What did you do rocket wise today?

[OzHybrid]

So, I’ve figured out how to edit videos on my phone. Mostly some extra grass scenes and maybe a swear word or two
So for your entertainment …
What I did yesterday. 🫣
View attachment 583312

Ouch. More expensive than the expensive it was supposed to be........

 

[Old School Doug]

Not much time today but I did manage to get a primer coat on the fin can of the AZT. Also sanded the spirals on the King Kraken. Market the tube fin locations and installed the backing nuts for the rail buttons.

 

[jd2cylman]

Ouch. More expensive than the expensive it was supposed to be........

Yup... It's gonna sting for a while.

 

[lakeroadster]

Worked on the artwork to make decals for the Razorback Rickenbacker. Using Paint.net software... which is new to me... and is da bomb!

Starship Mk1 - Space Shuttle - Mercury Capsule - B17 - Spad XIII - Wright Flyer - Icarus​

 

[gdjsky01]

read some in a back issue of a 2010 "Rockets" magazine

Get to the NAR forums site. All the Magazine and a shload of newsletters are there.

 

[gdjsky01]

I dipped some MGJ (MJG?) leads into the QuickBurst hotshot conductive dip. That dip works WAY better (for me) than the newer conductive dip. I tried TWO of those kits and never got decent ohm readings. This older dip? (Older in that QB sold it before the newer dip IIRC) I can get sub 10 ohm starters. I have not tried them yet in a motor, but my tests are encouraging. Even when 10 to 15 ohm. (using an estes/ncr pro controller with a single 1800mah 3S1P in it).

The launch system I use in the field uses two 3300mah 4S lipos in parallel. So 4S2P. They are 60C rated (burst I think).

Saturday I did 8 launches, 7 of which used higher current (Think Estes) starters. Plus I had 4 or 5 others use my pad, also with Estes like starters. several were clusters, but in parallel.

When I charged each battery, each took about 550mah. Almost identical. So I THINK that means I used 1amp? But one amp of 3.3? Or?

I have an older Aerotech Astrobee D kit. (Actually the guy sent two of them.) So I unboxed it. It will be my next build.

 

[Handeman]

I spent too much time on TRF, went through my Burnsim and open rocket files, and the fired up the 6qt mixer and did a 2,500 g batch of My Whyte 2 propellant. I ended up with one 75mm 5" grain with 1" core, two 4.25" grains with 1" core, two 3.25" 54mm grains with 3/4" core and three 54mm with 5/8" cores. That completes a 76-6000 M motor and a 54-2000 K motor.

Still need two more 75-4.25" for another M, and 4 more 75-4.25" for a 76-3600 L motor. Also need another 7 54-3.25 with 5/8 cores to complete another 54-2000 an two 54-1200 motors. That's about another 4200 g so two more mixes should do it. That doesn't include the 20 2.25 38mm 1/2" core grains and two 2.75" 5/8 core grains I will need. Those are only another 1400g or so just one more smaller mix.


I need to get mixing to get ready for LDRS 41. It's coming up too fast!

 

[Old School Doug]

One other Bong water landing for my Goony Kraken and a lawn dart for the Red Max.

My new feeling about Bong water landings leans toward challenging myself. How fast I can disassemble, dry out, reassemble and return to service my JLCR and/or tracking tag? And in my case.......I get to test my skills at least once every launch!

 

[tsmith1315]

Cursed at Rustoleum over a useless can of white 80% full and unusable. It refuses to spray another drop.

Cursed at Krylon over "Professional" fluorescent orange that went on clean over the half finished white, took about 5 coats to start covering decently, then went on totally dry. Sanding took it off unevenly, and subsequent coats wouldn't cover... Dark areas & light areas. Ugh.

At this point, I figure it's best to get a light color down evenly to cover that up...

Cursed briefly at Rustoleum over a new can of Sunshine Yellow that spit a little, then refused to spray...

A second try a few minutes later with the yellow, and the can came back to life and all went well. I now have a decent glossy finish on the payload section. But I didn't want it yellow. I wanted it either white or fluorescent orange.

 

[Lugnut56]

Finally got up on the wife's projects around the house. Finished the Proton Probe and after mulling over the build pile, decided the next project will be a SBR Fusion 54.

 

[teepot]

I got a nose cone out of my nose cone tub and attached it to the rocket. Weighed it. Put in a chute and weighed it. 50 ounces. Put in a motor and much to my surprise it didn't need nose weight. When it got dark the wind that had been blowing 15-20mph died down. I was able to put primer on the rocket plane. Took a can and the 1/4 that was left in another can to cover it. Lots of surface area. Looked at my tube stash and decided to make a BT60 rocket and use one of the Easter eggs as a nose cone. Won't have to paint the nose cone either. Bought some more fillable ornaments to use as nose cones. Some that are the shape of Christmas lights and a 6" one. I'll figure out what to do with it later. It's a minute later. Maybe Sputnik. I have a 12" one I made very early in my scratch building career. After I built it I realized it would need a HPR motor and I was still a level 0. It might fly someday.

 

[OverTheTop]

Trying to order over $1500 worth of motors. They are rare down here currently. Website for the supplier has a broken "contact me" link .

Just putting it in perspective, we pay about 2.4 times the $USD cost (including shipping in the USA), but in $AUD. If the exchange rate is miserable there may be another fee on top of that. So a K695 is $403AUD. A pack of D15-7T (3 motors) is $74.40AUD. That is $16USD per D motor reload.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Finally got up on the wife's projects around the house. Finished the Proton Probe and after mulling over the build pile, decided the next project will be a SBR Fusion 54.

View attachment 583414 View attachment 583415

 

[jqavins]

Edited portions of documentation for a 3D-printable vintage launch controller project that I’ve been working on. Progress on the controller project is approaching completion, with no firm date yet on when the STL files will be available. A second project, still a work in progress, is a 3D-printable vintage launch pad with upper and lower sections and a launch rod pivot mount assembly.

View attachment 583314​

How about a printable version of those old Centuri launch pads that sat on top of a lantern battery?

 

[jqavins]

I dipped some MGJ (MJG?) leads into the QuickBurst hotshot conductive dip. That dip works WAY better (for me) than the newer conductive dip. I tried TWO of those kits and never got decent ohm readings. This older dip? (Older in that QB sold it before the newer dip IIRC) I can get sub 10 ohm starters. I have not tried them yet in a motor, but my tests are encouraging. Even when 10 to 15 ohm. (using an estes/ncr pro controller with a single 1800mah 3S1P in it).

The launch system I use in the field uses two 3300mah 4S lipos in parallel. So 4S2P. They are 60C rated (burst I think).

Saturday I did 8 launches, 7 of which used higher current (Think Estes) starters. Plus I had 4 or 5 others use my pad, also with Estes like starters. several were clusters, but in parallel.

When I charged each battery, each took about 550mah. Almost identical. So I THINK that means I used 1amp? But one amp of 3.3? Or?

I have an older Aerotech Astrobee D kit. (Actually the guy sent two of them.) So I unboxed it. It will be my next build.

Well, you're combined 4S2P battery took 1.1 Ah when recharging. That means you used a little over 1.1 Ah, since the cycle efficiency is not 100% (but it's pretty close with LiPos). I don't see how you get from 1.1 Ah to 3.3 A. One of us is misunderstanding something.

 

[John Kemker]

How about a printable version of those old Centuri launch pads that sat on top of a lantern battery?

I would LOVE one of those!

Might be hard finding a lantern battery, though. Might have to also 3D print a case to hold something a bit more modern.

 

[Pinetree]

Lowe's has 6v Lantern Batteries.

 

[Hobie1dog]

I drilled two holes in the airframe of my AMW FiberMax, then masked inside the larger of the two holes and sprayed Duplicolor Cherry Red over the airframe. I got a bit on the nosecone, but wasn't worried about it too much, as it's getting black on it next week. (Probably Tuesday.)


View attachment 582576

Put that tower up.

 

[Rocketjunkie]

Lowe's has 6v Lantern Batteries.

Be careful. Make sure they're alkaline and are heavy. They used to contain 4 F cells but many now contain 4 D or even C cells.

 

[russell_t]

How about a printable version of those old Centuri launch pads that sat on top of a lantern battery?

Found several PDF sources online of the Centuri Powr-Pad.
As my former boss used to say, "Must study."

 

[KenECoyote]

Made it onto my company's Global News site!

 

[russell_t]

Located several additional sources of info pertaining to the Centuri Powr-Pad launch system...

3D-printable version of a pad:
https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-centuri-power-pad-139019

@hcmbanjo posted a good article with photos of the Powr-Pad:
https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2014/08/centuri-powr-pad-launcher-and.html

One of several online sources of the Powr-Pad instructions in PDF format:
https://www.oldrocketplans.com/centuri/cen5404/Centuri_Powr-Pad.pdf

 

[Pinetree]

Finished up the 100% accurate, totally to scale, looks just like the picture on the package Estes Doorknob.

P. S. The pointy bits on the fins are something that I have always wanted to do. I think they look military-ish, and super cool.

Having said that, I've lost count of how many times I've poked my hand on them while sanding and painting, so I (probably) won't add them again.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Finished up the 100% accurate, totally to scale, looks just like the picture on the package Estes Doorknob.

P. S. The pointy bits on the fins are something that I have always wanted to do. I think they look military-ish, and super cool.

Having said that, I've lost count of how many times I've poked my hand on them while sanding and painting, so I (probably) won't add them again.

Nice looking rockets

 

[Pinetree]

Thanks.. I'm having fun with it.

Sort of re-living my youth in a way. Of course I didn't have modern adhesives, a fin centering guide, access to spray paint other than what my parents had laying around, or patience 50 years ago...

 

[John Kemker]

Put that tower up.

One hobby project at a time, Marty. Right now, it's rockets. Later, I'll start digging a hole for the tower.

 

[Wally Ferrer]

Transport sanded, little bit of spot putty needs to cure before final touch up sand, then primer...

 

[Pinetree]

Wow.

That's some next level building right there.

 

[Joekeyo]

All that's left on the 1B is some small decals and the parachutes. Thanks to Chris Michielssen @ The rocket builder and Estes fine instructions. Much better than the 1b I built when I was a kid. Wish it was that size, though.

 

[KenECoyote]

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