How do I celebrate? A rocket launch.
First up - or not! I had a heck of a time trying to get the FlisKits MMX Crayon to ignite. Three different igniters - nothing! There might be a little clay over the propellant. It went back in the range box.
The Quest VIPER was my next choice.
A Quest A6-4 gave a good boost to an estimated 275'. It was nose down and coming in fast when the ejection blew. A three second delay is better for this one.
Here's a new build, an Estes REFLECTOR with Lil' Hustler fins and a slightly longer payload tube.
First flight was with a recommended A8-3 to about 275'.
Ejection was right after apogee - perfect.
My resolution was to glue in a reinforcing coupler above BT-50 engine mounts. The 50 tubes have looked better lately and I thought this one could take it. But, on the first flight?
The Quest (Cobalt) ORANGE flew with a Quest A6-4 to about 300' up.
Another nose down ejection but not as fast and low as the Viper.
The party balloon parachute easily pulled out of the nose cone cavity.
No damage on recovery.
And finally -
The Odd'l Rockets PIGASUS had it's first soccer field launch with an Estes B6-4. (Just in time for it's NARCON debut)
Altitude was an estimated 350'. Full deploy of the 15" parachute.
You'd think the rear legs would be a problem but there has never been any breaks or root edge cracks.
Nice pix..... I built a REFLECTOR bone stock .painted per card....hope the BT does not buckle......I want a Pigasus kit!
ReplyDeleteThanks Metalhead!
ReplyDeleteOnce you get used to it, the burst feature on the camera and a 800 shutter speed help a lot. The Reflector (Lil' Hustler) build will be on the blog in the future. Pigasus is in the works!
Nice Reflector. I assume you got yours during the great December sale, too. Using the Lil Hustler fins adds a nice touch. A note on the Reflector fins- they're the same fins as the sustainer of the Estes Air Commander!
ReplyDeleteAny particular reason why you lengthened the payload compartment? I lengthened mine, too, so as to fly altimeters, small eggs, and the occasional Lego astronaut. I also found that a screw eye and shock cord assembly in the base of the nosecone really help when flying the Jolly Logic altimeters. The screw eye serves as a mounting bracket for the altimeter, and the shock cord is insurance against the nose cone flying away with my expensive altimeter. I really wish Estes would put a focus back on research and experiments with their rockets, because a lightly modified Reflector can lug all sorts of things up there on any engine.
Hi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteInteresting - I lengthened the (otherwise short and useless) payload section for the same reason you did.
I attached a screw eye to the nose cone with a short shock cord joined to the body tube on the other end. Like you, for two reasons - attaching a altimeter and I won't lose the nose cone (and altimeter) at ejection.
I agree: "a lightly modified Reflector can lug all sorts of things up there on any engine."
It just seemed silly how small the usable payload area was.
If you and I both did the mods, imagine how many others thought the same thing?
There have been great improvements at Estes, some things just leave me shaking my head.
The Reflector blog build is coming, with all the modifications.