertaining flight and nothing was hurt so it's a win. Thanks for the video's.

Where are you locate in HI?

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Beautiful flight videos.
Did you have snap swivels on your chutes? Might help prevent the tangling.
I repack my plastic chutes just before launch.
Plastic can stick together if its been packed a length of time.
And what kind of talc?
Check the ingredients and make sure it doesn't contain corn starch, it can burn.
Rub the talc on the plastic then loosely pack.
I go with shroud lines inside the burrito, easier for the laundry to unfurl.
Laters.
View attachment 441432

The one change I did to the chutes is rearrange the shock cord swivels. Along with the NC swivel, I had one swivel on the chute. It seemed like the swivel wasn't doing much on descension, so I instead attached the chute directly to the shock cord and attached the swivel between the shock cord and the Kevlar cord loop sticking out of the BT. However, I don't see how this would cause the chutes to not open.

I bought plenty of the non-corn starch powder from Amazon. Can't seem to find this in the stores anymore because of the mild inhalation hazard.

I had problems with the burrito method but I'll switch back. With the three that didn't deploy, they unraveled but just didn't open. The obvious solution is nylon or mylar and I'll get there eventually.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Ahh got it... 8 grams makes sense. If my math is correct that's touch over a 1/4oz. Made for an entertaining flight and nothing was hurt so it's a win. Thanks for the video's.

Where are you locate in HI?

The west side in Kapolei. I usually launch from Waipahu which is directly north of Pearl Harbor. I believe @kurinin is in Honolulu.

 

[Back_at_it]

Ahh got it. We were in Kona last year for thanksgiving. My first time to HI.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Overall another good day.
Picking chutes the day before saves time in the field, but plastic chutes seem to have some “memory”, and even when talced tended to keep their (folded) shape oven when loosely packed.

I like the portrait mode on the ground camera, you really get a bit more of the flight in the frame!

Too bad about the onboard camera not working, looks like wouldhsve gotten great footage with those flights.

Only thing I can think of to add to your editing is a single frame (non-video) beauty shot of each bird (like when you posted them after build but before flight.). These are great builds as well as nice fliers. Certainly NOT essentially, kind of like Sprinkles on top of Icing.

Thanks for posting these!

That's the real interesting part of this hobby. I can spend days on building and painting the rocket, but the real question is does it fly. And if so, how high and can you recover it. Someday, I would like to see a HPR version of the Odyssey.

I'm not too sad about the cameras not working. Just gives me an excuse to try it again until it does. Sometimes if I'm really proud of the build, I'll do a close up video. I'm not sure why I didn't do that with the MR80 and Big Daddy.

I was listening to Rocket Noob's podcast and he was saying that paint accounts for half the weight of the rocket. I usually do two coats of primer and two coats of color. The primer itself is the heaviest. I'll have to try weighing the rocket as I progress next time.

 

[neil_w]

I was listening to Rocket Noob's podcast and he was saying that paint accounts for half the weight of the rocket. I usually do two coats of primer and two coats of color. The primer itself is the heaviest. I'll have to try weighing the rocket as I progress next time.

The "half the weight" comment may apply to some rockets, but it is certainly not the norm. It is normally a much smaller percentage than that. I do believe what he said about filler/primer being heavy, and that is a good reason to sand off as much as possible (something I wondered about in the past.)

Weighing as you progress is certainly a good educational exercise. I'll try to remember at least to weight before painting on the next one.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

I just got a Flightsketch mini and it looks awesome. I'm planning to order more but they don't have any protectors. Is it necessary or do I need to find an alternative and what would you recommend?

 

[kuririn]

I just got a Flightsketch mini and it looks awesome. I'm planning to order more but they don't have any protectors. Is it necessary or do I need to find an alternative and what would you recommend?

You can order direct from Dino Chutes.
Don't know if it's really needed but couldn't hurt.
Altimeter pouch (dinochutes.com)

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

You can order direct from Dino Chutes.
Don't know if it's really needed but couldn't hurt.
Altimeter pouch (dinochutes.com)

“You might notice a slight buildup of ejection charge residue on your altimeter during normal use. If you use cellulose 'dog barf' insulation for protection then your altimeter is likely to get dusty. This pouch is designed to prevent buildup of these materials on your altimeter.”

It sounds like it could be cleaned with a Qtip and alcohol.

Come to think of it, the Estes altimeter has holes exposing the electronics inside. The residue could be getting in there.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

CC Express clone. I bought 2 packs of C11-0 for $4 each from Belleville so needed a rocket to use them. I used RO Hammered paint. I made the decal but waiting for my new color inkjet printer to arrive. The laser jet decals are rather delicate.

 

[BABAR]

CC Express clone. I bought 2 packs of C11-0 for $4 each from Belleville so needed a rocket to use them. I used RO Hammered paint. I made the decal but waiting for my new color inkjet printer to arrive. The laser jet decals are rather delicate.

View attachment 441642

Nice. Could use some color, though.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Nice. Could use some color, though.

It's hard to see but it has a "hammered" texture to it. I was planning on coloring the booster differently but I'm hesitant after seeing how well the texture worked out. Launched it this morning and went really high on a C11-0/C11-3. News video at 11:00...

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

First time with the Flightsketch. Asking you all before tech support. I took a picture of the results but got stuck on Downloading... 100%. It wasn't showing up in the Logbook and doesn't show up in the website. I kept it running but filmed other launches.

Also, am I supposed to subtract the Current Altitude from the Max Altitude?

 

[Patternflyer]

Hey Ron, I'm really interested in what you find out on the altimeter. I ordered one last week and it should arrive any day now. I've heard nothing but positive things about it, so I'm optimistic you'll find the answers you're looking for and all will work itself out. I love keeping up with your updates and look forward to each and every video you put out. I'm getting back into the hobby after a LOOOONG time off, but enjoying catching up on all the latest and greatest. It fascinates me that even though there is so much new technology that exists that we didn't have back in the 80's, it appears that the rockets themselves are pretty much the same. In fact, for the most part, the rockets are the exact same ones I used to fly!!!!! Incredible! Having fun getting into the forums and meeting y'all. Keep it up and good luck on the altimeter, as I'll be tracking your progress so as to be better prepared to fly mine.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Hey Ron, I'm really interested in what you find out on the altimeter. I ordered one last week and it should arrive any day now. I've heard nothing but positive things about it, so I'm optimistic you'll find the answers you're looking for and all will work itself out. I love keeping up with your updates and look forward to each and every video you put out. I'm getting back into the hobby after a LOOOONG time off, but enjoying catching up on all the latest and greatest. It fascinates me that even though there is so much new technology that exists that we didn't have back in the 80's, it appears that the rockets themselves are pretty much the same. In fact, for the most part, the rockets are the exact same ones I used to fly!!!!! Incredible! Having fun getting into the forums and meeting y'all. Keep it up and good luck on the altimeter, as I'll be tracking your progress so as to be better prepared to fly mine.

Long time BAR myself. I used to launch my custom built rocket with firecracker fuses. Ah youth...

I probably pressed the wrong button with the Mini, not that there’s many to push. I read through the manual on their website and not sure what I did wrong. Maybe I have to put my iPhone right next to it. Regardless, I just bought two more.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

I'm having issues with rendering this morning's video. My good laptop had an error that I'm trying to resolve so I switched to my backup, less reliable laptop. I spent over two hours creating the video but when I went to render it, the videos disappeared. I'll try again tomorrow, maybe. The Flightsketch mini didn't fully work, the 3 flight videos didn't work, the video software crashed, and my keyboard stopped working. The gremlins are thick today.

I previously mentioned I would like to see a upscale version of the Odyssey. I did find this.