Dr. Zooch Vanguard Eagle Build Part 15 Nose Cone Fit

When test fitting the nose cone, I found the pre-ballasted balsa coupler to be longer than the instruction illustration showed.

I fired off an email to Wes (Dr. Zooch). He said the coupler was supplied long. I could cut it down if I thought it was necessary.

Going by past experience with rockets this size, I decided to cut the exposed coupler so 3/4" would extend out the back of the T-55 tube.

The nose cone, 1" section of T-55 tube and balsa coupler were assembled dry. I made sure to put the ballast end of the balsa coupler towards the nose cone end. I marked a pencil ring around the coupler at 3/4" from the rear end of the t-55 tube.

The coupler was cut with a fine razor saw along the pencil line.

Edit to this nose cone blog entry:

Be sure you wash and brush off the nose cone before finishing!

For better paint adhesion, lightly roughen the surface and use a primer before painting the final white coat.

Otherwise, the paint will not stick well to the aluminite nose cone material.