Activity

Thanks, Conway. I have an allergy shot Tuesday, and that’ll take me right by a Harbor Freight Tools. I’ll see if I can find the tool and nutserts there. I’ll get the ones that have the taper/countersink.

Its possible you may find them there. Or at a local fastener shop. Here we have CD fasteners and Fasten ALL and Western Fatseners. but if I remember right I got mine at Harbor Freight Tools. (I Know not the…   Read more»

Conway, I’m forever indebted to you for this. Can I buy a nutsert rivet tool locally, Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Ace? Seems like I’m gonna need one of my own. I inherited a couple of rivet tools from my Dad;…   Read more»

For my L3, I’m using a piston in the upper dual deployment section, with an option to use a second one in the section above the booster. The other alternative for the booster is the zipperless, blow-the-section-off-the-booster-exposing-the-harness-attachment method. Either way,…   Read more»

Whether the bulkhead is toward or away from the charge or somewhere in the middle, I don’t think matters nearly as much as 1) the skirt is long enough to preclude any significant twisting and 2) keep the tube and…   Read more»

I have used pistons both ways, for various reasons (the upside down one, the way that the website promotes as “stable” was actually an accident), and I can say that regardless of orientation, I have never had any problems with…   Read more»

Thanks for the link Edward, I had not seen that site. Not only do I think his analysis and assumptions are full of Cr*p even his so called test video is misleading. He statesNote the rattling that the unstable piston…   Read more»

Here is the link for the research – bulkhead closest to the charge.Edwardhttp://www.deltavrocketry.com/piston.htm

I always place my bulkheads either midway in the piston or on the side AWAY from the charge.Warren

Flip the piston so that the bulkhead is down and is open upward. It is actually the stable design for one. I don’t have the website handy but a guy did a study and found that flipping it is the…   Read more»

The problem with a fit that is too loose is that the very wispy, thin parachute material could theoretically get pinched between the wall of the airframe and the piston — which could indeed cause it to jam. Too much…   Read more»

Never once have I had a piston jam. Same here, I’ve never had a piston jam. I do prefer the “looser” fit and I was wondering, what is the problem with a loose fit? I still use some kind of…   Read more»

Never once have I had a piston jam. I’ve had ~200 High Powered flights, and off the cuff I’d say 90% of them had at least one piston and 80% of them had two pistons. I also fly almost exclusively…   Read more»

not to sound sarcastic, but the third chioce is use use the PR stuff (provided you can wait that long ) and grind it down ever so gently on a belt sander with fine sandpaper for a perfect fit….   Read more»

There is a major difference in fit between Hawk Mtn or GLR filament wound and their corresponding coupler material and the Performance Rocketry tubing and its corresponding couple material. The first fits pretty sloppy and slides easily through the airframe….   Read more»

Warren,I’ve been leery of that newfangled technology, but looking at the kit I won at LDRS–2.6 inch diameter AT sumo, Gonna give it a roll/slide whatever. I’ve followed some treads re upside down, v mid mount, v conventional. I’d go…   Read more»

Pistons work ideal in filament wound glass tubing. The tubes are slick, don’t get dinged (which can cause a piston to hang up), etc. I use pistons whenever possible, and almost always in glass rockets. I’ve gone up to 5″,…   Read more»

My BBX uses pistons, and they work perfectly every time.Honestly, they are very similar to those in smaller birds – just keep the inside of the rocket relatively clean, and you’ll be fine.

On my denali I have a piston for my main. It worked great and did not jam through ground testing and 1 flight. Mine is the leanth of the OD and in my opinion thats long enough so I would…   Read more»

I have used pistons on the 6″ OD BDCR on every flight except its first flight when I thought all I needed was a deployment bag. The bag came out of the rocket but the parachute stayed in the bag….   Read more»