What did you do rocket wise today?

[GrouchoDuke]

Brainstormed with my daughter about where to hang my 8.5’ Competitor 4 project. I was thinking about reflowing the two racks of rocket mounts I have. She, the smart one, asked “how about right here?” Then she whipped out a tape measure and showed me that it’ll fit.

 

[DerRedMax]

Finished the fillets on the Mac Performance 54mm Blackfly fins..

 

[teepot]

Has anyone launched a rocket with just painters tape holding it together? I think on ejection it will become a wacky wiggler... Just kidding.

Seriously though -- did a swing test with my Atlas V 401 model this morning. Just a sanity check since OR / Barrowman equation does not consider the CP impact of the booster tubes. I was hypothesizing that the rear boosters would act a bit like fins. I am hoping I might be able to make it stable if I just move boosters out away from the model (trying to be creative and avoid clear fins).

I won't bore you with the details here but I will post in my thread.

View attachment 558027

I have a rocket I built that does just what your thinking. The boosters/pods are at the end of short pylons. Pylons are about 3 inches. It's a 1.63" BT. about It's 3' long. Flies fine.

 

[teepot]

Today it was cold with 10 15 mph wind. So no painting again. I wasn't going to start another rocket until the ones waiting for paint. But a rocket idea came to me out of the blue. So I gathered up the parts. That's as far as I got. Yesterday was sunny and warm. I finished the 3" project. It is a 3" BMS BT with a 38mm x 9" mmt. It's 50" long and weighs 37 ounces. It has delta fins. I reinforced the fin tips with 1/4" hard balsa. Since I discovered it I have only bought the hard stuff. That stuff is almost as light as regular balsa and almost as hard as plywood. I figured that the fin tips wouldn't last one landing on the lake bed no matter how slow it came down. The added balsa is insurance. The white lines are 1/4 Styrene rods. I got some different kinds of Styrene to experiment with. I'm calling this one Up In Smoke. Multiple meanings here. If you remember the song from the 70's, that's one meaning. Another is smoke from the motor and the cost of the motor. Last it just might blow up at some point or crash and burn. It's Cobalt Blue Metallic and white with a little yellow. The yellow is Testors enamel that I brushed on. It smoothed out nicely. Here it is.

 

[lakeroadster]

Today it was cold with 10 15 mph wind. So no painting again. I wasn't going to start another rocket until the ones waiting for paint. But a rocket idea came to me out of the blue. So I gathered up the parts. That's as far as I got. Yesterday was sunny and warm. I finished the 3" project. It is a 3" BMS BT with a 38mm x 9" mmt. It's 50" long and weighs 37 ounces. It has delta fins. I reinforced the fin tips with 1/4" hard balsa. Since I discovered it I have only bought the hard stuff. That stuff is almost as light as regular balsa and almost as hard as plywood. I figured that the fin tips wouldn't last one landing on the lake bed no matter how slow it came down. The added balsa is insurance. The white lines are 1/4 Styrene rods. I got some different kinds of Styrene to experiment with. I'm calling this one Up In Smoke. Multiple meanings here. If you remember the song from the 70's, that's one meaning. Another is smoke from the motor and the cost of the motor. Last it just might blow up at some point or crash and burn. It's Cobalt Blue Metallic and white with a little yellow. The yellow is Testors enamel that I brushed on. It smoothed out nicely. Here it is.View attachment 558261View attachment 558262

Nice. I really like the yellow tips, embracing form follows function.

That song does take on a new meaning when thinking of rocketry.. well played.

 

[jqavins]

I have almost taken the rocket out to the field without putting on a launch lug...

I've gone through the safety check and out to the pad before the d'oh! moment. More than once.

Brainstormed with my daughter about where to hang my 8.5’ Competitor 4 project. I was thinking about reflowing the two racks of rocket mounts I have. She, the smart one, asked “how about right here?” Then she whipped out a tape measure and showed me that it’ll fit.

Take the credit: you obviously raised her right.

The added balsa is insurance.

It's ablative armor. You can file and sand it off and replace it when it becomes banged up, before the sheet in between does.

 

[dmaaero]

Brainstormed with my daughter about where to hang my 8.5’ Competitor 4 project. I was thinking about reflowing the two racks of rocket mounts I have. She, the smart one, asked “how about right here?” Then she whipped out a tape measure and showed me that it’ll fit.

Where did you get your wall mounts for the rockets, are they curtain rod holders? I like that, has a nice clean look to it.
View attachment 558216

 

[dmaaero]

I assembled my first LMS that i ordered by accident today, it"s a G78-7G for the G-Force.
I was shocked when i went to repack everything today, everything is usually in the lower half when i pull it apart. Today everything come off with the nose section. Guess it don"t matter, just first time that has happened. I been repacking daily for 8-10 days now for the practice.
I had ran across where i think it was "old man" said he uses velcro straps to help him pack. I tried it an low an behold that really works like a charm having something to hold stuff for you. Sure beats stuff coming unrolled while loading shock cord !
Just don"t forget to remove the velcro ! And turn on the chute release !

 

[Wally Ferrer]

Ordered some Der Big Red Max's for $22, there's another thread about it somewhere, just happy these keep coming up at that price... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JJZRMFJ?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

 

[jqavins]

Where did you get your wall mounts for the rockets, are they curtain rod holders? I like that, has a nice clean look to it.

It looks like the "bowl" end is a beautiful fit to one tube size. It wouldn't be so good got bigger tubes that just rest on edges, and not great for smaller ones that roll around. Which leads to speculating thus: are they 3D printed custom pieces?

 

[jmasterj]

It looks like the "bowl" end is a beautiful fit to one tube size. It wouldn't be so good got bigger tubes that just rest on edges, and not great for smaller ones that roll around. Which leads to speculating thus: are they 3D printed custom pieces?

Pretty sure I've seen in-progress pictures he posted before; they are custom 3D prints.

 

[DigBaddy]

Black and chrome vinyl on the 5" 'knob. Time for clear.

 

[Joekeyo]


Assembled 3 RMS motors and loaded the truck in anticipation of tomorrow's launch. Latest weather prognosis not as good as earlier. Now calling for 50% rain in the PM. Winds @ 8 and gusting higher. We will persevere. I'll fly something; fly the Wac Corporal on a B6-4 if I have to.

 

[mh9162013]

Ordered a (used) Kestrel 1000.

 

[Hobie1dog]

nothing, as it's still too cold to do any painting.

 

[lakeroadster]

Worked on the staging header for my Saturn 5

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[Wally Ferrer]

Received my Wildman Black Friday order... stuck in my thumb and pulled out a G80... several more plums in there!

 

[gdjsky01]

View attachment 557160 View attachment 557161

In the background of the last two photos, you can see the F/Glass laminated plywood just out of the vac bag. Its fairly translucent, but I'll brush it with a little more yellow pigmented resin later in the week ahead.

I need to try that foodsaver trick. I have one my wife never uses anymore as she 'upgraded'

 

[Doug Holverson]

I got my vacation weeks to line up with NARAM this summer. I'm doing to do the bucket list thing of going to an odd year NARAM.

 

[BrendanH69]

Continued with the build of "Fluster Cluck" doing little bits here and there after work.



Day2 was reinforcing each MMT fwd and aft ends by soaking them in a little superglue.
Day 3 was epoxying the cluster assembly into the aft body tube. Also embedded a small nut into the aft JB Weld to make a cheap motor retainer with a slim bolt and washer.
Today, day 4, was marking out the fin slots and cutting them out with the Dremel thin cut wheel. Also marked out, cut out and then bevelled the three fins.
The aft body & MMT cluster assembly is 81g and the fin set is 44g.

 

[Cape Byron]

A little more work on the Kurrboo, maybe a pic later.

Went down the DC-X / UFO spaceship rabbit hole a bit further. Asked on the FB Gerry Anderson Modeling page and on the Derek Meddings page as well. Short answer: it's called a 'radio controlled space drone'. Nothing further as yet.

So I cranked the inner nerd up to 11 and sent an email to Jamie Anderson, Gerry's son. As you do. When you want to know these things.

 

[cichlidgoob]

I just finished making a rocket to test my sugar motors in. It is ugly as heck and was made 100% from stuff lying around in the shop. Now I can launch sugar without worrying about my nice rockets.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Hey Marty,
Saw on YORF that there's a bidding war on an Estes Scud kit:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325494417664

that Estes kit went for $224.00

 

[Old School Doug]

Been a while since I posted here. Finished up a replacement for my 29mm Spin Cycle II (spin stabilized LPR) which was lost somewhere past the Bong lagoon last fall. Downsized it to a 24mm to hopefully keep it in the same zip code this year. Added it to the paint pile along with a version of the "Friendly Phantasm" from a recent Apogee newsletter free plan. Awaiting warmer days for the painting to commence. And just placed an order for an Apogee Zephyr for my L1 attempt. Should get here Sunday.......!!

 

[jqavins]

When you want to know these things.

It's not a question of want; you have to know these things when you're a king.

 

[Cape Byron]

Kurrboo - Together for a dry fit.

 

[shawn_rocket]

Finally have time to get back to Rocketry! Doing inventory of all the Rocketry stuff I have! Oof...

 

[vecinimo]

Built an Alpha III with my son and learned these need a lot of nose weight, so I designed a printable/adjustable nose weight to get it more stable.

 

[Cape Byron]

Finally have time to get back to Rocketry! Doing inventory of all the Rocketry stuff I have! Oof...

Do not, repeat DO NOT let your SO see anything labelled 'Rocket Kit Inventory'.

#askhowiknow

 

[Trident]

I decided to open up an old kit a few days ago and start building it — the Estes Scorpius. I am doing this build a little out of order. Tonight I am sealing the fins before gluing them to the tubes. This isn’t usually recommended in kit instructions, but these fins are close to each other, and would be pretty tough to sand if attached to the tubes. Here is a picture of the kit. Perhaps a number of you are not familiar with this kit. It does have kind of a Star Wars “vibe” about it.