That would be Mike Terry, our NAR section honcho.
How did his flight go?
What did you do rocket wise today?
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How did his flight go?
Moar Painting!
Laid down under-colors for my halloween rockets.
Laid down under-colors for my halloween rockets.
rharshberger
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Good....other than he found the rocket eating cornfield. Some really helpful power parachute fliers spotted it from the air and told us roughly where the rocket was so myself and another flier went looking for it (Mike had already left for the day, and I believe was heading home the next day), so BEC and I went to recover it and another one the fliers had found for us. The first rocket we recovered was a 6" Black Brandt which they gave us gps coords for, Mikes rocket we had directions of look for two hay bales with a silver tarp and its about 50yds into the corn. The bales and tarp were not easy to find due to dips and swells but after a trip around the field (serious offroad fun) I spotted them about 50' off the road but hidden by a swell in the ground. Just as I got near the bales a one of the power chuters flew over and pointed downwards so I lined up about where he pointed, he flew back the other way and did it again, I adjusted my position, then he flew from directly behind me over the rocket again pointing down and the fun began....into corn I went, about 2 minutes later Bingo! It wasnt the rocket we thought it was but it was Mikes 4" Eagle Claw. We hauled it back to the launch site, and commenced to digging through flight cards for a Wildman Eagle Claw (only one flown during the event), then once we had a name it was digging through registration info for his phone, I called him and he came picked up the next morning. So it all ended well, now if we could just locate the other 5-6 rockets that ended up in the corn.
Brought my first scratch-built rocket, Floyd, out of the dusty pages of my old TRA binder and into Open Rocket. The VCP printouts and a photo had enough information to bring it back. The extended version will be re-created for my L2 re-cert flight, hopefully happening in a few weeks. I may start a build thread on it just to keep myself moving along.
Its maiden flight form is shown here, in super-frumpy white that I hated. The only rattle-can I had that day and after painting, I wished it had been left naked. After two great flights, it earned it's own nosecone, a payload section, and better colors.
Took inventory, and I'll build it in correct LOC 3" tube with 3/8" plywood CR's, but MMT will have to be 54mm. No plywood straight enough for fins, so they will have to be 0.125" G10.
As soon as I got the 3rd white ring ahead of the CP on the long version, I was overcome by a sigh of relief- right there was my old friend, last seen at 8k' in the prior millennium.
Its maiden flight form is shown here, in super-frumpy white that I hated. The only rattle-can I had that day and after painting, I wished it had been left naked. After two great flights, it earned it's own nosecone, a payload section, and better colors.
Took inventory, and I'll build it in correct LOC 3" tube with 3/8" plywood CR's, but MMT will have to be 54mm. No plywood straight enough for fins, so they will have to be 0.125" G10.
As soon as I got the 3rd white ring ahead of the CP on the long version, I was overcome by a sigh of relief- right there was my old friend, last seen at 8k' in the prior millennium.
One option is to cut a motor hook just after the first bend, or use a Quest hook (same thing). Insert the sustainer motor in fully hooked position. Then tape the booster motor under it, CHAD style. That will create a tiny gap, the thickness of the hook material. Does this count as gap staging? Barely, if at all. Then slide the booster over the booster motor.
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It's been so long since I actually did anything rocketwise that I forgot to post it. On Sunday I did two minor repairs. A friend launched his Supernova a couple of months ago and lost the sustainer. The booster we found, and it had a fin broken mostly off. The rocket hadn't been painted, so regluing was easy. I applied glue to the root and placed it in the jig. Later I'll redo fillets all the way around.
Even longer ago I build a BMS School Rocket, and botched it by rushing. I'm preparing to mentor a group at the local high school and/or middle school (if the school officials ever get back to me) and will buy a batch of School Rockets, so I thought I ought to build one myself first. And I rushed it. I placed on its side, resting on two fins, while fillets dried on the other two. And I hadn't waited long enough after installing the fins before doing this. One fin "sagged" way off perpendicular to the tube while the rocket was resting on it. And I didn't notice until all the fins were filleted and the rocket was painted. So Sunday I had to cut through the fillets and pull off the fin. Fortunately there was minimal damage to the tube underneath. Because the fin was so far out of position, there was no bond at the fin tab to motor mount joint. Then it was sand off the old fillets, reinstall, and refillet after waiting a suitable period of time. Repainting will come later. If at all. I may just leave the repair obvious so I can tell the kids how I screwed up, and hope they are wise enough to learn from my mistake.
There are many lessons one can learn from rocketry, mostly about craftsmanship and STEM stuff. "Don't rush it" is one of the few genuine life lessons from rocketry, one that I've, unfortunately, had to relearn many times. From rockets to cooking to sex to housebuilding, don't rush it.
mjremijan
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mjremijan
Well-Known Member
Baby Bertha build. After assembling the fins, I now got a new coat of sandable primer on. This should be the final coat before painting begins. I'm not sure how to proceed with sanding. Should I start with 400 or start with something like 220 then finish with 400?
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That depends on how much you need to remove, obviously. In the picture, the surface looks rather rough to me, so I'd start with 220 and see how it's going. If, after a few strokes, it seems to be going really fast, I'd probably switch to 320. 400, for me, is for taking it from pretty good to quite good, but if it's still only meh then I stay with 320.
Old School Doug
Unwilling participant in the idiocracy.
I use the same filler/primer exclusively. My own preference is to sand the initial primer coat lightly with 400. I'll then give the rocket another coat of the primer and let it fully dry for a couple days. Next step is to wet sand with 400, wipe it down and let it dry for a bit then do one more wet sand pass with either 800 or 1000. Somewhat time consuming so it's not for everybody. Just happens to be my go to process.
Modified the Estes Alpha OR file and created one called "Astrocam". Sims out at 1K+ with a C6-7. Sims better with the C6-7, less velocity at deployment, then with the recommended C6-5. What gives?
5s delay on a rocket that light means it's likely still going up on ejection. 7s is probably closer to apogee or just slightly after. Check the plots from the Sims and it'll show you in the flight path where it is when the ejection charge pops.
I built a two stage setup for our Astrocam based on the Multi-Roc. Even with just one stage a c6-5 isn't enough delay.
GrouchoDuke
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Emailed with committee folks. Coordinated for next year's launches. Thought about alternate ways to attach recovery harnesses to my upcoming 2.6" Darkstar build.
I finished assembly of my Odd'l Cyclone and major assembly of my brother-in-law's Der Red Max (which will be white).
Munun Wambad ready for internal fillets. Farming is interfering with my kit development time...
That's really more my point. Why did Estes recommend a C6-5? When, based on the sim and your experience, a C6-5 isn't enough delay. I expect this was an extensively researched rocket. Maybe they want the nose to blow prior to the apogee so the camera spends less time shooting open sky ???
What did I do rocketwise today: Planned on putting shroud lines on my parachute.
That's a reasonable theory.
mjremijan
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mjremijan
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Mounted my first camera...
Attached shroud lines to parachute.
This is the first parachute I have made. I would have to give it a C-. It is barely functional. Since it is the first time I built one and it is the first time I've used sewing machine in over 50 years, I will not beat myself up too much. I won't use this for my rockets, but will probably give it to a kid. I will use the lessons learned to build a better one. I will post the lessons learned on a parachute construction forum.
Ordered the parts for a 1.35X upscale Centuri Defender.
BT-70 airframe, 3X24mm cluster.
Last night I pulled an E2X out of the pile and did a fast build.
![1006210858[1].jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/401/401443-23a96c45a4676e62ffc7ff50593e1ac4.jpg "1006210858[1].jpg")
![1006210858a[1].jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/401/401444-0d2af0df488a31166c2b60abb5d4836e.jpg "1006210858a[1].jpg")
Heh.
BT-70 airframe, 3X24mm cluster.
Last night I pulled an E2X out of the pile and did a fast build.
Heh.
Booo!
A kid needs stuff that's reliable and easy to use successfully. You, an experienced and knowledgeable rocketeer, can take mitigation steps to work around substandard materials or equipment, but for a kid it's got to be easy and painless.
It's the same for anything. I can drive a stick shift with 2nd gear out of order, but I'd never ask a new driver to do it. Or recognize when my troubles are caused by a dull knife then go sharpen it, where a kid will just be frustrated and/or do a poor cutting job. And so on.
If you've got stuff that's not up to the demands of your projects and is up to the demands of simpler ones then sure, give it to a kid. If you've got stuff that's just plain substandard then either fix it, recycle it, or throw it away, but don't make it some kid's problem.
I was going to put a weight on it and give it to a young kid to play with. I did put some time into it and though if it gave a little kid a few minutes of joy it would be better than throwing it away. Now I am not so sure.
Worked on the TCC Special (scratch build by Ross Ohmen)
Rocket Reviews - Scratch TCC Special
I created the nose decoration using two bt20/50 engine mounts/rings and one bt5/20 engine mount ring; one nc-20 (elliptical) round nosecone with base cutoff, and one nc-5 (ogive) with a wood bead glued to the tip all epoxied to the top of the BT-80 elliptical nosecone.
I still have to print some decals to finalize the build.
Another cool retro rocket - and another fun build. Can't wait to fly her!!
Rocket Reviews - Scratch TCC Special
I created the nose decoration using two bt20/50 engine mounts/rings and one bt5/20 engine mount ring; one nc-20 (elliptical) round nosecone with base cutoff, and one nc-5 (ogive) with a wood bead glued to the tip all epoxied to the top of the BT-80 elliptical nosecone.
I still have to print some decals to finalize the build.
Another cool retro rocket - and another fun build. Can't wait to fly her!!
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Wow! What motor?
My guess is that they provide 2 recommendations so that the user has the option to blow before or after apogee.
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GrouchoDuke
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Realized my 2.6" Darkstar kit has a 54mm MMT instead of a 38. (I picked the kit up second hand a while back...thanks Pat!) Started simming L motors in addition to J motors. Compared to my typical rockets, a 2.6" avbay is CAVERNOUS, so it should make for a great test platform for my electronics projects. Gs to Ls...not a bad range! Anyway, I'm 3d printing fin guides for it. Making room for a 54mm 6GXL case looks doable...just barely.
Semi-related, I really need to find a research motor mentor to get going on that.
jFlds, you a Navy pilot by any chance?
Semi-related, I really need to find a research motor mentor to get going on that.
jFlds, you a Navy pilot by any chance?
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