Bolt Missile

Trying one of the canvas phenolic kits by Mac Performance Rocketry. The material is the same thickness as thick wall fiberglass but only slightly heavier than thin wall FG. It appears to be strong and slightly flexible, not brittle like paper phenolic. I like to torture myself with 8 finned rockets so I had to give this one a try.

Started repairs on the damaged booster. I talked with Mike at MAC Performance Rocketry and got some good advice on how to repair. He was able to hook me up with a 5" section of coupler and 6.75" of airframe for not much more than the cost of shipping.

I cut away 2.25" of damaged airframe with a rotary tool using one of the decals as a guide to carefully cut it as close to round as I can get by hand, then sanded the cut and squared it up. I then mixed up some West Systems epoxy with a little collodial silica to thicken it up so it wouldn't run all over the place. I epoxied the coupler into the booster and used a couple of clamps to lightly hold it in place while it cured. Next, the airframe section was epoxied onto the coupler with a similar mix of epoxy.

The result is a sturdy repair that only adds 4.5" to the overall length of the booster. I have some more filling and sanding to do before I tackle the paint. Not yet sure how I'm going to repaint without making it obvious but I'm going to try and preserve as much of the decal work as I can.

Bonus: A CTI 6XL case can now easily fit in the booster!

Where are you launching next ?

Keisling on 2019-10-27 14:06:44Z wrote:

Started repairs on the damaged booster. I talked with Mike at MAC Performance Rocketry and got some good advice on how to repair. He was able to hook me up with a 5" section of coupler and 6.75" of airframe for not much more than the cost of shipping.

I cut away 2.25" of damaged airframe with a rotary tool using one of the decals as a guide to carefully cut it as close to round as I can get by hand, then sanded the cut and squared it up. I then mixed up some West Systems epoxy with a little collodial silica to thicken it up so it wouldn't run all over the place. I epoxied the coupler into the booster and used a couple of clamps to lightly hold it in place while it cured. Next, the airframe section was epoxied onto the coupler with a similar mix of epoxy.

The result is a sturdy repair that only adds 4.5" to the overall length of the booster. I have some more filling and sanding to do before I tackle the paint. Not yet sure how I'm going to repaint without making it obvious but I'm going to try and preserve as much of the decal work as I can.

Bonus: A CTI 6XL case can now easily fit in the booster!

I'm going to try and hit Palm Bay next month and then maybe GRITS. I still haven't flown my Mad Dog XL yet and I'm dying to shove that L820 Skidmark in it and make it roar!

Can't make it to SRA next month, but will be at GRITS !!!!

Keisling on 2019-10-27 23:27:57Z wrote:

I'm going to try and hit Palm Bay next month and then maybe GRITS. I still haven't flown my Mad Dog XL yet and I'm dying to shove that L820 Skidmark in it and make it roar!