Manufacturer: | Scratch |
Introduction:
Up until Little Guy, all of my mid-power rockets
have flown to less than 2000', well below what I used to obtain with my
Comanche-3 over a decade ago (lost a stage on the second all-out flight). It
was time to change that.
Nose Cone:
Pilfered from the old Estes supply in the good
ol' range kit, BT55
Recovery System:
Usual construction for me, dowel thru the body
tube, 1/2" elastic for shock cord. The original parachute I had made was
way too big, it was given to
Star
Scraper. I made up a double-ply trash bag one about 17" in diameter
with 8 shroud lines, and it seems to worth well, although packing it is still a
bit difficult.
Body Tube:
Standard heavy duty cardboard tube with another
tube inside of it for the bottom 12 or so inches for a motor mount, solid fin
mounting as well as material for the screw eye launch lugs to bite into.
Approx. 31" x 1.38".
Positive Motor Retention I was concerned with the tight fit of the recovery system and the high pressure that might result when ejection occurred. Turning to the workshop walls, I grabbed some small screw eyes and wire which is fitted over the end of the motor and then twisted. It hasn't been stressed on any of the flights yet.
Fins:
I wanted the classic
high performance look, so right triangle fins were a must. Laminate of
1/16" balsa with a skin of paper and wood glue. Since I wanted this rocket
to be a high performer, I air foiled the fins on this rocket, a first for
me.
Launch Lugs:
Two 1/4" screw eyes, visible in the
picture.
Painting:
I actually tried to finish this rocket well. What
I ended up doing was making it worse. I'm not going to go into the scary
details, just take a look at the business end shot and that will be enough. I
do like the color combo though, and it does have a couple of layers of wax on
it.
First Flight:
Launched with a F20-7 on 07/08/00. For this
launch, I tried stuffing the bigger nylon chute I had made, which wasn't going
to work. I nabbed the plastic chute I use for
Econoexpress,
and even that barely fit. This was proven when at apogee, the parachute ejected
but failed to deploy. Falling from 1700'-2000' onto grass resulted in a slight
nick in one of the fins, not too shabby! Another benefit of the deployment
failure is that I actually got the rocket back. As it was, it drifted back and
landed parallel with the pads about 100 yards out.
Conclusion:
I think I've caught the bug! At the most recent
launch (07/23/00) I stuffed a G38-7 and then a G35-7 into this rocket. Little
Guy reached an estimated 3000'-3300' on the G35-7 before the ejection charge
went off. It was a great flight! Motor sound fading into the distance, lost
sight of the rocket for a few seconds before picking up a tiny black dot of a
parachute way up there. And it stayed up there for over two minutes! It was
recovered a few hundred yards downrange in perfect condition. Next up will be a
flight on a G25, good for 3600'-3900'. Hopefully I'll be able to get it
back!
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