What did you do rocket wise today?

[Cape Byron]

Cut ‘improved’ mask from contact and applied to Body tube. Looks reasonable.



First fin folded (first) and cut (second).

Funky broken scissor used to lightly score the rear of the fin for folding.

Might finish the BT wrap before fitting fins.

 

[Lt72884]

How about a Cap Rocket? You guys ever play with these as a kid?

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I had one of these when i was a kid. they were kind of fun

 

[Wayco]

Finished packing the truck and trailer for the Argonia cup launch. Tomorrow's first stop will be at our summer home in Red River, NM. which got 14 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. Sunday is the last day of skiing there.
Today it was 72* in Goodyear, tomorrow it will hit 35* in Red River.

 

[boatgeek]

How about a Cap Rocket? You guys ever play with these as a kid?

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For a moment there, I thought that you had an original cap rocket with a rocket motor mount. That would be pretty wild, even for the 70's. I had one of the cap bombs like you posted above. They worked pretty well on pavement.

 

[readytorock556]

Got some paint on the Rocketarium Arcas.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

Finished packing the truck and trailer for the Argonia cup launch. Tomorrow's first stop will be at our summer home in Red River, NM. which got 14 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. Sunday is the last day of skiing there.
Today it was 72* in Goodyear, tomorrow it will hit 35* in Red River.

Bring warm clothes. Also - looks like it might rain (but this is a week out...)
https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/ks/caldwell/KKSCALDW14

 

[rbelknap]

Was actually Friday, but finally got “a round tuit” for taking the “after photos”

Spent some time doing maintenance on my multi-pad launch system, specifically the grungy, rusty blast deflectors:

Before:View attachment 566844

After some time spent taking a drill attached wire wheel to them:
View attachment 566845

Also picked up some rustoleum metal primer and high temp “engine” paint to add a layer of protection but haven’t sprayed them yet (due to the rain)

So yeah- had a small problem with my blast deflectors. A couple of them still had rust remover on them, (from before I got smart and used the wire wheel.) and the place I had them stored temporarily got dripped on from the wet garage door while open for parking/bike retrieval.

Soooooo I had to take the wire wheel to them all again today.

Got started early enough that I was also able to get the rust reformer primer on one side as well.



Will flip and paint the other side tomorrow. If this doesn’t work, Anyone have in idea of a coating I could use to protect these?

(Or maybe I should just get/cut some aluminium plates. Would make the launch system boxed lighter too. These things are heavy!)

 

[Hobie1dog]

Will flip and paint the other side tomorrow. If this doesn’t work, Anyone have in idea of a coating I could use to protect these?

(Or maybe I should just get/cut some aluminium plates. Would make the launch system boxed lighter too. These things are heavy!)

We found stainless lids for pots/pans at the thrift store, removed the single knob in the middle, and use that hole for the launch rod. Cheap, very effective.

 

[Funkworks]

How about a Cap Rocket? You guys ever play with these as a kid?

I had a red one of these:



But today, I filled my Black Brant's spirals with Tamiya putty and sanded it:



I also found the 3 paper towel holders keeping them up.

 

[Cape Byron]

But today, I filled my Black Brant's spirals with Tamiya putty and sanded it:

I'm a huge fan of Tamiya putty. Dries fast. Sands smooth. Smells like not very nice chemicals are in use.

 

[Astronaut Cheeseball]

Started the decals on the Boom project looking good so far.

 

[Voyhager3]

Prepped and repaired a few rockets for this weekend, and waited for my altimeter, still nothing…
And while I’m thinking, we should make a member map, of like what clubs people are affiliated with/ fly at. Just an idea.

Update: it finally arrived!!!
It was at the wrong house… classic usps…

 

[Imaknow]

Finished fillets on fins and gussets on the Broadsword. Sanded the gussets. Mounted the 2 launch lugs. Fillets for them tomorrow, then waiting until the rain and cold go away (hint - not this weekend) to prime the fins for more sanding.
Guess I will tinker with the others in process in the meantime while fighting the temptation to start on another....

 

[Sooner Boomer]

Prepped and packed for Saturday's launch. I'm going to try my first dual deploy. I hope I haven'y forgotten anything.

 

[OverTheTop]

Prepped and packed for Saturday's launch. I'm going to try my first dual deploy. I hope I haven'y forgotten anything.

There are a lot of details. A checklist is your friend during prep and on launch day.

 

[teepot]

Got ready for tomorrows launch. Explorer is all packed. It's too bad the NCAA's are at the same time as Springfest. I'm taking mostly odd rocs. Weather report looks good. Should be fun. I'm bringing 6 pounds of 4F BP to the launch. Maybe someone needs some. I sure don't need that much.

 

[Cape Byron]

I'm bringing 6 pounds of 4F BP to the launch. Maybe someone needs some. I sure don't need that much.

Depends on what you’re blowing up, really…

 

[Sooner Boomer]

There are a lot of details. A checklist is your friend during prep and on launch day.

Checklist! *That's* what I forgot!

 

[GrouchoDuke]

Hopefully I just hit print on my avbay_final_v7b_UpdatedFinal_reallyThisTime_pleaseBeTheRealFinal avbay for my rocket build. I'm back home from another work trip, so it's go time on getting this rocket done.

 

[John Kemker]

My To-Do list for today has these rocketry-related tasks:

• Sand plywood fins for DBRM
• Measure parachute for AMW FiberMax to figure out if it'll be too big and what size silk-screen graphics will fit. (White surplus chute with spill-hole bought from Aerocon.)
• Epoxy fiberglass strips on fin roots of Cherokee-H.
• Prime some LPR rockets with airbrush.

Whether or not I get to all these tasks depends on how much time I waste on TRF. [grin]

 

[Back_at_it]

Stopped in a hobby shop at random to pick up some paint and asked if they sold rockets. They had two in stock and gave me a good deal on them so I let them follow me home.

Already have one Odyssey on the wall but it's such an interesting rocket I didn't mind spending the money on another one.

 

[Tech 68]

Depends on what you’re blowing up, really…

Bowling ball mortar, perhaps...

 

[Hobie1dog]

finished sanding on the Fat Boy, now have to wait for it to warm up more before spraying primer on it, then see how many more spots show up.

 

[Tech 68]

Painted the aft section of my 38mm Sidewinder as I had to replace the fin can.
Used Krylon "Fusion" in Matte Glacier Gray which claimed I could spray it between 40 and 80 F. It was 50 with a 10 MPH breeze and didn't come out looking too bad.

 

[Funkworks]

I'm a huge fan of Tamiya putty. Dries fast. Sands smooth. Smells like not very nice chemicals are in use.

Me too. After trying Bondo putty and Elmer's wood filler, Tamiya putty is my favorite to use. It also fills in the groove the first time. No need to do it twice.

- - - - - - -

Today I browsed GPS's and air-start timers online, and I found my sanding block, which I'll use to prepare plywood fins for diluted Elmer's wood filler and primer.

 

[jqavins]

How about a Cap Rocket? You guys ever play with these as a kid?

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I did. They were really disappointing. The clammer of it hitting the driveway was louder than the cap. Nice rocket inspiration though.

If this doesn’t work, Anyone have in idea of a coating I could use to protect these?

A platinum alloy plating would probably work. Actually, a baked on enamel (not paint) might do well if you can get it applied.

(Or maybe I should just get/cut some aluminium plates. Would make the launch system boxed lighter too. These things are heavy!)

I'm genuinely not saying that's a bad idea, but if you do it then you should be prepared to do it again and again. Aluminum is very reactive, and rocket exhaust can be quite corrosive. Save the weight by going with aluminum? Sure, just go in with eyes open.

I'd stick with steel.

 

[Cape Byron]

Just the fins to fit, I guess…

 

[lakeroadster]

Scratch build 4-stage 1/132 Scale Saturn V stuff

Laid out the roll pattern...​

Masked the roll pattern...​

Painted the roll pattern...​

Unmasked the roll pattern...​

Pretty pleased thus far, only minimal touch up will be needed. More details here.

​

 

[John Kemker]

Got half of them done. Sanded the fins and measured the parachute. Tomorrow is another day.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

The day started off cool and windy. Driving to Sayre, we were worried about what looked like a too-low cloud deck. After we got set up, the skies cleared. It was a great day to fly. First up was a 3D printed port o pot, on an Estes E motor. It flew a LOT higher than I expected. This is the perfect motor for this rocket.





We had some igniter problems. One resulted in a delayed hang fire that took off after several seconds. I had stopped shooting pictures when it took off.

I put my Design #2 up on an H130. It went to a little over 2000 feet. No pics of the flight because I was manning the launch button.



The SWOSU team was working on their two stage rocket for the Arginia Cup next weekend.




John launched his Vulcanite on a EX H motor



I said it was a great day for flying. Not just rockets! We fly at an airport, and a very friendly local gentleman flew in and visited with us for most of the day. The SWOSU rocket went way high, and drifted way south. Our visitor took me up to help look for it. He has a KitFox Experimental plane. I had a bit of an effort folding my 6'2" frame into the seat. But what a view! THIS is the way to chase lost rockets!