What did you do rocket wise today?

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Yesterday morning I took my younger son out for some 1-on-1 time. We launched his four B-capable rockets at the local middle school. Finally got a Q-Jet B6W to light! Used a tiny sliver of Blue Thunder to augment the igniter. Still burned one with no ignition that seemed to be inserted fully, though. I'm not buying more 18mm White Lightning Q-Jets, but it was satisfying to finally get a couple to light and launch. They do give a better show than the Estes B6s.
 
Printing some rainbow nosecones... BT-80 Ogive 4:1 (about 10.5" long)

1659917319401.jpeg

Depending on filament this stuff can change slowly / over many meters of filament. I realized the secret to getting the transition was to print multiples, look at the total grams of material being used, compare that to the number of color changes in the roll of filament, and adjust multiple count to get the fade you want.

After a quick sanding and wipe-down with acetone on a paper towel... If I wanted a really smooth finish I could sand some more and possibly clear-coat...

1659924808198.jpeg
 
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Just got back from a weekend at a friend's house where I basically interned learning how to do CF layups, with vaccum bags and a heated curing chamber and everything. Top one (Wildman 3) is a CF/Kevlar hybrid layer with CF on top. Bottom (Mach 2 CF) is 3 layers CF. I still have lots of trimming and finish work to do. We missed the "leather" window on the mach 2 and it was getting too hard to cut (and by that time of the day my bad shoulder was pretty much telling me it was done), figured I was better off letting it fully cure and cutting with a dremel later.

I think best lesson I learned was to be more exacting with my templates, especially where I want the front and rear seams to be. Might have even made the top layer 1/4" longer in a perfect world. Oh, and that the vacuum bag sealant strip material is a PITA.

carbon fiber.jpg
 
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Assembled a clone of the Rogue Aerospace Deep Surface Probe (l).
Why do I get the feeling that the name should include the planet Ur........
Never mind.
A couple of days ago I put together a clone of the Rogue Aerospace Hex Courier (r).
0807221542[1].jpg
Plans are here:
https://plans.rocketshoppe.com/rogue.htmTwo down, three more to go.
 
BigMacDaddy said:
Printing some rainbow nosecones... BT-80 Ogive 4:1 (about 10.5" long)

View attachment 531358

Depending on filament this stuff can change slowly / over many meters of filament. I realized the secret to getting the transition was to print multiples, look at the total grams of material being used, compare that to the number of color changes in the roll of filament, and adjust multiple count to get the fade you want.

After a quick sanding and wipe-down with acetone on a paper towel... If I wanted a really smooth finish I could sand some more and possibly clear-coat...

View attachment 531382
Click to expand...
Nice work! So Acetone is the key to smoothing out the layer lines?
 
gdjsky01 said:
Nice work! So Acetone is the key to smoothing out the layer lines?
Click to expand...
Thanks!

Acetone supposedly only works on ABS and not on pure PLA. However, I have always had acetone react with PLA (either the PLAs I have been using are cheap or they have additives that are affected by acetone). I sanded this first but then wiped down with acetone simply to reduce the dullness that comes after sanding.
 
More work on the Automatic Antenna tracker. Sketched up a mount to hold the stepper driver PCA on the tail end of the NEMA 23 stepper motor for the altitude drive. 3D printed it and threw it all together.
TIC36V4.jpg

Also sketched up a bearing support that will hold the main horizontal shaft bearing and the stepper previously mentioned. That's on the printer currently.
BearingSupport.png

Once I get it all worked out I might print them in ABS, or perhaps machine them out of aluminium. Unsure yet. I will see how the 3D prints handle the dynamics of the system.
 
The planets aligned tonight at midnight. Temperature, humidity and wind were all go. I put two cans of Rusto Automotive primer on my upscale Big Bertha. It's 2:30am and 79 degrees. I'll leave the rocket outside all night and for sometime tomorrow. I should be able to sand tomorrow night.
 
I finally finshed a 29mm LOC Onyx. Ordered another one for 38mm. Seems like a drag race with a couple of reinforced BigDaddy's may be in order.
 
Built a WinXP virtual PC in order to install the ARTS2 app. I need to reprogram it away from the defaults and the app wont install on Win10 or Win11. It might work under Win7 but since I had a WinXP install media, I decided to go back in time almost 20 years. Next step, installed the Prolific drivers to allow the USB-to-Serial cable to work (Eggtimer cable FTW!). Now I have a PC that can run the app, a "comm" port that the altimeter should be able to use and only need to look up the pin-outs on the altimeter.

It'll be used as a staging device to fire the sep charge and light the second stage. It has the ability to sense MECO via the accelerometer and then fire the channels. I know there are other products that can do the same but I already have this and it's actually pretty good hardware.
 
Do you (or does it) have a tilt switch or other attitude sensor? It'd be a good idea to lock out the firing channel if the attitude is bad.
 
jmasterj said:
Haven't finished. Done sanding on the nose and started the fin can. I need to build a sim.
Click to expand...
I messaged Kyle @ KN because my piece of Madcow tubing was 21-5/8" instead of 22" and I was a bit concerned. What he messaged back to me (besides "don't worry about it") was that his middle of the 22" tube CG point puts the CG over 2.6 calibers in front of the CP. I'm going to use either a AeroTech G-80 or an RMS G-79 (whichever is heavier) to balance the rocket and call it good.
Edit:
Another thing he mentioned was to watch out for wind gusts as those canards tend to act as "sails", and that having the CG that far in front of the CP helps mitigate that effect.
 
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Yeah, ⅜ short of 22 nominal (1.7%) doesn't sound like a big deal. Just get him to ship you the missing ⅜" on your next order. ;) Then you can paint it a contrasting color from the rest of the body tube, cut the tube, and add the stripe wherever it looks best.
 
Bob in Phoenix said:
jmasterj: Have you finished your KN Sidewinder? How much weight did you put in the nose?
Thank you.
Bob in Phoenix
Click to expand...
Bob,
Take a look at #37,761.
You balance the rocket with the largest motor you'll fly in it, installed.
Edit:
Balance the finished rocket...
I've got a piston and a Giant Leap extruded aluminum shock cord anchor in mine, so my nose weight might be considerably different than yours.
 
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jqavins said:
Yeah, ⅜ short of 22 nominal (1.7%) doesn't sound like a big deal. Just get him to ship you the missing ⅜" on your next order. ;) Then you can paint it a contrasting color from the rest of the body tube, cut the tube, and add the stripe wherever it looks best.
Click to expand...
Actually, he only sells the nose and tail sections. The builder gets to provide the body tube. He specifies a 22" piece of LOC tubing for the build, but I had a piece of Madcow G-12 that was close...:cool:
 
heada said:
Built a WinXP virtual PC in order to install the ARTS2 app. I need to reprogram it away from the defaults and the app wont install on Win10 or Win11. It might work under Win7 but since I had a WinXP install media, I decided to go back in time almost 20 years. Next step, installed the Prolific drivers to allow the USB-to-Serial cable to work (Eggtimer cable FTW!). Now I have a PC that can run the app, a "comm" port that the altimeter should be able to use and only need to look up the pin-outs on the altimeter.

It'll be used as a staging device to fire the sep charge and light the second stage. It has the ability to sense MECO via the accelerometer and then fire the channels. I know there are other products that can do the same but I already have this and it's actually pretty good hardware.
Click to expand...
Speaking of going back, I keep a Win 7 machine just to run some software like Roland's Dr Stika for cutting vinyl.

Does anyone out there have the Black Sky AltAcc software? there was one windows program I believe and four or so command line programs.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.
 
Went to Argonia on Sunday. There were a lot more people than I expected. It was hot (~100) with the winds increasing out of the south. Lots of stuff was launched, from small mod rocks to University teams launching rockets with O motors. We had set up next to a gentleman going for his L2. He was flying a Yank Partiot kit. He had a beautiful flight for cert.


L5.jpgpost1.jpg
 
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Found this going through the pictures. It's one of Frank's kits, built and flown by a young man at Argonia. Great liftoff, and gentle arc to the west. After motor burnout, the glider turned into the wind and just sat in one spot, then gently lowered itself straight down to the ground. Wish I had a video of that flight!

glider.jpg
 
lakeroadster said:
Did a couple e-match bench tests. Did you know some e-matches will impact ignite? I didn't until TRF member @Ladykate mentioned it today.



​
Click to expand...


E-matches can light with impact and friction - which I have seen and recreated first hand. I have heard reports of them lighting from static from someone I trust while setting up a firework display, but I have not been able to recreate it myself. I know it isn't always possible, but I cringe a little when people slide the shrouds back and when they transport things with prepped e-matches in place. Most of my experience with e-matches comes from professional firework displays and e-matches are one of the most common causes of injury from devices accidently igniting.
 

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