What did you do rocket wise today?

[ThePlmbr]

I flew the Praying Mantis to 2700' on a Cesaroni J250 Skidmark

 

[ThePlmbr]

I then flew my LOC Wolverine to 2700' on a Cesaroni J244W

 

[Cape Byron]

Made up a couple of Project Lila parts packs for people who said they didn’t have a spare parts bin.

Which was nice.

 

[terryg]

Participated in setup for NYPOWER, and rediscovered that I'm an over the hill fat guy. Drank fluids during the effort, but not nearly enough. Still thought I was OK. In a break before the last task of the day, I laid myself down on the grass in the shade of my popup and a nice breeze. When I stood up I became dizzy an slightly feint. Sorry folks, I'm done. Went to a store (I wasn't driving) where I drank a liter of water and a 20 ounce bottle of electrolyte drink. Had a nice cool shower, and admitted to myself that the rocket I've been telling myself I'll finish up tonight and tomorrow night and fly Sunday is almost certainly not going to happen, and I'm still kidding myself by typing "almost".

There are plenty of set up tasks that are not as strenuous for us older folks that need to be done at each launch. From setting up wireless controller boxes properly, to cleaning ignitor clips or even organizing flight cards while sitting down.

 

[lr64]

Be careful, to much water quickly can do a number on your liver!!

I should think it would be very hard to overdo on a hot day, but I know someone running a marathon managed to do themselves in by drinking too much water.

 

[lr64]

I ran into a guy who's been doing boost gliders for many decades at a model airplane event today. We spent a fair amount of time talking about them, among many other topics about things that fly.

 

[Art Upton]

Be careful, to much water quickly can do a number on your liver!!

It depends on how much you are excreting/peeing. In dry heat if your not peeing every 20mins your not taking in enough water.

Salty snacks are another item to think about On The Range.

 

[OverTheTop]

Got my thread gauges out and determined the pitch of the CTI 75mm closures. I loaned a case to a uni team last year and in extracting it from the rocket they managed to damage the first turn of the thread. 16 tpi is the finding. I have a couple of taps and bolts the right pitch which I should be able to use to reform that thread.

 

[KenECoyote]

Got a new tool to help with sanding a long epoxy fillet seam and for the bigger rockets.


I also got a set of reciprocating tool sander attachments and sanding pads off Amazon.



Both were same day shipped for free with Prime!

I'm hoping these will allow quick work that hand sanding seemed to suck at.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

I did some detailing on my MR4 Mercury capsule...

YES I DID IT! I'M KNUTZ! That's the template for the outer window. More later....

Also tested Createx fluorescent over Tamiya white primer... seems to be ok.

 

[John Kemker]

Epoxied the fins on the Estes PSII Nike Smoke. Sanding and painting are all that's left.

 

[RocketTree]

Finished building and painting the Madcow Black Brant II 2.6 Fiberglass with 38mm MMT.





Left to Right Black Brant II family:

1.1" scratch build (24mm)
1.6" Madcow (29mm)
2.6" Madcow Fiberglass (38mm)
BT55 Estes Kit (24mm)
BT50 scratch build (18mm)

 

[tsmith1315]

Thought about this a bit.



What was to be a super cheap, large foam-ish rocket built from a $2.00 yard sale tube is threatening to morph into something else.

 

[NTP2]

is threatening to morph into something else.

Ohhh goody!! That can’t be good for your wallet!! Which means it’s more fun!

 

[bad_idea]

Flew the "H103-7" successfully.
View attachment 646900

"I134-8" and "I115-8" both put up good flights too.

 

[KenECoyote]

Thought about this a bit.

View attachment 647190

What was to be a super cheap, large foam-ish rocket built from a $2.00 yard sale tube is threatening to morph into something else.

What are your thoughts?

For a bit I was entertaining the same and got a 7.5" form tube (Note they differ in size at the store despite all being sold as 8" since they ship 3 nested inside one).

The size was still a bit off...either a bit small or a bit big, but there are workarounds.

 

[terryg]

Shaped the end cap of the Jayhawk wiring tunnel with sandpaper, sanding block and "Pumpkin Carving" battery dremmel. Puchased many years ago, it runs slower than a standard dremmel making it easy to control.0

 

[tsmith1315]

What are your thoughts?

For a bit I was entertaining the same and got a 7.5" form tube (Note they differ in size at the store despite all being sold as 8" since they ship 3 nested inside one).

The size was still a bit off...either a bit small or a bit big, but there are workarounds.

I want to do a Big Bucky Jones. The nosecone is very close to scale. Lots of issues to address, and I need to keep mass down as much as possible.

Yeah, that size inconsistency is what I'm considering at this point. The initial project was going to be foam, epoxy, minimum hand laid glass and hopefully one good flight. Funky tube size wouldn't be an issue with a hand made cone under these circumstances. Do you know if the 3 sizes of these tubes are fairly consistent? If I need another, is it likely that I could find another to match? They tend to be ovaled in the stores around here.

Today's consideration is in dropping the cheap tube for reliable LOC tubing size. However, LOC's 30" tube length adds it own bit of concerns with 15" of coupler in a 42" ariframe, where this cheap tube would be a one-piece. Either way may require making a new shoulder for the nose cone.

 

[lr64]

You could make a foam tube. That ought to be light.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

And the insanity continues...
I was able to get the inner and outer windows installed today, decals later maybe. I made the mistake of calling this MR4 earlier, of course Gus Grissom's mission was MR8.

That's just the inner window...
Here's with the outer:

And with the glue cured a little better...

This is a really nice 3D print from Shapeways, Kevin Cepedes designed it.

 

[OverTheTop]

Got a new tool to help with sanding a long epoxy fillet seam and for the bigger rockets.

Those power files can be a useful tool. Careful you don't remove too much material, as it is easily done. A partly worn-out belt can be your friend.

 

[KenECoyote]

Do you know if the 3 sizes of these tubes are fairly consistent? If I need another, is it likely that I could find another to match? They tend to be ovaled in the stores around here.

For the ones I found at Lowes (and I think Home Depot), they were fairly consistently 3 sizes with two being 7.5" and 8". I'd skip the oval ones, but if I had to, I'd take the widest measure, then measure 90 degrees to that and divide in half.

The two 7.5 ones I had fit the Loc 7.5 nose cone loosely. The 8" fit a 8" fiberglass nose cone I had fairly well, but the sides were noticeably thick.

 

[Cape Byron]

A partly worn-out belt can be your friend.

As long as it still holds your pants up.

 

[Wally Ferrer]

Finished organizing my build pile and put in boxes with a spreadsheet identifying which kits are in which boxes. With my health improving I should be able to really get back to building soon.

 

[KenECoyote]

Those power files can be a useful tool. Careful you don't remove too much material, as it is easily done. A partly worn-out belt can be your friend.

With great power comes even greater potential screw ups lol

Despite a minor goof, it worked very nicely!

It almost tracked straight by itself, which was hard to do with hand sanding. Removed material very quickly too, which was great on the epoxy and fiberglass.

 

[Art Upton]

I want to do a Big Bucky Jones. The nosecone is very close to scale. Lots of issues to address, and I need to keep mass down as much as possible.

Yeah, that size inconsistency is what I'm considering at this point. The initial project was going to be foam, epoxy, minimum hand laid glass and hopefully one good flight. Funky tube size wouldn't be an issue with a hand made cone under these circumstances. Do you know if the 3 sizes of these tubes are fairly consistent? If I need another, is it likely that I could find another to match? They tend to be ovaled in the stores around here.

Today's consideration is in dropping the cheap tube for reliable LOC tubing size. However, LOC's 30" tube length adds it own bit of concerns with 15" of coupler in a 42" ariframe, where this cheap tube would be a one-piece. Either way may require making a new shoulder for the nose cone.

That size is due to shipping. I have in the past when LOC was just south of Cleveland when I went to the SkyBusters launches, I got 4' and even once a 5 foot length of 7.5 Same with 4" tubes at 4 foot. The kits would ship with it cut and then coupled. Euclid Tube is in the Cleveland Metro Area as well so LOC could just drive a box truck and pick the stuff up.

With LOC in WI now, it has to be shipped to them; unless they drive a large box truck to Cleveland and Back?

 

[tsmith1315]

That size is due to shipping.

That makes sense. In this case, unless I can make peace with separating it in the center and attaching the nose cone with screws, I'm not sure those lengths will make me a happy camper.

 

[Brayzure]

Lots of epoxy today. Got the fins sanded and epoxied them, the launch lug, and the coupler in. First time using a lot of epoxy, so it's far from professional (especially concerning the lug), but more or less happy with the results. I figure some sanding and a coat of primer will obscure the mistakes. Just need some additional fillets more likely than not.

Still trying to decide if I want to go ahead and epoxy the nose cone too. Not planning on putting anything substantial in it, only considering maybe an altimeter, and even that can probably just go on the shock cord I imagine.

 

[tfischer]

Flew my 4" Dragon Fat Boy XL on an H100W today at NSL West, a wonderfully smooth flight to about 1500'. Destroyed my Aerotech Arreauxbee-Hi, ballistic re-entry on a G78G LMS. Still pondering why the ejection charge never fired.

 

[Art Upton]

Lots of epoxy today. Got the fins sanded and epoxied them, the launch lug, and the coupler in. First time using a lot of epoxy, so it's far from professional (especially concerning the lug), but more or less happy with the results. I figure some sanding and a coat of primer will obscure the mistakes. Just need some additional fillets more likely than not.

Still trying to decide if I want to go ahead and epoxy the nose cone too. Not planning on putting anything substantial in it, only considering maybe an altimeter, and even that can probably just go on the shock cord I imagine.

View attachment 647253
View attachment 647254
View attachment 647255

Do not epoxy the nose cone in permanently. Use 2 screws to hold it to the tube. I don't epoxy my couplers either to the payload tube, just use screws to hold them in.


They also make plastic rivets to do the same thing, but screws work better for me and are easy.