USR Sentra SRB 2.7"

[lalligood]

Well, the weather (other than last Saturday & I was FLYING rockets that day...) hasn't been very cooperative lately but I got very lucky tonight. I was able to finish up the last 2 fins of my Sentra SRB 2.7.

Allow me to introduce my completed rocket... (with a 38/360 casing for scale)

Motor selection is still up in the air. It really depends what is available from New Horizons this weekend. (I need to get my hands on a third Radio Shack beeper too... ) Central motor will either be a H128W-M, H123W-M, or Pro38 H153/H143. I'm leaning towards the H128 because I've already got one in my range box Side pods are what I don't currently have. I really want a pair of motors that will provide little more than some smoke & ejection charges to deploy the side pods...maybe a 2-pack of F21Ws???

Recovery will be a red & white PML 30" chute for the central booster & matching red/blue plastic streamers for the side pods (because it is quite possible that they will deploy while the entire rocket is still travelling at a pretty good velocity...) and I have heavier rockets that safely deploy under streamer.

Don't worry your pretty little heads about flight pics. I'll see to it that my friend Karl takes PLENTY of his amazing pictures!! (Just ask eugenefl & jetra2 as to the quality of Karl's work!)

Enjoy

 

[EMRR]

Very nice! Looking forward to your flight pics and report.

I can't wait for spring. I have so many kits to paint.

This one will be one of my first.

Then get my parachutes from Jerry and plan a flight.

Regards,
Nick

 

[PunkRocketScience]

Lance-

Looks great! However, I would swap the pods so that the colors were opposite of the fins on the booster!

Great inspiration to get going on my 2.7! My micro-sentra is almost ready for paint though...

 

[lalligood]

Originally posted by RocketmanTM
Looks great! However, I would swap the pods so that the colors were opposite of the fins on the booster!

That's soooo easy to do I've done that & IMHO it doesn't look as good as what you've seen in the pic I posted... But later tonight I'll take a pic of the pods flip-flopped & post it so you can decide.

Thanks for the nice words

 

[lalligood]

OK, I'm putting this up for an informal vote... Here it is with the pods flip-flopped. Personally, I find this combination too busy. Red on one side & blue on the other gives off a more synchronized look. I dunno...

 

[rstaff3]

I personally like it that way. Looks nice either way tho.

 

[KarlD]

I like the syncronized look myself.

Just a personal preference

 

[BobCox]

I prefer the second picture with the pods opposite the matching fins. It has a nice symmetry with equal amounts of both red and blue on each side.

Then again, that's just my opinion, and opinions are like (*) s -- everybody has one and most of them stink.

 

[bsexton]

Opposites attract...

 

[Jerry Irvine]

I think the debate over pod color scheme is silly, so I'll throw my 2 cents in!

One way looks "symmetrical" but "busy".

The same color on same side version looks better to me because "order" is conserved.

There!

Jerry

Good luck getting pod sep movies!

 

[rstaff3]

I bet lalligood reserved 51% of the votes for himself

 

[marvSRG]

Reversed...cooler looking and more realistic. We should poll this

 

[sramberg]

Any flight results or pictures?

Curious which motors people have flown.

Steve

 

[lalligood]

Originally posted by sramberg
Any flight results or pictures?

Curious which motors people have flown.

Steve

You are indeed correct.

I am VERY remiss in not posting that I flew the central booster ONLY last month on a H128W-M. Recovery was on a Top Flight 24" chute. Boost was impressively straight and FAST. Ejection was (surprisingly) just short of apogee.

I'm glad I did this shakedown flight because it will greatly affect my motor selection when I load this up for a full flight. A pair of single use Fs in the side pods and a central G or perhaps a trio of G motors is probably what I'm now looking at for the next flight. I'm working on getting some reliable igniters right now & it will unfortunately be another month or so before I get a chance to fly it again.

Anyone else have a status on their Sentras???

 

[EMRR]

Mine is still waiting for paint and parachutes. US Rockets is sending me the parachutes this week.... now to find time to paint it!

Nick

 

[sramberg]

Are you starting all engines at once or are you using some type of electronics?

If yes where did you hide/store the electronics?

I have a Sentra 2.7" waiting to be built and I am trying to figure a couple of things out before starting the build.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[lalligood]

Originally posted by sramberg
Are you starting all engines at once or are you using some type of electronics?

If yes where did you hide/store the electronics?

I have a Sentra 2.7" waiting to be built and I am trying to figure a couple of things out before starting the build.

No (hidden) electronics in mine. There's plenty of room in the central booster payload tube if I ever decide to add anything in the future though I do have to admit that I briefly considered making an alt bay door in the central booster to airstart the side pods, but the idea was scrapped almost as briefly...

I am currently waiting on some new Quickburst Poppers. They are designed for AP clusters & I am a HUGE fan of the Quickburst Twiggys & Slim Gems. There are 2 clubs that I launch with. Both have serious launch controllers powered at the pad by 12V car batteries, so I'm not concerned about not having enough current when the time comes.

It's a real shame there isn't such a thing as "Pro29" (for the side pods!), as I have had (& seen) nearly 100% success on igniting Pro38/54 motors. The ignition failures have always been due to user error. The ematch ignitors in Pro38s work on such a low current

 

[cls]

I've had no results at two clubs, trying to light clusters with Quickburst. both clubs did NOT have the battery at the pad.

another club does have the battery at the pad, there a 3x cluster lit just fine.