Flying Basket of Death and Destruction Build Thread

[davetherocketguy]

Sooooo the rebuild has begun and it is going to be a complete rebuild with completely different materials. First, I got a 5' section of 38mm G12 fiberglass tubing for the center pole. This will serve as the main structural part to the whole thing so I didn't mind spending $70+ on that. This tube will not only serve as the motor mount but will also house the electronics. I am going to depart with the external hill-billy designed electronics bay and this will look much better. Today Amazon delivered a pair of 39.5" extruded carbon fiber rods. They're bigger diameter than the 1/2" oak dowels I was using as the spokes for the basket but they sure seem MUCH stronger. I also noticed my supply of dowels are starting to warp. CF will definitely NOT do that. And as an added bonus they are hollow and weigh about 55% less per foot than the dowels which is a huge plus. The oak dowels come in around 1.28 oz/ft and the CF rods are 0.7 oz/ft.

The big challenge now is the new design directive I've given myself...It needs to come apart (somehow) so that it is easier to transport. Having the bottom basket and the upper portion that holds the chains removable in some way that does not compromise the overall strength is key. I have a few ideas rolling around in my head so once I settle on how I am going to do that I can start buying the remaining materials...I would really like to see this fly at our clubs November launch.

This version should be far more stout so if someone wants to toss some plastic - as hard as they want even - this should hold up just fine. I'll still be using cheap plastic chains so those might shatter but I really don't care about that. Those are very easy and cheap to replace.

 

[ericb45696]

" This version should be far more stout so if someone wants to toss some plastic - as hard as they want even -"

/starts planning trip


(jk, I wish )

 

[jakebake91]

The big challenge now is the new design directive I've given myself...It needs to come apart (somehow) so that it is easier to transport. Having the bottom basket and the upper portion that holds the chains removable in some way that does not compromise the overall strength is key. I have a few ideas rolling around in my head so once I settle on how I am going to do that I can start buying the remaining materials...I would really like to see this fly at our clubs November launch.

.

What is the internal diameter of your main tube?

 

[davetherocketguy]

What is the internal diameter of your main tube?

38mm. This is the standard for a lot of G through J rocket motors.

 

[jakebake91]

Gotcha. Wasn't sure if 38mm was id or od. So... could you use some kind of a plastic plug with a male and female threaded end glued into the halves of the tube, making it able to unscrew in half? I was thinking about pool cues that break down. My 1st thought was aluminum, but I remember you had said no metal.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Gotcha. Wasn't sure if 38mm was id or od. So... could you use some kind of a plastic plug with a male and female threaded end glued into the halves of the tube, making it able to unscrew in half? I was thinking about pool cues that break down. My 1st thought was aluminum, but I remember you had said no metal.

They do make exceptions for metal if there is no other way to achieve structural integrity. I'm not sure I could make that argument here though just because of convenience.

 

[jakebake91]

They do make exceptions for metal if there is no other way to achieve structural integrity. I'm not sure I could make that argument here though just because of convenience.

If something like that would work, the threads of an aluminum plug would be considerably stronger

 

[Dire Wolfy]

you need to build a rocket disc now

 

[hiflyer]

you need to build a rocket disc now

Just put some motors on this:
https://www.startrek.com/article/enterprise-disc-takes-flight-finally

 

[John Hansen]

https://youtu.be/sK0nYSz_Gus

 

[davetherocketguy]

Found yet another video haha...Go to 13:34



I was hopinig this was going to be the drone footage but it isn't - not of the basket anyways. Still though, this is a good video to watch to get an idea of what it was like at LDRS.

 

[davetherocketguy]

you need to build a rocket disc now

You know...I can do that but affixing a rocket motor somehow to a disc is going to involve destroying or otherwise mangling said disc. Those with weak constitutions for this sort of savagery may not fair so well when I post images of the process much less the completed project.

Which of course means I'm going to do it anyways MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

 

[ILUVSMGS18]

You know...I can do that but affixing a rocket motor somehow to a disc is going to involve destroying or otherwise mangling said disc. Those with weak constitutions for this sort of savagery may not fair so well when I post images of the process much less the completed project.

Which of course means I'm going to do it anyways MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Just grab a Groove, Wolf, Dragon, or Wahoo, and no one will care.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Ok Wolfy you got yer wish lol. This is the post where if you don't like seeing plastic get purposely mangled you might want to hit the ole "back" button on your browser - right now. Just a little circle cutter magic on the drill press with a ProD Challenger. I loath ProD plastic so of course this is the perfect disc for this operation.

 

[davetherocketguy]

And just lying around the shop I found this nose cone and 38mm body tube. Yes. That is what the rocket will be. A body tube through a hole in a disc. That's it. It'll fly straight - thrust me.

The second picture is the business end with a little plywood donut to help reinforce the flight plate of the Chally cause the flight plate wasn't exactly designed for this. Still waiting on parts for the flying basket so I will glue all this crapola together when all that stuff comes in and I make a big batch of Rocketpoxy. And at some point it'll get a shock cord, parachute and something to hold the motor in place but now it's time for bed.

-Dave

 

[jakebake91]

And just lying around the shop I found this nose cone and 38mm body tube. Yes. That is what the rocket will be. A body tube through a hole in a disc. That's it. It'll fly straight - thrust me.

The second picture is the business end with a little plywood donut to help reinforce the flight plate of the Chally cause the flight plate wasn't exactly designed for this. Still waiting on parts for the flying basket so I will glue all this crapola together when all that stuff comes in and I make a big batch of Rocketpoxy. And at some point it'll get a shock cord, parachute and something to hold the motor in place but now it's time for bed.

-Dave

I wonder if anyone else looks at this and sees what I see.............

 

[davetherocketguy]

I wonder if anyone else looks at this and sees what I see.............

Don't. Just, don't. :|

 

[chevis]

I wonder if anyone else looks at this and sees what I see.............

i'm sure rocket guys get that all the time.

 

[jakebake91]

Jokes aside, I'm curious as to how the aerodynamics work out. Seems like if you were at all off center with the disc it would be ugly. But I suppose that's rocketry in general. I thought I read somewhere ( maybe here, maybe from you even) that a spool is actually pretty aerodynamically stable. I'd imagine this flys about the same?

 

[davetherocketguy]

Jokes aside, I'm curious as to how the aerodynamics work out. Seems like if you were at all off center with the disc it would be ugly. But I suppose that's rocketry in general. I thought I read somewhere ( maybe here, maybe from you even) that a spool is actually pretty aerodynamically stable. I'd imagine this flys about the same?

Yep I did post that about a spool in this thread which is kind of why the basket flies so well - its sorta kinda spool-ish. Since the area of the disc so relatively large and generating so much drag it could be off kilter slightly and I don't think it'll fly terribly it'll just be wobbly. Regardless, I am going to glue that sucker on as perpendicular as I possibly can. If you want some reading to put you to sleep I can dig up some links to that describe the center of pressure (CP). If you know anything about that, I think the disc is going to put the CP so far rearward I think it'll actually be behind the rocket thus making it quite stable.

The more I look at this, the more I think I am going to rummage through my pile of minis and drill a hole out in one of those and put it about 1/3 from the top or so. I think that will look much better and not look so...yeah.

-Dave