What did you do rocket wise today?

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Rummaging through the build pile. came across bagged parts for a "builders' kit". Several months ago erockets was selling fins and decals for a 2.25" Goblin, so I ordered the rest of the parts and put them in the build pile. Time to start this.
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Also put together another Art Applewhite free design, the 18mm Pyramid. It's like rocket origami.
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Build, build, build!
 
Played with sharpie and painted a couple of nose cones and a roll pattern. I like paint coverage better, but I knew the sharpie would not attack the plastic NC. Tightened up flexy Tubestack and worked on its recovery system.

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Been thinking about small field flying (like the elementary school play field down the street) and getting out MMX stuff. Have done a Mosquito with an MMX motor mount and a streamer, a downscale (to BT-5) Baby Bertha, the all-3D-printed MMX New Way Square One downscale and a Semroc MMX Goblin. Here's the Goblin getting its last fin installed earlier today.

A friend who got out of high-power re-entered in VLP (very low power) with his son. They enjoyed two-stage rockets with the smallest possible T motors. Said he got a real kick out of the staging occurring about ten feet up, and flying from a fairly small back yard.
 
Did some more time wasting research on one of my favourite rockets...

https://archive.org/details/SSRTBrochure
'Published in 1993, this colorful twelve page brochure describes the McDonnell Douglas Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) rocket project, the proposed successor DC-Y rocket project, and justification for Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) technology development. It was a produced at the height of the DC-X flight tests in 1993.'
 
Wasnt happy with what I wanted to be the last coat of clear on my 2.6” loc amraam. So wet sanded and put down another coat, hope it’s the last. Moving on, started gluing MRDM motor tube to centering ring. Then glued it into the body tube. First fin attached. Drilled nose cone bulkhead and centering ring and installed inserts.66D4BA7A-5747-4A87-9DE9-BEAE984F4F7F.jpeg86A8AED2-44E8-40C0-AF5E-26BB7713E02F.jpegEF60B353-17C4-4D09-BB4C-154EE21BB90B.jpegA1E533CE-70D5-4BD3-BDDA-CB36E11135CA.jpeg7880697A-2DBE-4775-AB75-D8988EC4A850.jpeg
 
Things I think I learned about injecting internal fillets with West 105/206+carbon fiber.
1. Don't overdo the fiber, a pinch in~ 30g of epoxy is enough.
2. Rub the fiber between thumb and finger to break it up.
3. Add it to a cup, measure out the resin, and put it in the refrigerator to chill. It will thicken up when cold.
4. Break up the chunks of fiber into the smallest pieces you have patience for. I used a toothpick for this. Stirring the resin/fiberIMG_20200510_142139.jpg mix also helps.
5. When the hardener is added the heat generated warms the mixture and thins it to the right viscosity for injecting.
6. Suck the mixture into a syringe and inject.
7. Have isopropyl alcohol and paper towels handy for cleanup.
 
Things I think I learned about injecting internal fillets with West 105/206+carbon fiber.
1. Don't overdo the fiber, a pinch in~ 30g of epoxy is enough.
2. Rub the fiber between thumb and finger to break it up.
3. Add it to a cup, measure out the resin, and put it in the refrigerator to chill. It will thicken up when cold.
4. Break up the chunks of fiber into the smallest pieces you have patience for. I used a toothpick for this. Stirring the resin/fiber mix also helps.
5. When the hardener is added the heat generated warms the mixture and thins it to the right viscosity for injecting.
6. Suck the mixture into a syringe and inject.
7. Have isopropyl alcohol and paper towels handy for cleanup.
I've been using their 404 High-Density Filler. According to their website:

404 High-Density Adhesive Filler is an epoxy thickening additive. We developed it for maximum physical adhesive properties in hardware bonding, or anywhere that high-cyclic loads are anticipated. Blended with epoxy, it makes an excellent gap filler or structural fillets. Use this filler wherever you need an especially strong bond. You can blend it into any WEST SYSTEM 105 Resin/20X Hardener combination, G/flex Epoxy 650, or G/5 Five-Minute Adhesive.

It would be a lot easier to inject with a syringe.
 
Attempting to film "Pandemic Rocket IV: Checking Out Lincoln Park". But, the plan hits a snag. You can figure it out, I'm sure. In the meantime, enjoy the tune "Stand" by Anno Domini Beats.
#LincolnPark #Tucson #AZ #LincolnParkTucson #LincolnParkTucsonAZ

A rocket-eating tree...

Obviously you were able to retrieve the rocket, right???
 
Today, I waited for an order of balsa and MonoKote trim to be delivered. The balsa is for a top secret custom project and the trim is for stripes.
...
Still waiting.
 
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Im currently day 14 into my latest 20 day work rotation, and since I'm on a plane for about 15hrs a day on average, this trip I loaded up the newest version of Rocksim onto my laptop, and have spent a lot of hours messing around on it, just playing with various designs and so forth. I just finished the plans for a 2/3 Astrobee D, and am now working on getting a price for all of the materials.
 
Been thinking about small field flying (like the elementary school play field down the street) and getting out MMX stuff. Have done a Mosquito with an MMX motor mount and a streamer, a downscale (to BT-5) Baby Bertha, the all-3D-printed MMX New Way Square One downscale and a Semroc MMX Goblin.

Often people say "pictures or it didn't happen" so here's a group shot. Next step is sanding sealer (Brodak) on all the wood parts of these, plus a Silver Comet and a Semroc repro of the Century Starfire.

But that may have to wait until Tuesday. I hope to actually get to go fly tomorrow.

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Attached last fin to MRDM. Internal fillets on front side of mid centering ring cw. Fabricated y harness and installed u bolts on fwd centering ring. Installed fwd centering ring.View attachment 415939View attachment 415940View attachment 415941View attachment 415942

looking at next builds to add shock cord as you did on yours. Thanks for the pics I have this noted. My Zephyr is completed so can’t do that trick on it to keep rocket level on landing.
Victor
 
looking at next builds to add shock cord as you did on yours. Thanks for the pics I have this noted. My Zephyr is completed so can’t do that trick on it to keep rocket level on landing.
Victor

Honestly i like the y harnesses more to spread the shock load out and prevent zippers more than anything
 
Attached last fin to MRDM. Internal fillets on front side of mid centering ring cw. Fabricated y harness and installed u bolts on fwd centering ring. Installed fwd centering ring.View attachment 415939View attachment 415940View attachment 415941View attachment 415942
Nice y-harness. It’s all I use anymore.

I just epoxy mine to the sides of the motor tube as Crazy Jim recommended and save money on the hardware and time on stitching the kevlar. It does require a small amount of work to create channels for the harness through the upper centering ring but that’s what Dremel tools or Permagrit files are for.
 
Ordered some rail buttons (Micro and Mini) from rail-buttons.com .

Put an 8020 20x20mmx1830mm rail ($14) and an Amazon Basics speaker stand ($30) in my shopping cart.

Here’s my planned project completed...

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This launch pad was created for a TARC team that I’ve seen on the field a few times. Most recently I had the presence of mind to snap a photo. The clamps were apparently created on a 3D printer.
 
It's Mother's day, 85 degrees, calm air. We have four cameras, two on the rocket, two on the ground. We get the video. But, the parachute on the booster fails to eject. RIP Junior. Lincoln Park is one tough venue to play.
#LincolnParkTucsonAZ #LincolnPark
 
A rocket-eating tree...

Obviously you were able to retrieve the rocket, right???
Yes, we got the nose cone camera hung up in the tree on Friday. We stopped by Ace Hardware to get an 8 foot section of 3/4 inch PVC pipe, some Duct tape and a bottle brush. I was able to MacGyver that into a hook to rescue the rocket camera from the tree. Sunday the parachute on the booster stayed gingerly tucked at the end of the body tube. So the booster got nixed this time around. Tough venue, this Lincoln Park. Thanks!
 
The wife and I were at a junk shop, and while there, I found a couple of old balsa airplane kits. Walking around, my wife found a DIY oddroc kit. She asked me if I thought it could be made into a rocket.

I was kind of struck dumb for a minute or two, and then said......Well, yes, actually....

What do you think?
 

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Also, in another part of my work area, I have a 3" blue tube Estes Cherokee upscale with a 38mmt. Trying to decide whether to call it a "Cherokee J" for the J motors it will fly, or simply "Grand Cherokee", and I could use the font from Jeep.....

Hmmm.
 

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The wife and I were at a junk shop, and while there, I found a couple of old balsa airplane kits. Walking around, my wife found a DIY oddroc kit. She asked me if I thought it could be made into a rocket.

I was kind of struck dumb for a minute or two, and then said......Well, yes, actually....

What do you think?

Awesome... What were the airplane kits you found?
 
Awesome... What were the airplane kits you found?

I'm not sure, I opened the boxes to see an extraordinarily large pile of unfinished balsa, and closed them like they had the plague. They looked like 100's of hours of work, but seemed to be complete, with instructions.

I had a Fokker Dr-1 triplane back in the 80's that I attempted to start, and failed miserably. In retrospect, it was probably as complicated a kit as was made back then.

I can go back there and see what they were in a few weeks. We will be buying spring chicks in the building next door.

The champagne bottle was $10.
 
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