Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Ranger Clone Build Part 17 "Baffle" Coupler Fit

I took a tip from the online Ranger instructions at the Semroc website.
Semroc uses a "half baffle" placed 4" down from the top of the lower BT-60 tube.
This is a single plate baffle glued to the top of a coupler.

This is actually a good idea.
If Kevlar was tied low to the engine mount it might not last long with the hot ejection charges of three engines.
Acceleration of a three engine cluster is fast. This single plate baffle keeps the wadding and parachute from sliding down on top of the engine mount during boost.
The single plate has a slot in it for tying on an elastic shock cord.

This single plate "baffle" still requires wadding to protect the parachutes.



The coupler I had was very tight in the BT-60 tube - not a slip fit for gluing!
This is a brown coupler and thicker than the more common black fish paper couplers.
A very thin layer was peeled off and the outside wall sanded smooth.






For easier insertion in the tube end, the low edge was sanded round, the top is still square for a better gluing edge of the baffle plate.

No comments:

Post a Comment