For that size rocket you almost certainly want to use buttons for 1010 rail and I wouldn't consider going larger until I passed 25 or 30 pounds or so and even then it's probably overkill until you hit 45 pounds or so before going to 1515 sized rail guides. Over 125 pounds you might want to consider Unistrut buttons or coordinate with the owner of the pad you are going to fly off of to find out the specific size for whatever rail they have on their pad.

The club has both 1010 and 1515 rail in abundance and can easily handle birds up to 75# with our normal pads and even birds over 100# on the Extreme pad using 1515 rail. The club also owns a pad called the "Swing Set" which has a large rail, but it rarely makes it out to club launches - Art Hoag is the keeper and you would need to arrange with him to get it out to the launch site.

Warren

Thanks Warren

Just wanted to make sure there wasnt umpteen thousand sizes.
Hate to get there and find out the Rocket won't fit anything.

scotte

Scott, I have a couple of 1010 buttons if you need them. Just let me know.

Ken.

I think I have some that came with the kit. I need to ckeck them out.
I was just worried, because some one told me, at one of the launches, that they had the wrong size rail buttons on thier rocket. So they couldnt launch that month. I didnt get details because at the time, it was all over my head (rail buttons, 1 more detail I had never delt with yet).

I was just concerned that if I mounted them, there would be a rail to put them on, and there wasnt a bunch of odd sizes floating around (being sold with kits).

Scott e

Scott, How were you going to mount your rail buttons? Maybe this is better for another topic thread, but there are more ways to mount them than there are sizes and everyone has their own opinion which way they would go. But most would agree to at least think about how your going to mount them while you're still doing construction. Otherwise your options are limited.

I personally like just gluing in a T nut on the inside of the body tube wall. I use high strength filler mixed in with the epoxy and be sure to clean well the inside of the body tube before gluing but it allows for easy swap of rail buttons after they wear out.

Doug

After they wear out? Arnt most rockets lost or destroyed long before?
What kinda milage (footage) does one expect from a rail button? 🙄

It is possible to get good enough at doing rocketry that your rockets wear out rather than are lost or destroyed. Really it is... eventually I may actually figure it out myself.

Knowing exactly how your rail buttons are mounting on your rocket is critical before you mix the first batch of epoxy or else you're putting yourself into a situation with fewer and fewer options the further you go into construction.

T-nut? chunk of wood with T-nut? threaded insert in wooden centering ring? Nutsert in e-bay? surface glued Acme rail guides? Nutsert in airframe? Lots of choices...

Warren

The rocket is moastly built, but, I was thinking about it as I went. The aft ring isnt installed yet. And moast of the other tubes are still accessable. I was thinking of using three.
The one in the middle may pose a little problem but Ill work it out.

How tall are rails?

How tall are rails?

Just curious, why do you ask how tall? Extreme rails can be ("can be" because they come in two sections, 6' and 6', 6' and 8') 12'-14'. The 1010's are about 6', I think. If you've built your rocket well, it's stable long before it leaves the rails. And, the rails are lowered for easy top or bottom loading. For the rocket you've mentioned, the 1010's are fine. Either use Acme rail guides (from Tim Thomas) that you can JB Weld to the airframe, or rail buttoms from: http://www.railbuttons.com/rb/ Use the series 1000 for 1010 rails, and 1500 (Extreme) for 1515 rails.

I have in mind, one long burning motor, I would like to try this spring. It doest pack as much punch up front, but it will take the Rocket a little over mach according to Rocksim(yes I know its not perfect). Rocksim keeps defalting to a 36" rod, which says the Rocket is a little slow at the end for stability. 6 feet I think will be fine.
The length of a rail, one more thing I didnt know till now. Thanks Bruce.
I didnt measure one the last time I was out. 😉

Scotte

Actually our 1010 and 1515 rails are mostly 8' sections although we do have a couple old Blacksky rails (same as the 1010 for buttons) that are 6' and a couple sections of 1515 that are only 6' long. Figure on 8' for a standard 1010 or 1020 rail.

Warren

What Warren said. Another curious question, what long burn motor are you going to use? Cesaroni moonburner?

Ah Sherlock

A Moon Burner!

Actually our 1010 and 1515 rails are mostly 8' sections although we do have a couple old Blacksky rails (same as the 1010 for buttons) that are 6' and a couple sections of 1515 that are only 6' long. Figure on 8' for a standard 1010 or 1020 rail.

Warren

even better!