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Club launch next weekend, hopefully.
Spent quite a bit of time getting about half a dozen rockets ready for launch.
Repacked rockets from previous launches and attached chutes and nose cones to new, un-flown rockets.
Attached a snap swivel to my altimeter so I can move it from one rocket to the next.
Launch day could go into the evening hours. I'm going to see if my old chemical light sticks are still good. If they are, I might see if I can fit one into one of the bigger rockets.
 
o1d_dude said:
Haven’t been able to get outside due to air quality alerts from the annual California Summer BBQ and Wildfire, 2020 version.

Fortunately, our dingdong governor has at last seen the error of his ways and will now maintain the forests and woodlands properly, Sierra Club and other green/hippie organizations be damned. Forest management involves clearing brush and deadfalls to limit the combustible materials collecting on forest floors...widely practiced in most countries with appreciable woodlands.

Heard from several rocketry vendors that my orders are on the way.

I have anywhere from 2-3 months till launch season so the clock is ticking...assuming Civil War II doesn’t break out following the election and social distancing is called off.

I was going to make a Covid19 joke here but 99.69% of you won’t get it.
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In Rocky Mountain National Park there are logs piled up along side the roads. Park Service has a (wise) policy of cutting down dead trees. Hasn't entirely eliminated fire danger and I'd never suggest doing much more than that. Who wants to hike through a forest that's been stripped of undergrowth and had half the trees removed. People want to see nature in it's natural form.
 
While the launch lug dries, I took a stab at this little parasite Sabre Glider we got at NARCON at the cape last year

Its weight is near negligible, so a long model looks best for offsetting the drag penalty. I'm choosing my USSRC 5k launch Guiness record rocket as its host for first launch (whenever that happens)

May even break out the sharpie to decorate it.

20200913_195513.jpg
 
Senior Space Cadet said:
In Rocky Mountain National Park there are logs piled up along side the roads. Park Service has a (wise) policy of cutting down dead trees. Hasn't entirely eliminated fire danger and I'd never suggest doing much more than that. Who wants to hike through a forest that's been stripped of undergrowth and had half the trees removed. People want to see nature in it's natural form.
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Even cutting out the dead ones is a sad necessity.They're food for fungi and habitat for numerous things.
 
jqavins said:
Even cutting out the dead ones is a sad necessity.They're food for fungi and habitat for numerous things.
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The other side of it is that if the undergrowth is not controlled and the dead trees not removed you get part of the current sitution in California and my neck of the woods. The picture below is what an air quality index of 550 looks like, and the nearest fire to me is 75 miles currently. As some one who supports fire fighters on a regular basis I understand why forest and land management is necessary, but I also don't like seeing excessive damage caused by logging, in the last 20 years two major fires have almost entirely stipped all the old growth timber off the areas I like to hunt in the SE Washington Blue Mountains.
20200912_135430.jpg
 
Mixed up a cup of epoxy with a ton of microballons in it to patch low spots, pin holes and give a feather edge for the fiberglass to BT joint. The cup set up in about 30 minutes but the stuff I applied to the rocket is still tacky after 4 hours.
 
heada said:
The cup set up in about 30 minutes but the stuff I applied to the rocket is still tacky after 4 hours.
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Heat generated by the exothermic reaction in the cup. The stuff on the rocket is thinner and cooler so takes longer to cure. You can sit your cup in ice water to slow the reaction down if needed, or mix in a very wide area with not much thickness.
 
rharshberger said:
The other side of it is that if the undergrowth is not controlled and the dead trees not removed you get part of the current sitution in California and my neck of the woods. The picture below is what an air quality index of 550 looks like, and the nearest fire to me is 75 miles currently. As some one who supports fire fighters on a regular basis I understand why forest and land management is necessary, but I also don't like seeing excessive damage caused by logging, in the last 20 years two major fires have almost entirely stipped all the old growth timber off the areas I like to hunt in the SE Washington Blue Mountains.
View attachment 431600
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Despite what a certain someone has said, removing the undergrowth is not a common practice. The labor involved is enormous as are the consequences to animals and it destabilizes the soil. Some sort of thinning may be necessary. I am frequently at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), because hiking trails start from their parking lot and the road up to the labs is a local favorite for cyclists. There are very smart people in there that would argue that the problem is, partly, due to climate change. It has been a hot, dry summer in Colorado too. Big fires. They closed Trail Ridge Road because the smoke was so bad.
 
heada said:
Mixed up a cup of epoxy with a ton of microballons in it to patch low spots, pin holes and give a feather edge for the fiberglass to BT joint. The cup set up in about 30 minutes but the stuff I applied to the rocket is still tacky after 4 hours.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the pot will get hard pretty quick. If I was making a large batch, I'd have to really hurry to get it poured on and spread out before it started to harden. I've waited too, long a couple times, and it is amazing how hot the epoxy gets. I was literally afraid it was going to start on fire.
Not sure about micro balloon, but you should be careful not to breath in some epoxy additives. Most of the time I was going more for strength than light weight so I would use chopped fiberglass to thicken the epoxy.
 
Nytrunner said:
While the launch lug dries, I took a stab at this little parasite Sabre Glider we got at NARCON at the cape last year

Its weight is near negligible, so a long model looks best for offsetting the drag penalty. I'm choosing my USSRC 5k launch Guiness record rocket as its host for first launch (whenever that happens)

May even break out the sharpie to decorate it.

View attachment 431593
Click to expand...
I love things that glide. I've been into it since first grade. Can you use the wings and tail on the glider to partially replace the rocket fins, during launch?
 
Big Red Rocketeer said:
Had a launch this evening. The weather was perfect, no wind and pleasant temps. Everything went great and I actually caught one of the rockets on recovery for the first time in my life! :) I'll add a pic shortly.

View attachment 431614
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Nice catch. Did you have to walk very far? I've come close a couple times, but if I take my eyes off the rocket for a second, I lose it and walking, while looking up, can be dangerous.
 
Senior Space Cadet said:
I love things that glide. I've been into it since first grade. Can you use the wings and tail on the glider to partially replace the rocket fins, during launch?
Click to expand...

Sounds possible, but it'd of course have to be built special. This little parasite glider is quite loose in its holding lug, so it's surfaces wouldn't apply much useful corrective force to a rocket. The attachment point would have to be slightly stiffer, but not too stiff to prevent separation, and also not interfere with glide behavior. Once those challenges are fixed, a single fin oposite the glider should be sufficient.

I'm not a glider designer so that's an exercise left to the reader.
 
Senior Space Cadet said:
Nice catch. Did you have to walk very far? I've come close a couple times, but if I take my eyes off the rocket for a second, I lose it and walking, while looking up, can be dangerous.
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Thanks! Nah, it came down about 15 yards from the the launch pad. It was swaying around some tho (trying to fake me out I guess) and I was really happy to catch it by the shock cord, not the body tube. Also, I should mention my wife gets the photo credit. Burst mode on the phone is great for rocket launches. Oh, and I didn't mention the rocket. It's a TarTar clone I built during quarantine.
 
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Found this in my damaged/crashed/ rebuild pile. Most if it seems to be there but the nose cone has been chewed on by rodents. I no longer remember what it is, although Semroc is a real possibility. If you all can help me identify it, I can order parts for it.
IMG_20200914_165410677_HDR.jpg
 
Peartree said:
Found this in my damaged/crashed/ rebuild pile. Most if it seems to be there but the nose cone has been chewed on by rodents. I no longer remember what it is, although Semroc is a real possibility. If you all can help me identify it, I can order parts for it.
View attachment 431656
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Pretty sure that’s a Semroc Hawk.

I have one still in kit.

Edit: Definitely the Semroc Hawk KV 65.

Still available from erockets.biz for $11.99 + s/h. I have been pleased with their service in past dealings.
 
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o1d_dude said:
Pretty sure that’s a Semroc Hawk.

I have one still in kit.

Edit: Definitely the Semroc Hawk KV 65.

Still available from erockets.biz for $11.99 + s/h. I have been pleased with their service in past dealings.
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Thanks. Carl loved gliders and tried hard (and unsuccessfully) to teach me. I thought that this was his attempt to convince me that there was a "foolproof" glider.
 
I finished up the fillets on the booster of my Darkstar Jr. I still have to build the ebay, but I can fly in as single deploy. I will heat up and clean the epoxy drip on the retainer threads, but it isn't enough to interfere with the cap closing.

DSJR06.jpg
 
Yesterday, after mowing the lawn for the first time in a month, I finally glued the mmt into my 6" WM Interceptor. Just one little leak/glitch, so overall happy with the outcome. Fins next!
 
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