Activity

I spent all of Saturday doing calibrations on a 250-G prototype version of the Parrot V2, tweaking the flight code to avoid numerical overflow with the higher-G sensor, rebuilding the av-bay, and doing final prep work on the rocket. By…   Read more»

Make a cardboard fin template for the alignment. Can’t use CA though.W

Cool. You should try it again, this time with a Parrot and a Beeline, and go for the F, G, and SSS contests.

Chris,Do you remember what the tube weighed? Did you wrap the carbon over cardboard, or a fully-removable mandrel?I did it using my 29/360 case as a mandrel (wrapped it in mylar, then CF, then more mylar, then heat shrink, then…   Read more»

Thanks. I think I’ll be making carbon fiber rockets from now on. Here are some things I learned along the way:Doing the layup with the marble floor tiles, it’s very easy to get good quality, so in the future I…   Read more»

Very nice Adrian

Some other folks in the club have made a nicer looking rocket, but not me.Hope the fins are on straight

After the first go-around with the sandpaper, the fins are down to 4.1 grams and 0.06 thick. The two outer layers of thin fiberglass are mostly gone. I still have some low spots where the uni tape had some gaps,…   Read more»

I always wondered what to do with those build-a-bear boxes laying around……So are you using friction or motor retainers? Warren, how thick do you think the whole wrap was that you put around the motor case?Adrian, did you notch the…   Read more»

Release film from Advanced Composites or Fiberglast.com. I just wrapped it tightly around the case and then started wrapping the wetted-out fabric around it. After I did 3 wraps, I wrapped peel-ply, breather and then shrink tape around it. I…   Read more»

How was the release film held in place? And where did you get it?

I used a J570 case wrapped with 8 or 10 wraps of .001 mylar release film to make 38mm carbon tube. Just enough slop for the motor to slide in and out easily.Warren

Pictures from Christmas eve:Needs more shop towels to sop op the excess resin. Note to self: The vacuum bag can never be too bigVacuum bagging doneChristmas morning. Time for pliers.First look at the layup quality.The next are two pictures of…   Read more»

Here’s the tube after it came out. I sanded it a bit and hit the middle part with some clear coat. It’s almost 13″ long, and 29 grams. It seems much stiffer and stronger than it needs to be. But…   Read more»

After more than an hour of prep, I’m about ready to mix some epoxy:This time I remembered to close off the ends of the tube so the vacuum bag doesn’t push the layup into the tube.

Thanks for the class Warren. I’ll probably attend to catch mistakes I have taught myself. 8OI plan on having my 29mm bird ready to fly for the next launch. The 38 is possible too, but not sure yet. I’m going…   Read more»

Sounds like a good class, Warren.Mule,Here’s a picture with some of the materials:The unidirectional tape is dry, and comes rolled onto the cardboard rectangle. It started as a 4-foot roll, and you can see that not much is left of…   Read more»

I will be teaching a class for NCR club members on laying up composites, vacuum bagging, making composite airframes, fins, plate and related topics. (I don’t do nosecones – you’re on your own there).The class will be limited to 8…   Read more»

Adrian,I need you get get me up to speed on a couple of things.The unidirectional carbon fiber, is it a tape – literal or a roll of flat cloth that looks like a roll of tape? Are you using epoxy…   Read more»

Yes. I protect the floor tiles with a layer of thin plastic sheet, then one layer of blue shop towel, then a layer of pink fine-weave peel ply next to the wet layup. So far the shop towel has absorbed…   Read more»