Flying Basket of Death and Destruction Build Thread

[CaptainAnhyzer]

Beats the sh!t outa my old Estes kits!
Still not convinced on the concept, but freakin cool!

The Estes kit that was an F14 Tomcat with the working swing wings was the BEST !!!! First time we shot it up I caught it on the run with a beer in my hand.

 

[Dire Wolfy]

calm down maverick.

 

[davetherocketguy]

So not much left to do on this beast besides repair whatever damage occurs to it after I fly it for the first time lol. If the weather cooperates, I will be flying it a week from today on a H100 motor. Theres a few minor things to be done like drill the holes for the 1/4" launch rod and figure out once and for all how I am going to retain the motor. For now, I glued on the last centering ring and attached the hard-point for where the chute will connect to which is the first photo.

I'll also be playing with some new toys. In the second photo is a Missleworks T3 tracker and receiver. The lower unit goes in the rocket and transmits its GPS location to the receiver. The receiver then transmits that information to a Android device via bluetooth so you can see the rockets location on Google Maps.

The third picture is a Chute Release which holds onto a parachute until you get to a preprogrammed altitude and then it releases the chute. Doing this reduces the drift. The beauty of this unit is it can be moved from one rocket to another very easily.

-Dave

 

[joecoin]

A "Chute Release"?

What kind of new fangled nonsense is this?

Back in my day, you built the bird to custom spec, matching the engine chute delay to the weight of the bird, then you stochastically determined wind speed aloft and angled the coat hanger rod just so, lit the fuse and stood back. Goal was to have the bird land on the pad. Bonus points if the rod guide slid back down the rod on landing.

 

[davetherocketguy]

A "Chute Release"?

What kind of new fangled nonsense is this?

Back in my day, you built the bird to custom spec, matching the engine chute delay to the weight of the bird, then you stochastically determined wind speed aloft and angled the coat hanger rod just so, lit the fuse and stood back. Goal was to have the bird land on the pad. Bonus points if the rod guide slid back down the rod on landing.

Lol...Of all the flights I've seen I've never ever seen anyone come anywhere near to landing back on the rod like that. Not on a normal flight anyways. I don't think it's even possible.

Lighting a fuse? Yeah, it's been a while since you've flown anything. No one does it that way anymore haha.

Chute Release is awesome. All the cool kids are doing it.

 

[XC_Eddy]

YOUR USERNAME MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE NOW!!!!!

 

[Steve West]

Lol...Of all the flights I've seen I've never ever seen anyone come anywhere near to landing back on the rod like that. Not on a normal flight anyways. I don't think it's even possible.

Welcome to the future. GPS-guided parafoil parachutes are also available.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Welcome to the future. GPS-guided parafoil parachutes are also available.

Well I hate to disappoint you Mr. West but I just don't have a few billion laying around and hundreds of engineers at my disposal to make the first stage of my orbital rocket land back at the pad.

Now guided parafoils are a whole different can o' worms. Nobody that I know of has been able to get them to work successfully in this hobby but it's probably just a matter of time before someone does and starts selling them. I think the biggest issue is size/weight since the GPS parafoils I've seen are far too big for about 99% of the rockets most people fly.

 

[joecoin]

Welcome to the future. GPS-guided parafoil parachutes are also available.

You do know that video is just reversed, don't you?

 

[hiflyer]

You do know that video is just reversed, don't you?

I'm not sure of that. The pad is clear until it nears touch down. Then, the smoke billows outward. And that booster is scorched, obviously already used. Those guys dropped quite a few boosters in the ocean before they got it to work right. They would miss the target and the rocket just tipped off the barge.

 

[ru4por]

You do know that video is just reversed, don't you?

It could be some computer trickery, but certainly not just a reversed video. Come on, that is pretty easy to see.

 

[joecoin]

I'm not sure of that. The pad is clear until it nears touch down. Then, the smoke billows outward. And that booster is scorched, obviously already used. Those guys dropped quite a few boosters in the ocean before they got it to work right. They would miss the target and the rocket just tipped off the barge.

I know. I'm just trying to play along with all the flat earthers and "moon landing was faked" nut jobs.

I've been following the space race since the mid '60's. I was born exactly one month before Sputnik was launched.

The ability to land the boosters like that is huge in my opinion.

 

[davetherocketguy]

The ability to land the boosters like that is huge in my opinion.

I do not think the public understands the implications of being able to land the first stage on the ground like this. It's not just cost savings here for Elon Musk it's more importantly a HUGE time saver. Reusing these boosters means a much shorter turn around time and thus getting more customer orders filled and then making more money. Renovating a booster takes far less time than building a completely brand new one. SpaceX is not getting the credit it deserves IMHO.

 

[ericb45696]

Spoiler alert: Ain't no way anyone is hitting this bugger during flight from the flight line which IIRC is a minimum of 100' away.

Simon : Challenge accepted!

 

[joecoin]

I do not think the public understands the implications of being able to land the first stage on the ground like this. It's not just cost savings here for Elon Musk it's more importantly a HUGE time saver. Reusing these boosters means a much shorter turn around time and thus getting more customer orders filled and then making more money. Renovating a booster takes far less time than building a completely brand new one. SpaceX is not getting the credit it deserves IMHO.

Well, it's a strange time. Since the federal government has always had a monopoly on the space program, the unwashed masses are as usual reluctant to accept change.

Wait until Musk plants his own flag on Mars. He's kinda the Cecil Rhodes of the 21st century.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Simon : Challenge accepted!

LOL

If Simon is serious, Simon needs to PM me.

 

[hiflyer]

I'm thinking there's a Simon Lizotte trick shot just waiting to happen here.

Simon : Challenge accepted!

LOL

If Simon is serious, Simon needs to PM me.

Please Simon, PM Dave.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Please Simon, PM Dave.

Words cannot express how badly I want to make this happen.

He's not going to hit it but still...

Heck, I'll even let him put Discmania stickers all over it.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Starting to think the whole Simon thing is just jerking my chain lol...oh well, a few more items done on this monstrosity just so its ready for "flight" on Saturday.

- First photo is the rocket motor I'll be using Saturday - an H100.

- Second is sizing up where to drill the hole for the motor retention. Obviously, its quite a safety hazard to have burned out motors falling out of rockets so motor retention is really important. That bracket is something I bought from a friend specifically made for motor retention.

- Third is the hole drilled and everything in place - except for the motor. Sucker is ready for flight!

Final weight is 5 pounds..Typically, we want to see a 5:1 thrust to weight ratio for our rockets. The H100 produces around 23 lbs of thrust for the first 1.5 seconds of the burn so it'll be well over the 4:1 mark but not quite 5:1. Since it's what we call an "odd-roc" this is probably a good thing. If they don't like me launching so slow I have other motors I can use...

 

[wolfmandragon]

How much does one of those h100 motors set one back?