What did you do rocket wise today?

[Banzai88]

Found this little guy in the bottom of a recent collection purchase. Fixed one fin, Did some fillets and painted it the most obnoxious color I have in hopes of finding it again. Cut a generic mosquito image from Vinyl. Might paint one fin black. Haven't decided if it's worth it yet. View attachment 439799

I bet I've bought, launched, and searched in vain for at least a dozen of those things in the last 5 years, haven't gotten more than 3 flights from a single one.

Each time I launch it I swear I'll find it THIS time.

Each time that I launch and don't recover it, I swear that I'll never make another one.

There are three more kits hanging on the wall!!!!!

 

[Back_at_it]

I bet I've bought, launched, and searched in vain for at least a dozen of those things in the last 5 years, haven't gotten more than 3 flights from a single one.

Each time I launch it I swear I'll find it THIS time.

Each time that I launch and don't recover it, I swear that I'll never make another one.

There are three more kits hanging on the wall!!!!!

I know your pain. I've only owned one of these before. Flew it 4 times on a 1/4A3-3T motors. Got it back all 4 times. Pushed my luck on a 1/2A3-4T and never saw it again. Only advise I can give is have someone standing well back from the pad when it goes up. They will have a better vantage point.

 

[heada]

The pink should help but any florescent would be better. Build, launch and promptly lose it and then come back at dark with a UV flashlight. Scan the ground and it'll jump out and glow. Other options are up-scale. I have the Estes 2.6" Mega with 24mm MMT and a PoleCat 5.5" with a 54mm MMT

 

[Back_at_it]

The pink should help but any florescent would be better. Build, launch and promptly lose it and then come back at dark with a UV flashlight. Scan the ground and it'll jump out and glow. Other options are up-scale. I have the Estes 2.6" Mega with 24mm MMT and a PoleCat 5.5" with a 54mm MMT

Yeah. My last one was florescent orange. Didn't really do any good. I currently a BT80 version and working on a BT60 using a Baby Bertha as the source

 

[Wayco]

I anticipate the day when it can deliver Amazon books to my door step.

Amazon already delivers books directly to my Ipad....

Today, my morning started here:

Three mugs of Mountain Thunder Kona coffee, at 3 am.
Sharon and I spend the first two hours of our day planning whatever comes into our minds. Sitting up in bed, in front of a big screen TV that is one of many computer monitors linked to the server in her office.
Then we got up and got into our hot tub.
Not exactly rocket related yet, although we did discuss our strategy for the various black Friday sales, including Mad Cow, Wildman, Teddy's hardware/harness sale and others.
Next, we went out by the lake and watched a Starlink train pass across the Southern sky. This was the first time we had seen this event, and was a highlight of the day.
After breakfast, I pulled out my old 5" Jughead, which I'm picking up parts to rebuild the fincan into something that will fit the 75/10,000 snap-ring casing.

The upper part was originally a 5" Jart, which was modified to fit a 75mm MMT with a "donut" avbay, and a 16" payload tube, so I wouldn't have to stuff everything into the N/C.
After many repairs that included tip to tip reinforcement on the "Jart" fins that kept breaking, I decided that a complete rework of the fincan was in order. So I picked up a 60" piece of 5" tubing, three sheets of 3/16" G10 plate for new fins, and three centering rings to fit the salvaged 75mm MMT from another project. Weighed it all today so I could estimate what size chute I will need, and came up with around 35 lbs. When I add the Aeropack retainer, the 75/10,000 casing will fit with about 2" of it into the donut avbay. Now I need to come up with a fin shape that I can cut out of the 12" squares of G10....
Yeah, I'm experiencing a "Wayne's world" kinda day, MOST EXCELLENT!

 

[jqavins]

Any day that starts off in the hot tub with the wife is off to a good start. Using the time to talk about rockets is just icing on the cake.

Now I need to come up with a fin shape that I can cut out of the 12" squares of G10.

How about 12" squares? Too boring? How about 12" squares with the outward leading quarter clipped off triangularly?

OK, seriously, how much fin area do you need? Could you put two pieces together, maybe by epoxying them edge-to-edge then applying one more layer of cloth on each face?

For example, using the full square foot:

Or 3/4 of it:

And many more possibilities.

 

[rklapp]

Amazon already delivers books directly to my Ipad....

Today, my morning started here:
View attachment 439801
Three mugs of Mountain Thunder Kona coffee, at 3 am.
Sharon and I spend the first two hours of our day planning whatever comes into our minds. Sitting up in bed, in front of a big screen TV that is one of many computer monitors linked to the server in her office.
Then we got up and got into our hot tub.
Not exactly rocket related yet, although we did discuss our strategy for the various black Friday sales, including Mad Cow, Wildman, Teddy's hardware/harness sale and others.
Next, we went out by the lake and watched a Starlink train pass across the Southern sky. This was the first time we had seen this event, and was a highlight of the day.
After breakfast, I pulled out my old 5" Jughead, which I'm picking up parts to rebuild the fincan into something that will fit the 75/10,000 snap-ring casing.
View attachment 439808

The upper part was originally a 5" Jart, which was modified to fit a 75mm MMT with a "donut" avbay, and a 16" payload tube, so I wouldn't have to stuff everything into the N/C.
After many repairs that included tip to tip reinforcement on the "Jart" fins that kept breaking, I decided that a complete rework of the fincan was in order. So I picked up a 60" piece of 5" tubing, three sheets of 3/16" G10 plate for new fins, and three centering rings to fit the salvaged 75mm MMT from another project. Weighed it all today so I could estimate what size chute I will need, and came up with around 35 lbs. When I add the Aeropack retainer, the 75/10,000 casing will fit with about 2" of it into the donut avbay. Now I need to come up with a fin shape that I can cut out of the 12" squares of G10....
Yeah, I'm experiencing a "Wayne's world" kinda day, MOST EXCELLENT!

I live in Hawaii but have never been a fan of Kona coffee. I grew up near Seattle.

We watched the satellite train go by several months ago. I regret not having my camera with me at the time. It was a lot more closer together than this. I've tried to catch it go by again but supposedly, they've added shielding so they don't glow as bright.

 

[Nytrunner]

Got a package today

 

[Wayco]

Any day that starts off in the hot tub with the wife is off to a good start. Using the time to talk about rockets is just icing on the cake.

OK, seriously, how much fin area do you need? Could you put two pieces together, maybe by epoxying them edge-to-edge then applying one more layer of cloth on each face?

For example, using the full square foot:
View attachment 439821

And many more possibilities.

I like the way you think Joe. That middle one might work with a little tweaking. I need to build something in openrocket and see what works best. Wouldn't want to have to add nose weight to balance out the heavy fins, 3/16" plate is HEAVY!

I live in Hawaii but have never been a fan of Kona coffee. I grew up near Seattle.

We watched the satellite train go by several months ago. I regret not having my camera with me at the time. It was a lot more closer together than this. I've tried to catch it go by again but supposedly, they've added shielding so they don't glow as bright.

Spent some time in Seattle, we had a branch office up there for a while. Never got into the burnt bean flavor, medium roast or french roast is more palatable to me. Don't like Starbucks either. Seattle is a funny place, everybody sells coffee, even the mortuary.
Some of the coffee I drank up there could probably raise the dead.

The train we saw this morning was much closer together than the one you posted. If they did shield them, it didn't work. Purely a coincidence that we saw them, had no idea they were in our area at that time in the morning.

 

[rklapp]

I’ll try the trainspotting again in the morning.

 

[Cape Byron]

Actual rocket surgery!

Short and fat might be where it's at, but it does make some problems for laundry space. The prototype Goonie Vostok had a nice balsa nose cone, but the production version uses an Estes cone. This has a 25mm (1") conical extension after the shoulder which cuts down on parachute space.

I cut off the extension with a razor saw. Lots more room in the BT now.



Take a BT60 coupler bulkhead and trim two sides down to make is easy to slide into the NC.





Add a length of cord to wrangle it into place. Sand lightly for a perfect fit.



Pull on the cord to lock the bulkhead into the inside of the cone just above the shoulder. It fits perfectly!

Pull the bulkhead back out at an angle, add the nose weight, epoxy the bulkhead in place.

Done. Gorgeous. Okay, back to pruning trees...

 

[Wally Ferrer]

Depending on your point of view, I either spent a lot of money on Wildman's pre-sale, or I saved $117... I'm going with saved...

 

[NateB]

Depending on your point of view, I either spent a lot of money on Wildman's pre-sale, or I saved $117... I'm going with saved...

Saved sounds better.

I passed on this one. Great sale, but nothing I "had" to have. Another Darkstar Jr for a 2 stager was tempting, maybe next year.

 

[Wally Ferrer]

Saved sounds better.

I passed on this one. Great sale, but nothing I "had" to have. Another Darkstar Jr for a 2 stager was tempting, maybe next year.

I'm currently glad I do not yet have my L2, or I would have spent way too much- or saved even more!

 

[neil_w]

I'm currently glad I do not yet have my L2, or I would have spent way too much- or saved even more!

Is the Andromeda not an L2?

 

[Wayco]

I'm currently glad I do not yet have my L2, or I would have spent way too much- or saved even more!

Yeah, I saved some too, but my account is empty. Go figure?
Try doing this with two L3 fliers like Sharon and I....
It would have been worse if he had CTI discounted too, but then again, there is still SATURDAY!

 

[Wally Ferrer]

Is the Andromeda not an L2?

I believe it is for best results, and I have yet to finish building it let alone flying it. I think I had said previously that if I ever needed a motivator to get my L2, it would be the Wildman Andromeda...

 

[tsmith1315]

Putting together an Eggtimer Proton today, and I'm glad to have an assortment of strong readers to help with these tiny SMT critters!

 

[Ulexis]

Depending on your point of view, I either spent a lot of money on Wildman's pre-sale, or I saved $117... I'm going with saved...

Well said! Which is nice because I saved a lot more than you did.

 

[prfesser]

Putting together an Eggtimer Proton today, and I'm glad to have an assortment of strong readers to help with these tiny SMT critters!

Every Eggtimer product is a piece of cake...compared to this (from hackaday.com):

Hand-soldered. If you're successful with this challenge, the LEDs around the circumference will light up.

Those grayish things it's sitting on? Grains of rice.

Best -- Terry

 

[tsmith1315]

That's just mad!

 

[Bruce]

Started looking at measuring airspeed with a pitot-static tube. Maths seems simple enough.

Did you ever fly the Pitot Tube in a rocket?

I'd be interested to hear how the data compares with speeds measured with a barometric pressure sensor or GPS.

 

[T-Rex]

Renewed my NAR membership.

 

[kuririn]

Renewed my annual TRF membership.
OK, it auto renewed but I read the email notification.

 

[Tobor]

I actually finished this some time ago, but I couldn't wait any longer to post. Sorry K'Tesh.

This is my take on the Estes D.O.M. (Design Of the Month) contest winner from Sept. '78.

I present "The Mako 2.0"


And, for anyone interested in the original Mako, I've attached the instructions in pdf format.

 

[OverTheTop]

Did you ever fly the Pitot Tube in a rocket?

Not yet. Things moving very slowly due to my bike crash. Our last launch for the year is tomorrow and I might get a couple of D motors away, but no HPR. Fire season is kicking in shortly also, so possibly next year for flying the new hardware. I have started thinking about hardware integration, so things are moving slowly...

 

[jqavins]

Renewed my annual TRF membership.

OK, it auto renewed but I read the email notification.

You chose not to turn off the autorenewal. Close enough.

 

[cbwho]

Got a rocket stuck in a tree. Its about 30 feet up? I tried a roof rack poles but not long enough. Will attempt to retrieve again. Any recommendations for retrieval mechanisms?

On my red 2 stager code named red lipstick, we lost the glider. Thinking of making a different glider. Any recommendations for a design?

 

[boatgeek]

Got a rocket stuck in a tree. Its about 30 feet up? I tried a roof rack poles but not long enough. Will attempt to retrieve again. Any recommendations for retrieval mechanisms?

On my red 2 stager code named red lipstick, we lost the glider. Thinking of making a different glider. Any recommendations for a design?

I have an extending painting pole that I use for retrieving rockets from trees. It’s about 10’ long retracted and maybe 25’ extended, and has the threaded end so I can put a paint roller frame on the end as a hook. It works really nicely but maybe not to 30’.

 

[teepot]

Got a rocket stuck in a tree. Its about 30 feet up? I tried a roof rack poles but not long enough. Will attempt to retrieve again. Any recommendations for retrieval mechanisms?

On my red 2 stager code named red lipstick, we lost the glider. Thinking of making a different glider. Any recommendations for a design?

If the tree isn't climbable, you could try throwing a rope over the branch. Or you could shoot the branch off with a shotgun.