Well, I did it...

[nohup]

...ordered my 1st mid power, that is. I have been wavering back and forth over several kits, but I finally decided on the Aerotech Mustang. It shipped today.

I almost bought the LOC Onyx, but I didn't like the fact that the fins were not mounted through the body tube, so I decided against it for now. Any pointers on how to best secure fins to the tube so it will handle F & G engines? Is just using CA good enough, w/ thick CA fillets?

Only worry I have about the Mustang is that building it will be too easy. I like the challenge of building, but from what I understand, this thing pretty much snaps together. Well, we'll see. Next one I'll buy will involve more hand work, I guess. Everything I've read says these fly great.

I also got 3 single use motors. I'll probably get a 29mm RMS at some point, but this is good for the first flights. I have this sneaking suspicion I just stepped onto a long road towards great BIG rockets.

Thank you very much, you may now congratulate me.

 

[KenParker]

Congratulations. Yes, the Mustang is a fine kit. Phil, one of the admins here on the forum, is on his 3rd Mustang. Carl, one of the moderators, also has a Mustang. My son Kent has one, and one of these days I'm going to lock him in his room and make him build it.

You'll find out that a Mustang can get over 3000 feet on G power. However, since you live in Colorado, I'm betting that you have a flying field where that won't be a problem.

And yes, you HAVE stepped on a long road to HPR. Just ask Phil. I introduced him to HPR about six months ago, and he is calculating that he will be L3 before the end of the year. The HPR bug bites BAD.

Congrats again.

 

[PGerringer]

Amen Mr. Parker!!!

Nohup,
Dude, you will not be disappointed in the kit that is the Mustang. I personally think it is the best kit known to man! Unfortunately it has a problem with trees. (as Ken said I'm on my third one) It is fairly easy to build but the beauty is in the flying. Just take a look:

https://www.cybergatetech.com/phpgraphy/?display=Rocketry/launch 6-16-01/img_0177.jpg

Sniff, sniff, that was Mustang I. May she rest in pieces. Moment of silence for MI........

Anyway, just make sure if you have any questions that you post them here. And believe me, you will have questions until you get used to the way Aerotech designs their rockets. Which, by the way, is pure art.

 

[homebrew_58]

I also chose the Mustang as my first venture into mid power. Just launched it at our club launch in February.
Got a couple of pics to share... on of the 'Stang on the work bench: https://chartermi.net:8100/~profitt/graphics/photos/mustang01.jpg
And the other on its maiden flight on a NCR F62:
https://chartermi.net:8100/~profitt/graphics/photos/mustang_launch.jpg
Very cool rocket. You'll like it.

Kevin

 

[gothique_97]

The Onyx was my first mid-power kit. Fortunately, I had plenty of 'mentors' around to help me out with issues regarding surface-mounted plywood fins. I still broke off one fin on a hard landing.

You made a good decision going for the Mustang!

 

[Klint]

5min epoxy should do nicely but if that thing has the fin loc system even that would be overkill.

 

[Jase]

Originally posted by KenParker
My son Kent has one, and one of these days I'm going to lock him in his room and make him build it.

Ken, if Kent doesn't want it, I'll be glad to take it off his hands for ya.

Jason

 

[KenParker]

Oh, he "wants" the Mustang.... he's just "too busy" to build it. He "wants" me to build it.

People in hell have the "wants" for ice water, too.

We'll get it built one of these days. After I finish the A4, the F22, the Serval, the DoubleSword, and twenty-leventy other projects that are lined up in front of it...... some people want more money, I just want more t*i*m*e.

 

[PGerringer]

But Ken, time is money. Money is power. Power is time. Wait, what was time again?

And about the fin lock, the Mustang does have a fin lock system. The first one you build, build to spec. And when you buy a second one, (and oh yes, you will buy a second one) build the heck out of it to accept 29mm reloadable casings. I figure to send my Mustang III up on an H when I find a place with enough room.

 

[Austin]

I must admit the Mustang that my daughter and I built is still one of our most active fliers...a great kit that you will enjoy for a long time.

...and don't let the rumors of it disapearing worry you...I still have ours after a year of flying...the difference is we pick fields without tree eating rockets and dont keep putting bigger motors in them until they don't come back anymore!

Sorry Phil...had to say it

 

[PGerringer]

Ooooooooofffffff... That cuts me deep man!...

True, the first Mustang was lost to the trees. I never found it again. I think it was a bad motor ejection, anyway, Aerotech replaced it with Mustang II. Which exploded in the trees victim of rod whip. Hint: Only use 36" rods with this puppy. Here is the, sniff, picture of Mustang II:

https://www.cybergatetech.com/phpgraphy/?display=Rocketry/launch 9-8-01/img_0780.jpg

Which brings me to the lessons learned section of our class.

Always keep an active Mustang in your fleet.

Always use a 36" rod with the Mustang.

Always fire the Mustang straight up in the air. Do not try to compensate for the wind.

Give yourself plenty of room. I lost my first 2 Musangs on E engines.

If you follow those lessons, you should have many many years of happy flying, just you and your Mustang.

 

[gerbs4me]

If i only had a mustang

 

[Jase]

Like the Avatar Gerbs!

 

[nohup]

The Mustang was waiting when I got home this evening. I expect I'll build it up this weekend.

Question number 1: I don't usually bother with this when building Low Powers, but I'd like to fill and sand the spiral on the body tube before I do the assembly work. What is the recomended filler for this?

Since I'm sure you have all seen assembly pictures, I won't bother taking those, but I will post a pic of the final finished product. Speaking of pictures, those are some nice ones linked above, though the dead rocket in the tree pic is quite sad. What happened to rip the body tube apart like that? Was that from hitting the tree, or a cato?

Thanks

 

[Austin]

nohup,

I would not use a filler, but rather primer. The spirals on an Aerotech kit are very small and can be covered with a heavier primer, like Krylon Gray Primer. It's thicker than white primer and will fill it nicely. you should top coat it with a few coats of white primer once filled. Also, as you probably know, it's much easier to fill/prime and sand it prior to building.

cya,

Carl

 

[PGerringer]

I agree with Carl, you should sand the body tube a bit, and then prime, prime, sand, prime, prime... etc. Until you can't see any spirals. I think you can probably fill it with 4 coats of primer and 3 sandings.

About the tree pics: The only thing we can figure is that it rod whipped coming off the pad. Which sent it arcing over into the trees. BTW: It had one of those "beepers" that was attached to it for easy location - Puh! We never found that beeper. Anyway, We were only able to recover 3 fins and the body tube. The body tube was torn up but not scorched. (You may be able to notice in the pic there are no burn marks) It was really strange, it was almost like the tree gods tore it to shreds and left it hanging. I think I was using an E15W-7 which in retrospect, the 7 second delay is great for a straight up flight but waaaaaaay too long for a cocked flight.

So, what did you think of the Mustang packaging? I tell ya, Aerotech is a class act. No wonder they are refered to as the Cadillac of rocketry.

Anyway.... Let us know how your Mustang build goes.

 

[nohup]

So, I've built up the kit and it was pretty nice, I must say. I am working on the primer layers now. Not sure if I'll really bother w/ enough sanding and priming to completely eliminate the spirals. Some times I get lazy with such things. We'll see.

One thing I did do wrong, when I went to drop some CA into the fin locks from the back end of the rocket, I used the thin CA, and WAY too much of it flowed out of the tube, leaked through the slots in the body tube, and went all over my hand. Then as it catalyzed it heated up, rapidly. That stuff gets HOT!!! It actually gave me a minor 1st degree burn, plus it takes forever to actally get that stuff ff your skin. It left some big glue globs on the outside of the rocket, but about 15 minutes of sanding took care of that.

The fin lock system is pretty cool. I am impressed. The only trouble I had with it was that the centering rings fit almost too tight. I had trouble getting the rear ring in place once the motor mount was glued in, but a little bit of sanding fixed that. Also, I think it would be better to put some epoxy in the body tube before inserting the motor mount, instead of trying to drip glue down in afterwards as the instructions said. Of course, the burn I recieved may have colored my viewpoint a bit.

My paint job is probably going to be some form of red & purple, I don't want the standard grey & white. Just my preference, that's all. I like colorful rockets.

All in all, I give it 4.75 out of 5. I felt for such an excellent kit, they could take a bit more effort to create clear directions. They were usable, but I did have to make sure I read everything more than once, as some of the directions were worded just a bit poorly. I'll definitely build another Aerotech rocket. I have had my eye on the Arreaux.

Hopefully the Mustang will be ready to launch by next weekend. I'll post pics when it is painted.

 

[ibeblip]

Acetone will disolve CA.
One of the things I do with it, other than cleaning my fingers, is keep a small pimiento jar of the stuff to put applicator tips and caps in when they start to get crusty.
If you don't keep them clean, the rest of the CA in the bottle will become contaminated. Exposure to air is enough to start that process, so save the tips and caps from used containers. That way, you'll always have clean one's available.

 

[gothique_97]

Originally posted by ibeblip
Acetone will disolve CA.
One of the things I do with it, other than cleaning my fingers, is keep a small pimiento jar of the stuff to put applicator tips and caps in when they start to get crusty.

Great idea! I would have gone through an incredible number of CA bottles and still have never thought of that. Seriously.

I can't say that I've gotten CA burns, but I have cried over the reaction many times. Its worse than cutting onions.

 

[Austin]

Acetone, as ibelip said, is great for removing CyA from hands and parts and is about the only thing that works...except for some CyA De-solve. The only bad part about Acetone is that it will attack some plastic parts, so I would be careful using it on the Mustang's fins.

Carl

 

[ibeblip]

That's right! Please fogive my failure to note cautionary measures for some plastics. CA bottles and caps are usually made of teflon.

Some plastics made from petroleum products will become rubbery from and after long periods of exposure to mere vapors from acetone. Polystyrene is one of them, and I think that's what the Mustangs' fins are made of. So BE CAREFUL.

Another use for CA: Instead of a band-aid on a skin laceration. Working in machine shops, a bad cut is quite common. And I've used CA to seal some wounds that would normally require sutures.

 

[wolf06]

I would never have thought about the extra tips and such soaking as well.... great idea!!

 

[BlueNinja]

I had a weird experience a few days ago...

Went to glue in teh fins, but not without test fitting first. it worked. Put the glue on, and it wouildn't snap. I was using medium NHP CA, any ideas what went wrong?

 

[doxiedog315]

The fins on my tomahawk were not a snap eather,took some work!