There is a short piece of brass wire in the kit.This is bent into a hook to be attached to the 18" upper body parachute. The hook allows the upper section to hang at an angle, reducing the chance of damage to the tower in a hard landing.
While the instructions don't say so, the illustration is full size. I bent mine as best I could to match it, but it's slightly larger.
You are instructed to cut a 1/4" slit above the shroud.
NOTE: The instructions say "slit", but you should cut a thin slot as wide as the wire diameter. My slit was the width of my X-Acto blade and not wide enough for an easy insertion of the wire.
The "U" shape in the wire is pushed through the slit. In my case, this raised the edges of the cut line.
Time spent on build: :45
Total time on build so far: 39:30
Chris,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the time and effort you spend to publish your site. I added it to the five or so sites I check daily, as I will soon be embarking on a build of my own Estes Saturn V.
As for the parachute hook: do you think it would be possible to drill two holes, bend the wire into the shape of a question mark (three bends instead of four), hook the bent end in the lower hole and get the unbent end in the upper hole, and finally make the fourth and final bend of the wire using pliers from inside the body tube?
Hi douglasgb,
ReplyDeleteYou've got a great idea. I wish I'd done it that way. The brass wire bends pretty easily so you could probably bend it a bit once it is in place from inside the tube. I'd experiment with some scrap. There is no extra in the kit though.
If I were to do it again, I'd do something you suggest. I'd probably bend the middle into a circle shape instead of the square. That way, the circle bend would act more like a spring, it'd keep it's round shape when bending down the wire ends from the inside. A square shape might lose it's form when bending down the inside ends. I ended up filling the slot without too much problem. Once I add the silver trim wrap, (upcoming post) you won't know the slit was there.
Thanks again, good luck with your Saturn.
Chris
I forgot to ask if you're concerned about the forces that will be exerted on the wire and the area of the body tube where it's attached. Seems like it will take the brunt of the deceleration when the 'chute deploys. I know it gets a backing but I'm more worried about it pulling through the body tube.
ReplyDeleteHi douglasgb,
ReplyDeleteThat shoudn't be a problem. With the cardstock backing piece it feels pretty strong. I'm more concerned about the bad fit of the centering rings and the force of the engine thrust!