What did you do rocket wise today?

[kuririn]

One more. Completed assembly this afternoon.
Modified Apogee-roc, a design by Scott Rudisill in the May 1970 issue of Model Rocketry.
Mods:
The fin design was super pointy, and I had a set of Baby Bertha fins left over from a kitbash so I used them.
Also no fin template included in the plan.
The design uses motor eject and no recovery system. Seems too heavy for tumble or featherweight recovery so added three streamers.
Did not have three of the same nose cones so used three different ones. Hey, look at my signature.

Laters.

 

[Wally Ferrer]

After some wood filler and sanding, over the last couple of days I got the Pluton ready for primer...

 

[GrouchoDuke]

Electronics design work & certification research.

 

[hobie1dog]

Sanded down the motor tube for the engine retainer. It was 64 degrees so I was able to go down to the garage and use the Dremel today.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

Sanded down the motor tube for the engine retainer. It was 64 degrees so I was able to go down to the garage and use the Dremel today.

Isn't it great to get a day like that after a long stretch of winter? The sun is up in a clear sky already and I think it'll hit 50°F at least today and I'm gonna go outside and beat my chest and holler!

 

[Donnager]

First sloppy coat of primer.... Bodywork to commence.

 

[jqavins]

I've mentioned that my 2 yr. old grandson wants to watch the Space Shuttle and "Moon Rocket" launches every time he comes to visit. Eventually my wife got curious and was finally amazed by it all. And her brother started asking questions.

Pretty soon your family will be NAR section by itself!

Did not have three of the same nose cones so used three different ones. Hey, look at my signature.
View attachment 452105

That makes it look like three different rockets wrapped together against their wills.

Isn't it great to get a day like that after a long stretch of winter? The sun is up in a clear sky already and I think it'll hit 50°F at least today and I'm gonna go outside and beat my chest and holler!

It was a balmy 27° this morning. (But it is expected to reach the high 40s this afternoon.)

 

[RocketTree]

Scratch built a 4" diameter Zeus.

Design goals: Light-weight. Low-cost. Mid power launch capability.

Accepts G to I motors for a 500-2300' flight.

.250" balsa mid/upper fins.
.168" plywood main fins
73" tall
1128g dry weight
Cost: $50 (CDN) +/-

Prime and paint ASAP
First flight will be DMS G79-4

 

[Blast it Tom!]

Scratch built a 4" diameter Zeus.

Design goals: Light-weight. Low-cost. Mid power launch capability.

Accepts G to I motors for a 500-2300' flight.

.250" balsa mid/upper fins.
.168" plywood main fins
73" tall
1128g dry weight
Cost: $50 (CDN) +/-

Prime and paint ASAP
First flight will be DMS G79-4

View attachment 452173

Man, you mid/high-power guys... NIce job! My only reason for making a rocket that big would be so that when I fly it as high as that thing will go, it'll stand out when I'm tromping through the woods looking up in the trees for it!

 

[jqavins]

Scratch built a 4" diameter Zeus.

Nice looking build.

Accepts G to I motors for a 500-2300' flight.

That feels like a really small range of altitudes for two letter classes difference in motors. What particular motors are those altitudes from? Possibly my simplistic mind sim is out of whack.

.168" plywood main fins

Strange number. It's not close to a whole number in 32ths of an inch (5.376/32) or to a whole number of millimeters (4.267). Is it nominal 3/16 and then a little thin? (Or does someone sell 43/256" plywood?)

 

[Wally Ferrer]

I had an extra day off for wellness, so I started another one. The body tube is slightly scrunched, but workable. This may very well be the largest balsa nose cone I have ever worked with. I decided to use wood glue since it should be strong enough for 29mm, will likely fly with G or smaller. Mostly... I did use epoxy for the Kevlar tether/shock cord...

 

[Wally Ferrer]

I needed to stiffen up the tube end with thin CA glue as it was mushy in places. That along with some sanding of centering rings and I was able to wrestle the motor mount into place. After the glue had time to dry I got the first fin in place-bottom fin is just there for alignment, I want the wood glue to set with gravity assistance... Easy-peazy from here on!

 

[Old School Doug]

Last of the fin fillets laid down. Gave the nose cone a 2nd coat of filler and sanded it down. Ready for the primer coat this weekend.

 

[splangie]

Worked on fin fillets for a Baby Bertha and sanded body tube of a Goblin after filling spirals with wood filler. I used masking tape on both sides of spiral all the way down. First time I did it this way and it looks great and was easier in application and clean-up.

 

[bronicabill]

Continued work on building and setting up the Apogee 2.64" ebay kit for my new AeroTech ARCAS kit. I am a very slow builder to begin with because I prefer to be so meticulous, but my recent health issues only allow me to get into the shop and be functional maybe once every two weeks, so that makes it extra slow!

A week or so ago I opened my new ARCAS kit to grab the coupler tube and upper body tube for use in setting up my ebay sled with electronics and wiring, and I couldn't get the flippin' coupler tube out of the body tube... it was stuck tighter than a virgin! After well over 30 minutes of clear-headed "thinking time" this evening, I finally figured out how to remove it without damaging anything, and made some real progress on final assembly and setup.

Just fired off an e-mail to Apogee regarding some questions on their 2.64" ebay kit, so hoping I will get useable answers tomorrow (later today) so I can continue my work.

Cheers!

 

[teepot]

I got two coats of color on one rocket before the wind made painting impossible. Now I have 4 more waiting for paint and it's forecast to be windy for the next few days. Nuts. But I did finish one. It's a 2.6" with a 29mm mmt, weighs 19 ounces with a 30" chute and is 54" long. It's number 108. I'm calling it Half Moon. Instead of fins I used an 8" half of a hollow styrofoam ball.

 

[markfsanderson]

First time in a long time posting. Moved from San Antonio, TX to the North Virginia area (New Baltimore) and joined NOVAAR - still have not launched any rockets but will be attending the a launch soon. I have not built a rocket in more than year so I thought I'd start back out simple, a Loc/Precision EZI 65 Mini-Missile. Yes, you also see Lyka, my Percheron horse in the back ground as well; she probably won't be very enthusiastic about launching rockets . . . I built this rocket with most/all of the techniques learned here and elsewhere: papering the fins, poking small holes on the fin line to gain better fin adhesion, thin CA at the forward end of the BT to minimize chance of zippering, using lightweight Kevlar thread wrapped around motor mount for parachute retention, and using fishing tackle swivels to make it easy to switch out parachutes and streamers. Waiting for a warm 50F or better day to spray primer and plastic adhesion (nose cone):

I'm now starting the slow burn to my eventual Level 2 NAR cert ship (my first attempt failed with a parachute mis-pack) by build the 7.5" Loc/Precision DoorKnob. Attached are a couple pictures from building the RNWS (Removable Nose Weight System) for this rocket. This is certainly the largest rocket I've ever built, but should fly nicely within the confines of the NOVAAR field limitations (4500' max altitude). I've not been able to locate an .ork file for this rocket (the old version is out there - but not this new one) so I'm slowly creating my own. If someone has a lead on an ork file for the new DoorKnob - let me know!
Building the DoorKnob RNWS:


Mark!

 

[Mugs914]

Welcome back Mark!

The only Doorknob I have is for a 4" version with a 54mm mount and looks like it is set up for motor ejection (I'm not sure where I got it). Maybe you can scale it up to 7.5"... File attached below. Please keep us posted on the build!

By the way, I'd love to see some pics of Lyka! Does she work or pull? (Big draft horse fan! )

 

[markfsanderson]

Welcome back Mark!

The only Doorknob I have is for a 4" version with a 54mm mount and looks like it is set up for motor ejection (I'm not sure where I got it). Maybe you can scale it up to 7.5"... File attached below. Please keep us posted on the build!

By the way, I'd love to see some pics of Lyka! Does she work or pull? (Big draft horse fan! )

Thanks! I will certainly include more pictures of Lyka in the future! She is a semi-rescue, she rides and pulls ... we're putting more weight on her and doing a re-start. She loves to pull things, very calm and smart. She will be helping me pulling firewood logs out of our acreage as well doing trail work. We've had her now for about four months. Winter time is not a fun time to own horses . . . for sure! She's now about 1700lbs @ 17.2HH (just under 6 feet at the shoulder) and she should be about 1850'ish . . . or slightly more for winter.

I have the ORK file as well, and it has been my starting point. Once I've got a good simulation, I'll post it publicly if no one else beat me to the punch.

Thanks Again - Mark!

 

[jqavins]

Do you really think your username byline is applicable to someone with L1 cert and four years here? "Returnee" isn't the same as "New".

Anyway, welcome back and good luck with the projects.

Lastly, remember that OR can open .rkt (RockSim) files, so you could expand your search.

 

[markfsanderson]

Do you really think your username byline is applicable to someone with L1 cert and four years here? "Returnee" isn't the same as "New".
View attachment 452272
Anyway, welcome back and good luck with the projects.

Lastly, remember that OR can open .rkt (RockSim) files, so you could expand your search.

Haha! Well at least the TRF Supporter is accurate! I'll have to rethink the byline since I've been a member for four years . . . hmmm .... Suggestions anyone? Perhaps returnee might do . . . I like it . . .

I've looked for rocksim files as well . . . on the original DoorKnob finding an openrocket/rocksim file isnt' a problem. The new one is still pretty new . . .

Thanks!

Mark!!

 

[Adam3836]

Scratch built a 4" diameter Zeus.

Design goals: Light-weight. Low-cost. Mid power launch capability.

Accepts G to I motors for a 500-2300' flight.

.250" balsa mid/upper fins.
.168" plywood main fins
73" tall
1128g dry weight
Cost: $50 (CDN) +/-

Prime and paint ASAP
First flight will be DMS G79-4

View attachment 452173

wow nice job and the cost is great !!

 

[Tim51]

Following my application a few weeks ago to become a Range Safety Officer, today I was interviewed by the UKRA Safety & Technical Committee. The interview was successful and I am now an RSO.

 

[jqavins]

Thank you.

 

[Ulexis]

Raced home for lunch to open my package from Composite Warehouse. Got me a 29mm Go Devil in fluorescent green. I was happy to see it came with fin alignment jigs....now if I only knew how to put this together....

 

[AeroAggie]

Raced home for lunch to open my package from Composite Warehouse. Got me a 29mm Go Devil in fluorescent green.

A Green Go Devil?? Now that's different. Was that a standard kit offering or did you order custom?

 

[Ulexis]

A Green Go Devil?? Now that's different. Was that a standard kit offering or did you order custom?

I asked him if they made them in different colors and he said they did and to just add the color requests in the comments section.....
And whallah.

 

[Old School Doug]

Decided to start work on the Vexillum while I wait for the weekend to spray the 1st primer coat on the "Anarcus" (nod of acknowledgement to Tim !!). This is a knock off of the Mach 1 Maelstrom, incorporating a BT70, 29mm motor mount, balsa nose cone, and 3/16" ttw balsa fins. I saw someone here mention masking the spirals on the BT when applying filler so I thought I'd give it a try. Also have the 2 small rockets for my grandson and I to play with ready for wet sanding and initial coats of primary colors.

 

[Jowayen]

Just did the first epoxy step for 3 TTW fins to a 4" tube

 

[markfsanderson]

West Systems 105/205 arrived . . . have 209 and 406 on order.

Glued the RNWS shoulder ring to the inside of the nose locating it on the shoulder. Small steps . . .


Tomorrow or Saturday the RNWS main tube will be glued. This is where the weighted and un-weighted cartridges will be inserted and the retainer ring screwed on to hold them in place. The weighted cartridge has the eyebolt for shock attachment. This weighted cartridge will be created towards the end of the build when I have a better idea on how the weight will be distributed.

Attached is a very early OpenRocket simulation file and report for the full size 7.5" Loc/Precision DoorKnob. This is a pre-production, certainly NOT ready for prime time simulation file. I hope to have it improved and peer reviewed in the near future . . .


Mark!

PS: Did I Mention the OR simulation is pre-production?