Daily dose of cuteness - 4 lion cubs born at the National Zoo

Successful Full-Scale NASA and ATK Solid Rocket Motor Test

Even if NASA doesn't use the 5-segment SRB, ya' might as well light 'em if ya got 'em.

The Dungeon's meme

Or, is that "the meme of The Dungeon."  Well, no matter.  I just added a gadget to my sidebar that shows the top 10 posts over the last 30 days.  Right now, five are rocketry-related, four are rocket girls (mostly), and one is about bacon.  Possibly the three best things in life.

"Rocketing to the Moon" - is it possible?

Modern Mechanix features a January, 1930 article from Modern Mechanics in which Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard explains why he thinks it is possible.  The article states: "To answer that question in the affirmative is to bring smiles to the faces of skeptics without number."  In 2010, according to Wikipedia, that number is still 6 to 28 percent of the population. That blows my mind, man.

Hermes A-1 - first iteration

Photo - check.  Ruler - check.  As-built Semroc V-2 - check.  Mash this stuff up and shove it into RockSim.  And this is what you get.  Since the Hermes A-1 is not based on a V-2, some additional tweaks may be required.  The upper fins seems a tad undersized, but that might be OK.  As is, it needs no more nose weight than the Semroc V-2 with the scale fins.  I guess the added lower fin tabs off-set the effect of the upper fins.  All this needs double checking.

I tawt I saw a Pawl Miller...

I did, I did...at about 1:40 into this video from NARAM-52.

Too Rolling (Red)Stoned - top section started

This afternoon, I made a trek to the container store for some 4" mailing tubes.  They have some cool tubes with full-length telescoping inner tubes.  (But you know this because you fanatically follow The Dungeon and my EMRR reviews). The last time I went, they didn't have the 43" variety.  This time they had only one.  That was OK because a 36" tube would do for this project.  So, I bought one of each.

The core of the top section will be made from the 36" telescoping inner tube, which will also form part of the capsule (about 0.5" too big in diameter - but this is sport scale!).  It also will conveniently fit in the lower section's parachute tube.  It was a bit too long so the piece I cut off was sectioned and will act as a shoulder to keep this tube from sliding all the way into the lower section.  I'm also adding a bulk plate with an eybolt in the bottom end.

The last two foam rings are cut.  One will be flush with the bottom of this section and the other will sit below the capsule.  I scavenged a plastic container that will serve nicely as the base of the capsule.  It is about 0.5" too big - perfect for a not-too-sport-scale model.  It also has a nice shoulder to support the poster board capsule section.

The top part of the capsule will be a piece of a foam pool noodle.  A piece of BT-20 will go through this, a ply ring and a foam ring.  I'll rig a plug for flight and the BT-20 will support the for-display tower.

BTW, the black posterboard really sucks. I tested Future Shine on a piece of the black foam board and began coating the black fins.  I also coated the black posterboard panel, which sucked up the Future Shine and warped.  I think I'll leave it until after the first flight.  I'll worry about it if there is going to be a second. Oh, wait, I said I wasn't going to describe my screw-ups. Oops, may bad.

ROCKETS Magazine, August 2010 - LDRS-29 Edition

Hot off the presses, my copy arrived this afternoon.  I immediately thumbed through it and then started reading the last article, which is about Cal-Poly's rocket-buildings.  I took particular interest in these because they are big and used light weight materials - and I'm in the midst of another large light weight project myself. 

The ten rocket buildings were built by 33 architecture students.  The reproductions of the student's favorite buildings were supposed to be around 6ft high and weigh under 5lbs.  They flew things from the Dubai 'sail building' to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  They first used G185s and then moved on to 'H' motors.  Looking at the photos, these were really cool, featuring intricate, obviously CAD-produced components.  The article said most used Monokote skin, which doesn't react well with ejection charges and resulted in several catching on fire.  Despite the less than optimal results (possibly no less than LDRS overall ?), these rockets weren't slapped together haphazardly. The rock-building building program provides what sounds like a good rocketry education.  However, big light rockets are challenging.  If I win the lottery, a laser cutter will be acquired for The Dungeon.  I like their idea for the monokote skins, but would obviously use a more robust core.

Other than that, I'm up to day 2 in the LDRS-29 saga. As usual, this magazine is worth it just for the photos. While on the subject, the Cal-Poly team featured a whole fleet of cute rocket girls.

Hermes A-1 build plans

I think I'm going to turn the Semroc V-2 that I bought as part of my 'showing my support' purchase into one of these. At least I'll try. This willl require some serious nose weight. Chances are high that I'll butcher the nose cone and have to buy a replacement.



(click through for the photo collection by NASA on The Commons)

Too Rolling (Red)Stoned - half done

Here's a shot of the mostly finished lower section.  I want to clear coat the fins and the one black wrap but that's about all that's left.  Current weight, with 60" 'chute - 3lb 3oz.

Too Rolling (Red)Stoned - wrapping it up

I've decided that building a huge paper rocket requires 6 hands and more coordination that I have.  Furthermore, I've also decided to only document my progress and not the growing list of minor flubs.  

The inter-fin panels are finally on.  I found the black poster board is more flimsy and thus tougher to work with than the standard white; so I only used it for one panel.  I wrestled the first body wrap on and will try to draft my wife to help get the next two installed.

Then, I'll have to hit the Container Store for another tube and Michaels for more poster board.  I thought I'd build the capsule from the black poster board but have decided the white will work out better.  I'll then paint the capsule section.

This thing is going to be awfully white.  I've been thinking about faking the upper checkerboard pattern but, since the rest will not sport scale decoration, may merely add a few circumferential stripes.

This should be flyable by the next MDRA launch assuming I don't need a motor bigger than an H165, that is.

Hobby Lobby is coming to MD

I saw someone mention that Hobby Lobby is coming to the area, so I checked their web site.  One location is in Laurel near the intersection of 198 and the BW Parkway and the other is in Columbia (9031 Snowden Square Drive).  I'm near the latter fairly often so I'll be able to check them out.  Their opening date is listed as 10/4/2010.

Take that Michaels! While on that subject, the local Michaels seems to re stocking new Estes RTF and ARF kits.  No motors yet, but other people are reporting the prices are jacked up.  I forget what they were, but I checked at the time and a 50% coupon will still get you a pack of motors for a little less than Hobbylinc.

I guess I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch.  I hope the new HL's will actually carry rocketry stuff.

PS - I just gleefully mentioned this to my wife, who responded, "oh yeah,  was going to mention that I saw their sign."

Rocket Girl Roundup (#80?)

Just grabbing a few random RG's from my launch photos.

Project Orion models

Scott Lowther had posted a couple of photos (attached) of some models he made for MSFC.  Pretty cool, Scott!  I wish Pem-Tech would get on the ball and finish their Orion kit!

Too Rolling (Red)Stoned - inter-fin panels

I've started filling in the gaps between the fins.  After I cut the panel, I'm attaching one edge (along the fin root) and letting that dry.  I use a heavy brass ruler to hold the wrap against the supports (the upper foam ring, the lower plywood plate, the fin supports, etc.).  After it is set firmly, I spread glue along the rest of the supports, roll the panel around and then weight the other end with the ruler (shown in this photo).  This will be a slow process.

I also ran a 4-40 screw through the upper fin supports to help hold the fins in place.  So, to replace a fin, I'll also have to remove/replace one of these poster board panels.  Not optimal, but I thought I needed some more positive retention for the fins and every other method I came up with would add more weight.  Since I have white and black duct tape, I will probably patch the bent fins until they get really ratty.

Too Rolling (Red)Stoned - the first weight-in

So, I found a suitable platform, hit 'tare' and started stacking.  I placed the body section on first, stacked on three sheets of posterboard, and topped it off with recovery components.  Yup, that should give a good estimate of the weight of the lower half.  The results - 3 lb!  This actually makes me hopeful.  If I can keep the weight of the top section (less removable tower, which won't count) to about 1.5lb, I'll be in great shape.  I need to acquire the tube I need and then weigh the components.  I have some ideas to keep the weight down, such as sacrificing some BT-101 for the project. 

The Enzmann Starship Family

I just saw Scott Lowther's post on his forthcoming diagrams of the Enzmann Starship.  A quick search yielded several hits, including a site dedicated to the nuclear pulse starships proposed by Dr. Robert Duncan-Enzmann.This site provides a variety of info, including drawings for several variants.  I also took note that sport rocketry's own G. Harry Stine wrote and article on Enzmann's work for the October 1973 issue of Analog magazine.  Here is the excerpt presented on that site:

Excerpt from Analog, October 1973, page 14 - 15, Written by G. Harry Stine

A starship will be big. As we can conceive of it today with existing technology or with technology that is within our grasp, a starship might look like this, according to Dr. Robert D. Enzmann. The modular concept would be used throughout so that a damaged module could be “unplugged” from the starship of modules could be “plugged into” other starships. The basic unit is a life module 300 feet in diameter and 300 feet long. Three of them are coupled end to end. At the aft end of that starship are engineering modules and 12 to 24 Orion-type thermonuclear pulse propulsion units. The propellant for the Orions is stored in a “snowball” of frozen deuterium 1000 feet in diameter. One o f the “primitive” Saturn-V vehicles is shown for comparison. Two Empire State Buildings are atop one another would be just a little taller than the starship is long. The starship will be assembled in orbit!

I have little interest in the feasibility, or lack thereof, of this concept.  However, I am intrigued about the scale that people like Dr. Enzmann thought on.  In its most basic form, the Project Orion nuclear pulse propusion concept was radical and fraught with engineering hurdles. (see all my project Orion posts here)  And, here was a guy who wanted to cluster the things!  And it was modular and would employ on-orbit assembly.  How cool is that?

Too Rolling (Red)Stoned - progress report

This photo show the entire lower section as it stands (no pun intended). The last glue is drying as I type. A tad of touch up and I can start applying the skins. It's good the fins are replaceable - I already dinged one. If there was any hope they wouldn't suffer damage on landing, I'd cut a new one now. But, unreinforced foam board WILL be damaged on this big a rocket.  This thing is going to be BIG.  I may yet regret not building it for a 38mm motor.

And, here's a close-up of the fin area.

BNC-R1 - repaired and flight worthy

Here is the new BNC-R1 sporting its new bi-conical styrofoam nose cone.  The popped fin was reattached, re-filleted and touch painted.  I also added a new shock tether.  It now has a couple of feet of Kevlar twine mounted in the root of the launch lug (not shown here).  A yard of 1/4" elastic is attached to the Kevlar.  I left the brass tube in the cone's base and epoxied an eyebolt into it.

The BNC-R1 is on its 2nd re-build.  This is one of those rockets that will be repeatedly re-built until it is lost or I die. :D

'PHOTOSHOP' ALERT:  If you expand the photo, you can see the color of the right hand orange fin is unnaturally uniform.  In the original digital photo, it came out bright yellow due to undetermined oddities.  I tried to fiddle with it in GIMP and this is the best I came up with.  And it looks better this way that in yellow.

Cool personal watercraft

The Seabreacher personal watercraft are positively buoyant but can dive to about 5'. They are also capable of some interesting acrobatics. Way to pricey to tag as a 'want' item, but still cool. It would probably jack up my lower back anyway. It's worth at least starting the video.

Two SpaceX Dragons

Two SpaceX Dragons, originally uploaded by jurvetson.

Cross-post from Steve's flickr page:

The capsule in the foreground, under construction, will be the first to dock with the ISS.

The white one in the background has returned from her Aug 12 splashdown for inspection. Here is her action video and photos.

These are the pressurized sections of the conical capsules which look more like the Apollo Command Module when fully equipped.

If successful, the next Falcon9 flight will be the first commercial spacecraft reentry from orbit.

 

EpicFireworks.com - RED Love HEART ROCKET

EpicFireworks.com - RED Love HEART ROCKET, originally uploaded by EpicFireworks.

Don't know the scale, and the fins are undoubtedly too small and occluded under the bulbous front section, but I'd sure like a spent one for conversion.

Sport Rocketry, September/October 2010

As you see from the attached photo, the headliners in this issue were TARC and NSL.  I especially liked the NSL reports, which included a lot of nice photos.  Two that stood out were night launches of a G75 Metalstorm and an Art Applewhite Double Helix.  The latter lived up to its name big time with a long, vivid, (double) helical plume.  Attendees were also treated to tours of WSMR Launch Complex 33, the V-2 Missile Museum, and the Holloman rocket sled track.  When I found the link to the LC-33 web site, I also found the photo shown below.

The magazine also has articles on a 50-rocket mass launch by SMASH (#500), a range PA system and the Rocket Vision Gear Cam

Iran's version of German V 1

Iran's version of German V 1, originally uploaded by Douglas606.

I obviously don't support such things politically, but this would be an interesting scale subject for those who like the V-1 (which I like even though I hated its mission too). Click this for more views as well as shots of the V-1 and V-2.

New cone for the BNC-R1

Here is the blank for the BNC-R1's new nose cone. I reckon that I should rename the rocket SNC-R1 or SFNC-R1. Or maybe something totally different and more interesting.

Anyway, I have a bunch of pink styrofoam plugs from another unnamed and yet uncompleted project. I drilled a few and installed a piece of brass tubing using 5-minute epoxy. The tube holds up to turning better than dowel. Since you can't turn brass tube, I epoxied a short piece of dowel in the nose-end of the tube. This pokes out the front by 1/8" or so and will provide a firm tip to the otherwise soft cone.  Common wisdom would have me glass the cone, but I may try something else.

For those who don't recognize it, BNC is the standard acronym for balsa nose cone. It should be clear what SNC or SFNC would signify.

Launch Report 2010-10

Location: Old National Pike Park, Mt. Airy, MD (NARHAMS)
Weather: overcast, mid 80's, humid, wind 5mph
Total flights: Today - 12; YTD - 90
Total motors: Today - 14; YTD - 118

This was a great day and was made all the better with the attendance of my wife and Jerry.  The wind wasn't bad but, as usual, it took the rockets towards the tree line. Mine avoided the trees but one fell prey to the long, un-mowed grass in the far field.  Only one rack was set up with pad 6 running the 'away cell'.  Luckily, a huge group of scouts didn't show up.  The flight rate was good with no waiting.

My Flights:

1. Semroc V-2 on a Quest B6-4 - Respectable altitude.
2. Quest MLAS on an Estes C6-3 - Nice flight but with late ejection.  My form-fitted car air bag 'chute protector worked perfectly.
3. BNC R1 on an E20-4 - Really nice straight boost.  Unfortunately, it separated.  The nose drifted into the far field and was lost in the long grass.  The body fell flat into long grass on the near side of the tree line and is repairable.  I'll miss my custom balsa cone and 'chute.
4. MRC Iron Man on a C11-3 - Nice flight with apogee perfect ejection.
5. Skinny Mini on an A10-3 - Fast flight.  I didn't see it until it was landing.
6. Model Minutes XFLR-7 on a C11-3 - Nice boost with an easily visible slow roll.  As is getting common, the 'chute didn't open.  No damage thanks to the long grass.
7. Shrox SHX-15 on a C11-5 - Nice swooping boost as usual.  The delay was a bit long.
8. First Flight Under Dawg on a D12-0/C11-3 - The boost was really slow with a lot of arcing.  This happened on the prior flight but the prior stage flight was fine.  Anemic D12-0's?  Poopy clay?  Anyway, it went far down range and was recovered by my wife and a volunteer (since I had taken over as LCO).
9. Estes Paveway III on a Quest C6-5 - Nice flight.  I angled the rod to keep the recovery close by.  Could have used a -3 with that angle.
10. Semroc Tau Zero on a Quest C6-5 - Very fast and high.  Again the rod was angled into the wind. recovery was 25' from the pad.
11. Heavenly Hobbies Resistor 224 on 2 x C11-3 - Nice motor combo for windy and/or small fields.  Perfectly straight boost with no weather cocking and slightly early ejection.
12. Odd'l Wedgie on a Quest C6-3 - Unstable. Glad I made everyone stand up for this flight!    Maybe I really should use an Estes C6 in this one.  Needs a new streamer.

Find more photos like this on Our Planet

EMRR transition notice (update)

Nick reported that, as of about 2PM EST, EMRR was cut over to its new home.  The DNS change will take some time to propagate so the site will be inaccessible for a short while.

Update: It's back for me at 7:20PM EST.

World Spacemodeling Championships - LIVE!

Chris Taylor has once again gone LIVE!.  This time with reports on the 2010 World Spacemodeling Championships held in Serbia.  Team member George Gassaway will be feeding him material. A report on the team's long trip is on the Friday update.  Fellow NARHAMsters Kevin Johnson and Chris Kidwell are on the team.  Kev has been reporting via FaceBook, so I might sneak stuff in from him too,  For those who want to dig further, there is the official web page.

One rasher of bacon per pancake

Pancake #2, flipped, originally uploaded by cerebus19.

Sounds like a good ratio to me. Click through for more bacon goodness.

Too Rolling (Red)Stoned - the first photographic evidence

I cut the fins out and have the lower bulk plate competed.  Although you only see black fins, some of the other faces are white.  I'll alternate white and black poster board to complete the non-scale roll pattern.  I probably won't make much progress for several days due to a NARHAMS launch and other non-rocketry fun.  And some stuff that's not fun, be I won't get into that here.

Raygun Gothic Rocketship - the models

Almost Scientific is supporting their endeavors by offering models of the Raygun Gothic Rocketship.  They have a laser cut, wooden 'skeleton' model and a paper version.  Both are too expensive for what they are, but hey, you would be supporting the arts.  Nevertheless, I thought they are cool.  That skeleton would be pretty awesome with "X-Ray" style guts.

If you missed Burning Man, like I'm sure you all did, you can view the RGRS in San Francisco's Emarcadero.  It will be on Pier 14 for 14 months.

New format to the LAUNCH history website

It's been awhile since I though about LAUNCH Magazine and longer since I looked for any web presence, but now I see that they (whoever or whatever 'they' may be) have a new look - launchhistory.com.  There are seven articles and a couple of blogs.  I've seen this material before, but I'm always glad to have the reference at hand.

Old launch photos/reports

Here is my Grand Whazoo just prior to its maiden flight at a NARHAMS launch in Middeletown Park.  I think I've posted this photo before but, since The Grand Whazoo just bit the dust, I thought I'd post it anyway.  It took a long confab with the club prez, RSO, and LCO to allow this big rocket to fly on a G80.  It was a most excellent flight.

Here is my NCR Big Brute at a launch organized by HobbyWorks and run by TRF member rokitflite. The site was in Laurel, MD and was really pretty nice.  The launches were suspended after some hijinks by another person associated with the launches. Too bad.  The Big Brute flew on a G35.
 

Finally, this one is from LDRS2000 in  Orangeburg, SC.  I guess I stole the source photo since my son and I are both in it. The Crusader is my Rocketman Explorer 7 "Freedom to Fly".  It flew on an H242. Check out that line!

Too Rolling (Red)Stoned - a little progress but lots of stuff to do

Progress:

• I started cutting and installing the fin mounting guides to the rear thrust plate.  Glue is setting on two, 14 more to go.  
• Marked the remaining foam rings.  One is cut, six more to go.
• Scavenged the rail mounting blocks from the carcass of the Grand Whazoo.  Added some washers as spacers.  Glue is drying on the aft block.
• Cut an arc of the 1/2" foam board into little chunks.  These will help support the inter-fin 'skin' sections where they touch the rear plate.

I decided to go with the 29mm mount.  I dumped the idea of solid foam or plastic capsule parts.  This will be made from poster board wraps and should keep the weight down.  I'm going to make a kludgy tower at some point but it will be removable for flight.  This will also help with weight and will help it survive :)

Did I mention this is going to resemble a Mercury Redstone about as much as the Grand Whazoo resembled a V2?  It should be recognizable but keep your rulers in your range box!

Loading a practice rocket

Fighting Falcons return from joint exercise, originally uploaded by US_Air_Force.

Mmm, steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit

A friend sent this photo to me earlier this evening.  I had to Google it to see if it was real (the stuff on the right, of course).  It is.  Best served hot with custard.

Too Rolling (Red)Stoned status

Planning for the Too Rolling (Red)Stoned has hit a snag.  My current worry is that this thing can get heavy fast.  Even with paper, cardboard tubes and foam board.  I want to fly it on the 29/180 case and I figure around 6 lb loaded will be as heavy as I'll want to go given the diameter.  Just looking that the Grand Whazoo ended up being 3.6lb loaded with an H165, the 6lb target may be reasonable.  But then again it may not be.  If I build it and it goes much over, I'd need a heftier 24mm motor.  Easy to handle if you want to buy a casing, which I don't want to do for a supposedly cheap rocket.  Or I could shift gears and go for a 38mm motor mount.  Also doable, but I just plain would like to stick with the tinier motor.  No real reason, except keeping it light was one of the things I wanted to do with this build.  So, that's where I'm at. Build the lower half as planned and see where it stands or upgrade the motor now.  Hmm.

The cost of a build like this is also hard to figure.  Of the stuff I'm buying, some will be left over for future projects.  Some will be from on-hand stock or recycled - does that count?  My current guess is that I've committed about $27 of new materials, including a new 29mm tube.

Poster board, foam board and duct tape, oh my

I have started gathering parts for the Too Rolling (Red)Stoned.  I had wanted to use 8" diameter x 1" thick styrofoam rings in place of foam board.  They were a bit over a buck on-line but Michaels wanted something like 5 bucks for them.  So, I settled for poster and foam board.  I got mostly white poster board but also a sheet of black.  The thinner foam board has black on one side and white on the other.  This should make a nice roll pattern on the fins.  I have no plans for the upper roll pattern or 'United States' lettering.  I don't think I'll dedicate that much printer ink and, on an 8" rocket, buying them would cost more than the rocket itself.  I also cut an 8" base plate and a couple of 29mm-4" centering rings.  Oh, and I got a roll of  white duct tape which I'll use on the poster board seams.

I went through many options for the replaceable fins.  Most options involved too much plywood, which defeats the purpose of building with paper and foam. Not that I'm a purist, but wood will jack up the weight. Right now, I think I'll make some thin plywood slots on either end of the fins and will keep them one ply.  I originally was going to go with three ply for a more scale-like form factor. Using one ply will make them more prone to damage but should also be easier and cheaper to replace.

The Grand Whazoo is dead, and plans for a replacement

The Grand Whazoo was an 5' 4" tall, 8" diameter rocket that weighed in just under 3.3 lbs loaded up with a G80. On the 5th flight of the latest configuration, I suffered my first blowby. It ejected a few milliseconds after the attached photo was taken, shredded the recovery system, and lawn darted. After its dissection, I've determined that it's a total loss.  The lower section, including the fins, was intact but the fins were so gnarly that they should be replaced anyway.  So, I've decided to build something else using poster and foam board. I'm thinking of an 8" Mercury Redstone.  It will stand over 9' even without the pointy spike on top.  I built a spreadsheet to scale the dimensions provided in ROTW.  The name will also be taken from classic rock - Too Rolling (Red)Stoned.

EMRR transition notice

Via Nick:

Many are complaining that their reviews are no longer on the site...

 ... yep, true.  I was working on the transfer and deleted the "viewable" files off of the wrong server.  Sorry.

NOTHING IS LOST!

But, because of the dynamic nature of the site, these will all have to be rebuilt from the .DAT files.  I run them in batches of 150 at a time, so it will take a few days to come back online with all the reviews.

Sorry.

The evolution of the saucer - the Turbine Rocket Saucer

This is the latest creation from Boris Katan, who is known for some of the coolest clusters around. It uses turbine blades and an angled cluster of motors.  The motors spin it up, it hovers for a bit and then rotates softly back down.   His TRF thread describes the rocket's evolution, including more photos and link to this cool video. Frisbee recovery!

Rockets on cakes in rockets

Rocket on cakes are nothing new. Rocket Team Vatsaas has compiled a whole slew of them, and they have even appeared at the Redstone Arsenal:




But now, as fellow blogger Rocket Jones reports, there are now cakes in rockets:

During this year's Team America Rocketry Challenge, the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes" arrived with a cake baked especially to fit a payload capsule built by one of the members of our rocketry club. So, did it work? Did the cake survive?

Find out on Thursday, September 2nd, at 10pm EST. The episode is called "Full Throttle Bakery".

No hints, but the cake was tasty.

Lots of stalled projects

Not even counting the 7+ kits I have stashed:

1. Bulbous Foam Rocket - Stalled waiting for a transformer to power the hot wire cutter.
2. Whirlygig-38 - Too heavy for tumble recovery; haven't decided how to mount a timer/parachute.
3. Air boosted rocket - Have some parts, need an air source; I forget what I was even thinking.
4. Lost in Space Robot -  Waiting for plastic junk; This may be the first one completed from this list.
5. Son of Spikor - Too much like its papa.  Just now put on hold.
6. Semroc Little Joe II - I'll count this because I planned to build it immediately.

Hmm, the list is shorter than I thought it would be.

(and I think Blogger needs to provide emoticons)

Opened my Semroc Little Joe II

My Semroc order arrived while I was launching yesterday.  2 1/2 day turnaround - great for mere mortals, but a day slower than my previous order.  Anyway, most of what I got was just to put away for future builds but I opened the Little Joe II.  The instructions outline the typical build steps but refer you to separate instructions for the capsule.  Instead of venturing back to the dungeon, I looked at what Chan Stevens had to say on EMRR.  Well, as you might expect, the tower sounds like a bear.  To start with, you have to sand dowels down the prescribed 0.041 and 0.058 diameters.  Egads, I think I'll put them back in the bag for now.  Sounds like a winter build.

Launch Report 2010-9

Location: Central Sod Farm, Centreville, MD (MDRA ESL-147)
Weather: mostly sunny, low 80's, wind 5mph - 10mph
Total flights: Today - 10; YTD - 78
Total motors: Today - 13; YTD - 104

The wind was not as bad as expected and was in a reasonably favorable direction.  It started at about 5mph and reaching 10mph by mid-afternoon.  I sat with Warthog and Itchy.  I swapped an H165R load for one with a delay.  Evidently there was a short time after the AT fire when they shipped without delays.  Kenny made it right.  I also received a new Monster Motors 29/40-120 case - thanks Don!

My Flights

1. The Grand Whazoo on an H165-5 -  I touched it up a bit and added replacement 'Cheesecake' fin artwork.  Jinx - I suffered my first blow-by.  It ejected right after the last photo in the flight sequence shown below.  Dead.
2. Heavenly Hobbies Resistor 224 on two C11-3's - Ejection was early and the rocket flew through the 'chute, which tangled.  No damage.
3. Heavenly Hobbies Resistor 224 on two D12-5's - This was a much more satisfying flight.  Ejection was at apogee. I used an undersized 18" 'chute due to the wind.  The fillet on one fin is cracked.  Thin CA will take care of it.
4. Heavenly Hobbies Backdraft on an E9-4/C11-3 - This was the 4th flight on this motor combination and again used 7.25" of fuse. This model guarantee's high pucker-factor flights and it didn't disappoint.  Great flight but, as usual, parts came off.  I lost the parachute cap and the Kevlar twine on the cone snapped.
5. Hat of Death on an F24-P - Flight number 56.
6. Quest FLICS MMX on a MicroMaxx - This is my second rubber band powered FLICS converted for powered flight.  The smallest motor at ESL-147!
7. Quest FLICS  - Lucky 13 on an A10-3 - This one used the dregs of a Paul Miller 13mm rocket.  It flew cross-wind and was fast.  I saw the ejection event but didn't see it again until it was found.
8. Airship R-100 on an A10-P - This is a paper model of a dirigible.  It was soooo underpowered for MicroMaxx that I never bothered with active recovery.  I decided to install a 13mm mount scrounged, once again, from my Paul Miller box-o-dead-rockets. Still nothing but tumble recovery. Ignition was oddly late and the boost was a huge corkscrew.  Tumble recovery was actually lawn dart recovery.  Dead.
9. Spikor on a G64-8 -  The wind was lighter than expected so I flew her on the 'G'.  Great boost with ejection near apogee.
10. MRC IronMan on a C11-3 - Nice flight but the cone separated again.  Needs a big piece of elastic on the end of the short Kevlar cord.

Find more photos like this on Our Planet

The jury is in, and the verdict is...Semroc lives!

The jury here is a jury of two, Carl and Rick.  It looks like the legal unpleasantness of late will indeed work out.  So, all the disgruntled rocket geeks can re-establish their orders for the Estes Saturn V :D

After a very enjoyable conversation with Rick Piester that we both agreed that probably should have been made much earlier, we are all satisfied that this has ended well. In fact, from my standpoint, I feel better about our long-term relationship with Estes-Cox and Hobbico than I thought I ever would. Rick and I both regret the lawyers being involved. They were not necessary (as usual) and the terms under which we will move forward are better than we would have ever expected. Rick is much like his Dad and Mom, and that is great for the hobby.

You will see some changes to our packaging and website to reflect our new relationship. Please stop the talk about boycotts. I was never comfortable with that since I really liked all my new friends at Estes-Cox that we met at NARAM. They are doing everything right to get model rocketry back on track. No need for a legal fund, either!

The orders placed by many of you over the past 72 hours have overwhelmed Sheryl, but I think she liked it. Now to start restocking under our new licensing agreement that we should have in place soon. I feel confident that Estes-Cox and Semroc will work closely to enhance each other and grow the hobby.

On a personal note, the responses to this thread and the support shown has been both amazing and very humbling. I hope to be able to return the favor to all of you in the future. It really is better to have friends than money. It is good to be reminded of that occasionally.

__________________
Carl McLawhorn
NAR#4717
www.semroc.com

Mapping the Sod Farm

Original image by Google, via MDRA.  Wind vector's s'posed to be ENE.  Distances via Wikimapia.

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 39.14°N and Longitude 76°W

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 39.14°N and Longitude 76°W

This was mainly a test for posting via the NOAA site, which has 286 sharing options. The link is for Price v. Centreville but the two sites are close enough for weather purposes (I checked and the reports are the same). This report is slightly more favorable than some of the other sources, so we can cross our fingers for wind on the low end (6mph)!

With luck, Semroc will survive! (update)

I couldn't even read all the posts about the Hobbico/Estes legal notice that Semroc received.  However, it appears  Rick Piester, Vice President of Proprietary Products, Hobbico, Inc. and NAR #20413 introduced himself on YORF and gave some background.  His statement sounded sane and reasonable.  Here's an excerpt that hits at the crux of the issue:

....
Was there a better way to handle this? Maybe. I might not always
agree with the way lawyers approach things. Sometimes they do things in
a certain way to protect a position because they don't know how the
other party will react. But I can assure you that nobody at Hobbico or
Estes wants to hurt Carl or Semroc.

I've read all sorts of things posted here with speculation that goes way
beyond our company's concerns. We're not out to stop Carl from selling
rocket parts. We're not claiming the exclusive rights to produce a
scale rocket like the Saturn V (only our own, specific interpretation of
that).

We don't like legal fees more than anyone else. I'd hope that no
lawyers need to be involved in this any further. I can assure you that
we'll do everything we can to avoid this being difficult or expensive or
painful for anyone. I'm sure there is a way that this can be resolved.
...

Anyway, I placed an order late last night to show my support. Got notice it was shipped by around noon. I received a discount and a freebie too. Semroc is the best.

Update: Here's the whole thread (starting at page 10!) and a follow-up post from Rick Piester.

New GPS solution for rocketry

µGTU with Antenna, originally uploaded by nullpuppy.

The µGTU is a new product from the oddly-named start-up Tragic Little Aerospace. The circuit board holds the GPS antenna, GPS chip set, and a 900 MHz frequency-hopping spread spectrum transceiver. The squares on the background are are 1/4" inch and the board measures 2.25" x 1.1875" (i.e. it will fit in a 38mm airframe). It also requires an external power source between 5 and 15 volts (a standard 9V will work).

The $299 price tag includes the µGTU/Transmitter, a wireless receiver that connects to a USB port on a laptop computer, and a CD with uCenter and X-CTU software. (uCenter is provided from ublox and can be downloaded from their website. X-CTU is from Digi and can be found on their site as well).

For now, you take the coordinates for your rocket's final resting place and enter them into a mobile GPS unit for recovery.  However, the company is working on a self contained mobile receiver.

For more info, you can go to their website or this Rocketry Planet thread, which the company's principals are participating in.

The end of Semroc?

I won't try to paraphrase the details, but Semroc has been notified by the counsel representing Hobbico Inc. and Estes-Cox Corporation that they are in violation of Estes-Cox copyrights.  This had far-reaching implications for Semroc and is quite serious. This sounds a bit like a big company with deep pockets bullying a small one that can't afford to defend itself, but I don't know enough about copyright law to tell.  But it seems a stretch to say other companies can't produce a scale model of a government-funded rocket just because you produced one earlier.  I'll refer you to this YORF thread for the ensuing discussion.

Aerojet announces static test of solid fuel ramjet

ParabolicArc reports on a press release from AeroJet about the successful static test of a solid fuel ramjet engine. The release is fairly content-free. It mentions the USAF/Navy Joint Dual Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM) but gives no real info.  What I found most interesting is that their test facility is nearby in Orange County, Va as opposed to a site out in the desert.

Weekend weather watch for Price, MD

Right now, AccuWeather reports mostly sunny with a high of 86.  It will feel like 94, however.  Just as importantly is the wind speed and direction.  Here, they report winds from ESE at 9 mph with gusts to 15 mph.  Other reports I've seen have the wind a bit milder, but I tend to believe the more pessimistic numbers.  The direction indicated should take the rockets toward US301.  They should avoid the trees but there is a possibility of landing in the water trap.  So, I need to adjust the fleet.  The Spikor may have to wait until a later launch.  I may also have to scrub the flight of my Rocketman Freedom to Fly on an I357.

DIY pyrotechnic bolts

Issue 266 of the Apogee Newsletter explains how to make your own pyrotechnic bolts from nylon toilet seat nuts and bolts.  So, you may not be able to say you used the kitchen sink in your next build, but you will be able to say you used a commode. 

Son of Spikor begun

There's not much to look at, but I have assembled the nose cone assembly from the 10" spike, a short piece of 38mm tubing, a 38mm coupler, and an eyebolt.  It looks like this will be another scrounged build. I found a 29mm mount that fits in a 38mm airframe and some reuseable fins.  I took the Dremel to the mount and added 2 small bolts to provide positive retention.  The jury is out on the fins.  They would be flush with the base of the tube and would leave the retention screws exposed.  This wouldn't be a flight issue but would make it another rocket that can't sit upright.

EMRR - updated and on the move

Nick did another quick update, which includes my Micromaxx powered FLICS conversion.  This is a historic update in that it is the last,  one on his server.  The new server will be functionally the same and the re-direct should be invisible.  Nick says he'll send out a notice when this happens just in case it isn't. 

Spikor decoration

One to pay homage to the rocket's name and one that just seemed to fit.  Actually, two of each.

Spikor

Here is the Spikor with its green hammered metallic paint job.  This will not doubt appeal to Packers fans.  The green will not help with recovery but I've never let that get in my way. I hit two last minute snags.  The blue tape that I used to mask the fins lifted the color from the holographic sticker material.  However, I found a few leftovers and covered up most of the bad spots.  Finally, found that I printed the Spikor character on the wrong side of the label paper.  Unfortunately, I cut the sheet up before I figured this out.  I'll try again tomorrow. 

Like the high tech rocket rack?

Spikes

I have been thinking about the splikes that I'm using for the Spikor and Son of Spikor rockets.  I'm using them as-is except I'm removing the hook.

I was thinking that these could also serve as the core of more conventional cones.



At about $3.25 for the 15" and $1.50 for the 10", they are economical.  You could probably wing a cardstock shroud which could either be reinforced itself or you could fill the gaps with 2-part foam.  The resulting cone would be heavy, but it would be tough.

NARAM-52 Live! - Day 8 (Friday) - The End of the Road

So, far, the photos aren't coming up.  Maybe there aren't any because Chris has a lot of short slow-motion clips on his Day 8 play list.  The best is the clustered N1.  Over all, this NARAM Live! was not as exciting as in past years.  Almost no weird and unusual rockets, few static close ups, and nobody I recognized from my local clubs.  Even the scale rocket coverage wasn't as interesting to me.  I'll either blame it on me becoming numb due to the onslaught of rocketry media on the web or Chris moving to the dark side of HPR.

I found grog's albums to be better this year.  Check out his latest set here.

BACONPALOOZA: 101 Awesome Bacon Products You Can't Miss!

BACONPALOOZA: 101 Awesome Bacon Products You Can't Miss!

And here's one that I didn't think would be in there.  It was, but I left it anyway.
 

Ooh-la-la

In an attempt to keep this blog PG rated, I took a cue from the Craig Ferguson's censors.  One  photo actually has a rocket and the other just reminds me of sparky motors.

Spikor and Son of Spikor

I found an image of the original Spikor, a member of the Masters of the Universe world.  I'll add him to the finished rocket.

In addition to the big spike used on Spikor, I also bought a smaller one.  After trimming the hook piece off, I found it fits inside a 38mm tube.  It's  bit loose but not bad.  The base is a lot smaller than a coupler so this time I'll probably have to embed the base in foam or epoxy.  But, I know the Son of Spikor will be a 38mm rocket with a 29mm mount.

Friday build status

The Spikor is named and is getting primer.  How it got there:

As I mentioned last time, the base of the spike section matches a 2.125" mailing tube well.  I made a coupler using the tried-and-true method of sectioning a piece of tube and joining it back together with the strip that was removed.  This was then glued into a short piece of tube.  When I chopped off the hook that protruded from the spike's base, I left a slightly flat area.  It turns out that the base of the spike fits well in the coupler as long as the joining strip sits on the spot where that hook was.  So, I attached some 1/8" Kevlar to the eyebolt in the spikes base, inserted it in the tube assembly and sealed the base, which is inset couple of inches, with Gorilla Glue.  I had thought that I'd drill a small hole in the nose section's body and pour in some foam.  However, once the Gorilla Glue set it seems sturdy and, since the hard-point is on the heavy spike, I think I'll leave it as-is.

The body is a 23.75" long mailing tube.  One good thing about saving bit and pieces of old rockets is you have bits and pieces.  I found a recycled 29mm mount with rings to match this tube.  It also had an attachment point for the shock cord.  I attached some more Kevlar to the mount and wrapped the lower 6" or so with a strip of car airbag.  I sure wish I had more of this, but all that's left is a few scraps.  I affixed it with a few twists of bare wire.

I used the G-10 fins from the Stratoshpere.  One of the bad parts about having an assembled mount is you can't install it sans rear ring, so inner fillets are tough.  I marked the mount so the fins would avoid the shock cord mount and motor retention hardware and swabbed on some 5-minute epoxy.  When it set just enough not to run, I swabbed some more in the tube and inserted the mount.  I slid all the fins in and babied it as the epoxy set.  This means that I set it one end, eyeballed the alignment, and adjusted as the glue dried.  The results are not perfect but are pretty good.  I then masked the fins and added some Super-Fil fillets.

So the primer is drying.  This time, I'm going to wait a couple of days before painting it.

As you see from the render, I entered the design in RockSim.  I wondered how the ribs on the spike would affect stability since they are basically low-profile fins.  Well, the spike is plenty heavy to make this very stable.  It looks like this will weigh at least 1lb 3oz and will get to a bit over 2K' on a G64.-8.

Looks like I'll need to modify my line-up for ESL-147.

NARAM-52 Live! - Day 7 (Thursday)

Once again, the photos are OK but there is nothing that wowed me in Thursday's album.  Not even the coverage of the scale models on page 2.  But, the Day 6 videos are now up and are pretty good. There is one slow-mo of a rocket blowing its top, a couple of on-board videos, including Chris' L-2 flight, and a 'Devo hat' saucer.  The Day 7  videos are also nice enough, especially the slow motion shots of a sparky Fat Boy and a Deuce. Still photos-0, videos-2.

PVC parts for rocket racks and other projects

Formufit has non-standard PVC fittings for your building pleasure. (via MAKE)

Four days after the EMRR update...

There's another one!  17 new reviews and a new video contest.  Ooh, the new owner will be busy!  Three of mine made it - H.H. Simit, Tiny Tim Smoke, and the 12-Pack.  That leaves my MicroMaxx FLICS un-posted.  And I have are 4 more pending flight data and vendor announcements.

I see the formatter-helper identified the Tiny Tim kit leftovers as an Aerospace Specialty Products (ASP) kit. I thought that was likely but didn't know.  When Paul lets me know his new e-mail, I'll see what he says.

NARAM-52 Live! - Day 6 (Wednesday)

Today's highlights:

• Tri-F-O's are always cool.
• I guess Chris was busy going for his L-2 and wasn't as prolific a shooter as in past years. There's a photo of his flight.
• No videos yet.  If they show up later, I will likely miss them. If I do and you don't, let me know.  At least if there is something spectacular.

New photos page

I just added another fixed page (currently the right most link under my banner) to hold some of my favorite photos from The Dungeon.

Project photos

Well, I finally got the parts and the camera at the same place at the same time.

On the left are the guts of my Lost in Space Robot. This project will be stalled until I stumble across more parts.  I may have misled you in my previous posts.  I don't actually go dumpster diving.  Unless maybe the part is visible :D

On the right is the nose cone for a new, yet unnamed project.  Spikey.  Hmm, now that I typed that, that might be the name! Or maybe Spikor (?).  Anyway the base just below the spike is a perfect match for 2" mailing tube. The shoulder is a bit smaller.  I'm doing to embed the latter in either foam or epoxy to bond it to a short section of  tube.  The exposed spike is 15" long. This build will proceed immediately.

Gator chases R/C boat

(hat tip to Hobby Works)

No build status, no photos, just senseless rambling

I haven't made any more progress but the obvious did dawn on me.  If I don't a suitable plastic body for my Lost in Space Robot, I can always make the whole thing from foam.   That would probably look better but it's not the point of my build.  And turning foam is messy.  If I thought I could find a plastic part for the treads I'd use it too.

Fellow blogger KenKzak found another scale subject that is basically a nose cone with fins.  It looks cool but I won't steal his thunder.  You will have to wait for the build posts on ZZakk's Lab.

After hearing about them on one of the forums, I ordered a few motors from Winkies.  Their prices aren't quite as low as Hobbylinc, but close. And it looked like the motors I wanted were available.  I ordered on a Thursday and got a call Sunday.  About half my order was "not available form the manufacturer."  So, the good news is that someone acted on the order quickly and the bad is that their website doesn't reflect their stock.  So, I canceled what wasn't available and proceeded with the rest.  A bit over a week later, the order status finally indicated it had shipped and USPS says it's in route.  Looks like it will be about 2 weeks from start to finish.  Since they actually answer the phone, it's probably a good idea to call in advance.  Assume the order is correct unless I bitch about it.

NARAM-52 Live - Day 5 (Tuesday)

This is the most boring NARAM Live! that I can remember. From what I hear, this is inversely proportional to what's going on.   Tuesday on has one highlight - a nice sequence showing a smokey motor blow it's top and spew a dark plume out of the top.

New build status, no photos, just senseless rambling

I am progressing with the build of a non-scale Lost in Space Robot.  The basis is the inner tube structure and nose cone from my defunct Stratosphere.  The upper body is the Stratospher's nose section.  I removed the long green rod and mounted an M&M-shaped M&M container on the top.  This is a reasonable facsimile of the robot's head.  Good so far!

The body/ tread section will be about 12" long.  I searched and scrounged and found a plastic instant coffee container that actually has an excellent shape - mostly cylindrical and slightly smaller on the top and bottom.  However, to get a better proportion to the upper body, I'll need something that's about 6" in diameter.  Let the dumpster diving continue.

On to the treads.  These will be made from 2" thick pink foam and I think they'll be over-sized. I cut three 6" x 4" blocks that will be stacked and beveled.  I've bored a hole in the center block for the tube.  I think I need to go back to the body since I may have to adjust these further.

That leaves the fins.  I'm thinking that I'll mount two tubes in the foam and attach the fins to dowels or telescoping tubes, kind of like the fins on the Estes Atlas.  These would be removable for display.

That's it for now!

Goddard launches to resume

For years, NARHAMS ran monthly launches at the Goddard Space Flight Center's Visitor's Center.  A while back, it came to their attention that Goddard lies within the Restricted Flight Zone around Washington.  So, the club began working with the GSFC Visitor Center folks to see if this rule could be waived.  Yesterday, our club president announced that the waiver application was approved.

The details will be posted soon on the website but he did announce that the launches would be limited to 'C' power and would have a 2000' altitude cap.  That's probably reasonable for the site, which had been limited to single stage 'D' flights anyway.  But it does seem that dropping from 'D' to 'C' impulse limits was pretty useless from a national security point of view.  Oh well, we should be thankful for what we got.

More user supplied content: vintage, pulp sci-fi, rocket girl b0ndage

In the future it appears biological payloads are allowed. (thanks again to Ken K.)