Activity

Mike, I thought you had certed L2 Saturday. Warren’s right, if your main didn’t come out, then that should DQ you. Happened to me my first time, too. Landed flat with no damage, but because the chute stuck, I couldn’t…   Read more»

I do NOT tap the airframe holes – only the nosecone or coupler. In addition, I usually put some talcum powder on the coupler and nose shoulder to lube things a little bit. Finally, since I generally fly altitude birds,…   Read more»

MikeGood to know I can learn from your mistakes. On my first pinned rocket (in the next couple of months) I plan on styrene rods now.(ok so I already have the rods but its still good to know)At least…   Read more»

I had a situation where my ground tests of my 3″ diameter dual deploy rocket sheared both sets of the 3ea 2-56 pins on my drogue and main sections, but in the flight the main chute section failed to separate…   Read more»

I’m very much interested in this topic as I am building my 3″ diam G10 level 2 bird (dual deploy) and am struggling with the number of screws vs. the volume vs the amount of pwoder used for deployment.I have…   Read more»

Like JW I to have used the Styrene rod for shear pins. Mostly in my 38mm and under rockets. But what you need to use will depend on the size of the rocket, drag and weight. Also the forces applied…   Read more»

On smaller birds I use the round stock that John Wilke mentions in his post. On 3″ and 4″ birds I use 2-56 nylon screws although if the nose is heavier I’ve been known to go up to 4-40. I…   Read more»

Screws are great, and I have used them often. Having said that, consider this stuff http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/Shapes.htm which I have used many, many times. The 1/16″ round rod (their item #222) is terrific, and available either online or at most hobby…   Read more»

I’m very much interested in this topic as I am building my 3″ diam G10 level 2 bird (dual deploy) and am struggling with the number of screws vs. the volume vs the amount of pwoder used for deployment.From an…   Read more»

I agree with what you’re saying, Conway. Just looking to see what people have to say. I just wanted to find out if anyone had ever tried to use two, offsetting sizes of screws. One = failure, two = possible…   Read more»

Im new to this and I just found out what shear pins or for today.At what point do you decide to start using them?A wieghted nose cone?A 60 foot harness??!!!ScotteScotte,Ive used Shear pins in many different sized rockets. Always HPR…   Read more»

First off Bruce, Keep them all the same size for each joint. don’t mix sizes. It will create more issues then its worth. Also I always use a minimum of 3 that are evenly spaced. Also, the first thing you…   Read more»

Im new to this and I just found out what shear pins or for today.At what point do you decide to start using them?A wieghted nose cone?A 60 foot harness??!!!Scotte

I will look those upthanks

Sorry I guess I should clarify me thinking. Im not sure screws will work all that well in quantum tubing.PML rivets. They work great. I’ve used them on very large rockets, too. They do work quite well in QT. That…   Read more»

IMHO there is a “best of both worlds” solution that is way hard to explain via forums or email… Next time on the range I can show you what I do, anyway. The short version is this – I epoxy…   Read more»

Sorry I guess I should clarify me thinking. Im not sure screws will work all that well in quantum tubing.

I mean, I know you could use screws. But now there hangen out in the wind. And after a while it seems like the shock would start to destry the body tubes where the screws are. Is there another way?Scotte

Scott, here are some good sources for Ebay info.http://www.vatsaas.org/rtv/construction/avbay/avbay.aspxhttp://www.giantleaprocketry.com/hpdefault.asphttp://www.info-central.org/recovery_dualdeploy.shtmlThis last one uses a slide switch. Never do that. Even mounted horizontally, the forces at work on a rocket can make the slide turn…[Read more]

With the last rocket I built–the one you carried back for me, I actually had two bays I could use, depending on the flying configuration. Only used the upper one, and that was close to what JW and you are…   Read more»