What did you do rocket wise today?

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I launched my Arcie II and the RC Condor.

I did a little research and math concerning my back burner project of making a '69 Malewicki RCRG. The original tech Bernert Rx + Bernert actuator + 50mAh nicd = 15.5grams. Frsky R84 + 120mAh lipo + 2x linear servos = 8grams. Or I could use an UMX, but they don't fit in a BT-20....
 
A little blue paint after work.
A little more Goony Warrior work. Cleaned up scans of the original Solar Warrior (3225) decals and adjusted them in Gimp. Printed on laser decal paper. Turned out nice. Next up, clear coat and nozzle attachment. This is turning out better than I expected.
Nice looking design.
 
We will have access for four hours to a large agro field next month.
This is a very rare opportunity.
Mulling over which large rockets to prep and launch.
In the meantime, I rummaged through my parts stash(es) and found some odds and ends:
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BT-20 size tail cone, the opening is for an Apogee 10.5 mm motor.
Never had or flew this motor, long OOP.
Don't remember where I got this from, but the opening fits a BT-4 tube nicely.
With a BT-20 airframe and a BT-4 nose cone, this could be the start of a downscale Estes DOM Zeta.
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Also found a salvaged nose cone from an Estes DOM Vertex. IIRC it flew but was unrepairable after launch. Guess I'll have to rebuild it.
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And found a 3X MicroMaxx removable motor mount. BT-19 tube so it sleeve fits inside a BT-20 tube. Forgot I made this years ago.

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Opens up more possibilities for FUN!
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Laters.
 
Member of the local club asked me last year about making an Estes Magician into DD without major changes. They want to use bigger 24mm motors but are worried about drifting too far. Today I started building mine.

Swapped the Estes 24mm motor mount tube for a LOC 24mm motor mount tube because I wanted it about 2 inches longer and thicker walled. Replaced the internal thrust block and motor hook with the screw on retainer so I can use the Aerotech 24/40 or 24/60 cases. Also added 6 ft of 100# braided kevlar to the top centering ring.

Started building the Apogee BT-55 av-bay too. I'll use an Eggtimer Quark with a 300mAh 2S battery. Everything should fit fine.

Once done, it'll be about 8 inches taller than stock but that's from the av-bay and slightly bigger main parachute bay. Since I won't glue the transition to the main tube, I could swap it from single deploy to dual deploy easily. Full DD setup adds $55 to the rocket but then I would feel comfortable launching on an F51 or F63 up to ~2500ft.
 
In the meantime, I rummaged through my parts stash(es) and found some odds and ends:
View attachment 487314
With a BT-20 airframe and a BT-4 nose cone, this could be the start of a downscale Estes DOM Zeta.
View attachment 487317
Or some other design of your own.
And found a 3X MicroMaxx removable motor mount. BT-19 tube so it sleeve fits inside a BT-20 tube.
I've never heard of BT-19 (or BT-4, for that matter) but if it slides right into a BT-20, doesn't that make it BT-20 coupler stock? (Is BT-4 just BT-5 coupler stock?)
 
Or some other design of your own.
I've never heard of BT-19 (or BT-4, for that matter) but if it slides right into a BT-20, doesn't that make it BT-20 coupler stock? (Is BT-4 just BT-5 coupler stock?)
Coupler stock is usually thicker and uncoated, a lot of these over or under tubes are thinner and have a finish much like a standard body tube.
 
I overcame enough inertia to shape the leading and trailing edges for my Strato-Blaster and do a few more final steps on my Malewicki '69 RCBG. Now it's getting down to the launch lug on the Malewicki and the final 20% that takes 80% of the time, mounting the electronics.
 
Trimmed about 1-3/8" off the fin tips of my Level 3 project...
My TAP was pretty concerned about my "way" over-stable situation and after discussing my "solution" of aft ballast, wiser heads prevailed. The sim now has me between 1.25 and 2 calibers with any motor I might consider.
It really wasn't that difficult. I made a guide from two pieces of steel strap (lower right)... indexed together with two roll pins. Masking taped and marked the cut, and clamped the guide in place. 32 TPI hacksaw on the "safe" side, and sanded down any imperfections.
Now I'm having a beer.

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Launched my first cluster today, 7 A8-3s fired by MJG blackpowder starters running on a QuikBurst relay launcher hooked to the powersports battery out of my erstwhile track project. Jumping from 1 to 7 motors was ambitious I suppose; I did my homework, but perhaps paid less attention to some details than I should have. . .

All seven ematches lighted, but the motor furthest from the relay controller failed to light. This would have been the one with the most tension on the wires as I wrapped them around the body out of the way of the exhausts of the other motors, and I suspect it had fallen free of the motor, being only held in place with blue tape. It was in viewing this unfired motor after the flight that I remembered reading quite a lot of mentions of tamping ematches in place with recovery wadding or even - when they fit - Estes' own plastic plugs, and this I shall do next time. Blue tape is a fine implement, but it's not the single tool for all needs.

So it was a successful flight, but in being slightly less than 100% successful was also a humbling learning experience. In my time back in rocketry, I've learned a lot from being humbled so.

In the end, 86% isn't bad for a first go, and I have a smile on my face, a plan to do better next time, and an opportunity soon to launch on C motors, an impossibility in my local park which allows a maximum of a D in total impulse. I wanted to get experience clustering so that I could test airstarts in a single airframe before moving to composite staging, but I think I might have discovered in the journey that I like clusters for their own sake. :cool:
 
I got back to painting my Thor 54 and correcting the frustration of attempting to use cheap paint when I couldn't find the Rustoleum 2X I normally use. I still couldn't find the 2X can, but I bought a more expensive "Rustoleum Advanced." I've used this line for metallics before, the only obvious difference to me is the trigger that is supposed to spray at all angles. This paint went on much better than the Touch n Tone paint I tried to use in a pinch, but I'll still need another coat. I'd have been better off waiting for the 2x to get unloaded off the boat in Cali.
 
After about seven tweaks, I 3D printed a mount that puts two linear servos belly to belly inside of a BT-20. It's for the Malewicki '69. I epoxied the inner trailing edges on the Strato-Blaster wings. I'm 3D printing a motor mount for a spool rocket.
 
Tonight I completed* the build of an Alpha III bought last weekend from a local club member who was surplusing a pile of them for $3 apiece. Minus glue-setting time, it probably took me all of twelve minutes. :D Did have to replace the dozen-year-old elastic with kevlar since it was tearing asunder even forming a basic knot, but I prefer a few feet of kevlar to a foot or so of Estes elastic any day anyway.

Will fly it once or twice and then donate it to the box of free rockets at the club launches. I grew up with a copy of the '76 Estes catalog around the house, and the Alpha III was an Estes staple even then, so in a way it's one of the relics of my youth and will be fun to launch for that reason alone. That's it's a tiny rocket and I will likely be ambitious and send it on a C just makes it better. :cool:

* Minus the decals, but this one is from the orange and black era, and orange and black are my standard rocket livery, so I don't want the decals anyway.
 
Finally managed to do some rocketry. First time in a couple of weeks. I got sick of having to connect my charging leads to the batteries of my Vertical Trajectory System when I was testing. Those JST XH series connectors are a bit of a pain and don't have a long number of mating cycles in their specification. I fired up the mill and cut a slot in the airframe to take a magnetic connector from Adam Tech, and created the necessary wiring to get it to the VTS connections. This means I can have a single cable connecting my two LiPo chargers to the relevant batteries. Simples.

It has the added feature of being able to be used as an umbilical during prelaunch phases, keeping the batteries at full charge during any delays till launch. Much more important when using high-power telemetry. Being magnetic it will separate as the rocket ascends the tower.

Now if I do something similar for my nosecone electronics I can have virtually unlimited pad time :).

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plug.jpg
 
Finally managed to do some rocketry. First time in a couple of weeks. I got sick of having to connect my charging leads to the batteries of my Vertical Trajectory System when I was testing. Those JST XH series connectors are a bit of a pain and don't have a long number of mating cycles in their specification. I fired up the mill and cut a slot in the airframe to take a magnetic connector from Adam Tech, and created the necessary wiring to get it to the VTS connections. This means I can have a single cable connecting my two LiPo chargers to the relevant batteries. Simples.

It has the added feature of being able to be used as an umbilical during prelaunch phases, keeping the batteries at full charge during any delays till launch. Much more important when using high-power telemetry. Being magnetic it will separate as the rocket ascends the tower.

Now if I do something similar for my nosecone electronics I can have virtually unlimited pad time :).

I just about finished rebuilding 2 of my e-bays for quick disconnect charge connections, now I have to do half of it over again to copy this! This is awesome, my charging scheme with JST connectors through a bulkhead sucks!
 
It has the added feature of being able to be used as an umbilical during prelaunch phases, keeping the batteries at full charge during any delays till launch. Much more important when using high-power telemetry... Now if I do something similar for my nosecone electronics I can have virtually unlimited pad time :).
That's how the big dogs do it!

I truly admire your ability not only to think up such things (we all do that) and to accomplish them (many of us do that) but to go from one to the other so smoothly and quickly. Clever and skilled, and also decisive and quick.
 
I finally broke down and bought the replacement instructions for the Klingberg Rocket Wing.

Now I'm wondering if Banggood has any servos that are worth buying?
 
Played with this ring a rock idea.
Motor mount no set yet. Idk...
 

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