I flew the LOC IV at NSWRA's recent high power weekend in Mullaley, NSW. It was another lovely flight. Went up straight and landed quite close to the pad. The Bama Polyconical Star chute was bit big, so the descent was slow, but there wasn't much wind so all good. I drilled the delay down to 9 secon...

Have you considered using UV cured epoxy? I have no idea of its strong enough for carbon tubes, but its very popular with people that make surfboards. As long as you block out most of the UV in your workshop you can work with it for many hours. Then when your ready just put your tube outside in the ...

This is an amazing project and the results look incredible. I wouldn't dream of offering advice on how to build carbon tubes. :D But have been fibre glassing some cardboard tubes recently and have had good success at extending pot life. After I have mixed the resin I poor it into a small plastic pai...

SpaceManMat wrote: it looks like your building a LPR.

It's actually part of my Level 2 project. That body tube is 152mm!

Thanks all for the advice.

I decided to change the fin design significantly to something that doesn't give me these anomalies. I don't want to take a chance.

If you are tweaking fins in OpenRocket just be aware that a sudden increase in stability from a small change may be too good to be true.

Thanks for posting the update. Yup the deploy was sure eventful, that is one heck of a zipper. :( I've wondered if a few wraps of carbon fiber tow around the top of the tube would help with zippers. It was good to see the printed retainer work well. What are your plans for repairing the rocket? Yes...

To reduce the chance of a zipper I: - Used a Kevlar shock cord 5 times the length of the rocket - Added 2 layers of shrink tubing at the point where the Kevlar exits the body tube - Wicked some thin CA glue into the top of the body tube I have never had a zipper with this technique. https://i.ibb.c...

I am working on an experimental concept in OpenRocket. But I am having a few issues with the Centre of Pressure jumping around when I make tiny adjustments to the free form fins. I sketched out these fins and I got a CP of 126cm and a stability of 1.93 cal. Very happy with that. But then I started t...

That turned out really well! Can't wait to see it fly. :D What brand of clear coat are you using? Thanks George. I just used this cheap clear coat that I had in the garage. https://i.ibb.co/RytnGpq/IMG-8067.jpg But I wouldn't recommend it. It dried a bit yellow, so doesn't look great on the white p...

I ran out of time with this build, so failed to take photos of most stages. NSWRA's high powered launch is 1 week away, so I just had to get it done. I cut 5 fins from balsa and then vacuum bag laminated them with carbon fiber. https://i.ibb.co/J2RZW2h/IMG-8065.jpg After sanding I kept the 4 best lo...

An amusing video for those with an interest in 3d printing and rocket powered gliders.



You gotta love the ignition delay on those G motors.

Looking Great Derek! I will be very interested to see how those retainers hold up, but like you said, you can always print a new one. It may be harder to unscrew if it deforms somewhat? Yes, agree it could get tricky to unscrew, but I am hoping the cardboard motor mount tube provides sufficient ins...

My son asked if he could come up with the name and colour scheme for this rocket. So after a bit of a brain storm he came up with the name "Fire Blaster".....and he wants flames for the paintwork! I originally printed the motor retainer in black, but my son suggested we reprint it in orang...

I started construction with the 3d printed parts, which are centering rings and the motor retainer. I designed the centering rings in SketchUp. I wanted to include fin slots so the through-the-wall fins would be very secure and easily aligned. This is the forward centering ring with a hole for the s...

To cut a long story short I was given the opportunity to buy some cheap 29mm Estes Pro Series F and G motors, but I don't own a rocket with a 29mm motor mount. So thought I would build one. The rocket will be based on a BT60 (42mm) body tube and a 200mm long nose cone, because I had those in the bac...