PROJECT X

UNKNOWN Project for now, just wanna built something that might fly high, thinking about a 6 XL 75 mm motor mouth, don't want to spent $$$, looking for part and put it all together as I go and find stuff. Contacted Bernie and see what he has.

Update 01/03/2021 - Did some work today, cut the sled that should fit in the transition part 8", fiberglass, 2.5" at the top and 3.5" at the bottom. Did the layout of the altimeter. Need battery holders and wire parts to finalize. The line up of the rod should be the same as the other 4" rockets so I switch those and re use them for different flights.

Update 01/05/2021 - Came home after work and did some fast work that I was thinking of earlier. Cut the two fiberglass rings one that fits on the inside and one that fits on the outside of the transition Av Bay. This is just to make that transitions section a bit longer so that it can fit a Nexus 5 phone in there. Total lengthhis now 8 1/2 ". Made it all fit and attached it with epoxy, did a lot of epoxy and hope that it holds, Sanded the inner section ofthe transition bottom a bit to roughen it up to hold the epoxy better. When all is dry I will sand it smoother and make it all fit nicely and paint it. I will also treat the outside showing section with heat paint an maybe one wrap of fiberglass. to make it ready for Mach flights. Also cut a new Av bay sled that is longer than the first one to hold the Nexus 5 better. Actually space enough now for a GoPro also.. Hope Bernie has some parts that I can use to put this rocket together.. Would love to get it all flying in February or March!

Update 01/06/2021 - Well yeah, more after work, the AvBayand the fiberglass rings that I glued on are pretty dry and the setup looks good. Now I glued the copper hollow rods on the sled, in exactly even setup as my original 4" rocket sled spacing, so hopefully I can use this sled with the Nexus 5 in my original rockets. All is drying for now and ZI hope things did not move while sitting there. Also cut the bulkheads with the table saw to narrow them a bit, they were much to thick for AvBay bulkheads. Still need to sand them down so they will fit inside the AvBay and one outside the AvBay. Still lots of work. Tim confirmed that he will sell a 4" fiberglass tube and a 6" carbon fiber tube as well. Thanks Tim.

Update 01/06/2021 - Did already order my DX fins from Madcowand also the center rings for the 75 mm motor mouth. everything else was out of stock. Hope for Bernie for a 3" nose cone and maybe a fiberglass 3" tube and some other stuff..

Update 01/07/2021 - Worked on the bottom AvBay bulkhead, Had to sand one down to fit on top of the AvBay and another one that fits inside the AvBay. Glued those two together with carpenters glue #3 and the combination slides smooth inside a 4" tube, so that will fit inside a fiberglass tube also. Planning to cut one for the top also with an inside bulkhead to close it all up airtight.

Update 01/09/2021 - Fins from Madcow came already in today and also the 75 mm center rings. Funs look great and fast ! Also got the treaded rods and some nuts and lock washers from the Home depot so I can already do some more work on the AvBay.

Update 01/09/2021 - Could find two more stratologgers, One was an SL100 the older biggertype and the other the smaller version. Since I need the smaller ones for this Project X I swapped one of the smaller ones from a 3" sled and exchanged it with the SL 100 bigger type. So now I have two small ones to fit the Sled for Project X- All good so far.

Update 01/10/2021 - Some Sunday morning work. Fabricated the bulkheads for the upper AvBay. Cut those with the jigsaw and finished them off by sanding with a drill and heavy duty sandpaper so one fit on top and one inside the upper AvBay. Also the threaded rod need to be cut in size, have already the appropriate nuts to go with. Have Doghouse dual deployment wire system on order and also the feet for the two stratologgers. So that will be finished when these parts come in.

Update 01/11/2021 - Finished drilling the holes on the bottom bulkhead of the AvBay. So I have now all the bulkheads in place and holes drilled. The hard ware for the stratologgers is on it's way also so I will complete the whole avbay setup than. Need smaller washers that fit in the drilled holes for the rods.

Update 01/16/2021 - Got my items today from Tim, One 41" fiberglass body tube and a 75 mm motor retainer (half that is without the screw cap but I have two). And Bernie for the 36" 75mm motor mouth. So I can proceed my project soon when other parts come in and possible get the issues with the SRA field squared away.

Update 01/17/2021 - Marked the layout of the fins on the body tube and also on the motormouth... The length of the Motormouth will be 24" so I have to cut that tube down. Then the body tube can hold the 5" AvBay insert and the 10" streamer and then there will be 5" space for the Camera (on shock cord ? Maybe) and the RTX and the Z-ties. It will be compact, be I will use a drogue chute for the extreme flights when I use the 75 mm casing.

Update 01/18/2021 - Got the fitting washers and locknuts from the Home Depot today, So now I can figure out the exact length of the rods so I can cut those in size. Also still debating on the size of the Motor Mouth, Shockcord (OneBadHawk)will be on order soon so I can finish the booster setup.

Update 01/24/2021 - The battery holders from Dog House/Binder design - came in and the dual stratologgers wiring setup. Also the feet for the stratologgers came in also, but a real rip-off on shipping, He shipped it in a $10 box, he could have it mailed in an envelope for a few cents, what a real creep, had issues with this guy before. Made a few video's of the assembling and how it will look and all fit in the AvBay.

Update 01/29/2021 - Ordered the 2 X 25 feet shock cord from Bernie, he gave me a very good deal, and it comes with shock cord protector and swivels ! Since this rocket is on a budget it will sure make it like that... So far every item has been bought very cheap and I thank Tim and Bernie for that. I also had two spare Stratologgers and a sheet of fiberglass to make the sled, and also that transition section I had that already for years. The expenses still to make will be the 3" VK nose cone and a 3" tube for the upper section. BTW, shock cords are shipped today, Thanks Bernie.

Update 02/16/2021 - Shock cords (2) arrived, after some mailing and tracking mistakes from the USPS. Well they are not Kevlar as requested but heavy duty materials, so they will do for the first flight, and maybe later they will be exchanged to Kevlar for Mach2+ flights. They both have quick-links and the Kevlar shock cord sleeve protectors, they look actually nice. Both of them have loops so I will use those as they are and order a 4' KEVLAR / 1/2" shock cord that will make the motor mouth loop and will be glued on there. Voila problem solved.

Update 02/18/2021 - Bernie is going to send me a 4 feet 1/2 inch Kevlar shock cord so I can finish off the motor mouth.

Update 02/19/2021 - Shock cord came in from Bernie, I will pay him a total of $40 for the 2 harnesses and the shock cord loop (4 feet). Great deal there.

Update 02/23/2021 - Layed out the shock cord and center rings on the motor mouth tube to be glued in the next few days. Cut the Motor mouth at 20" so I have another 16" left over for another rocket. haha

Update 02/24/2021 - Did epoxy the shock cord and center rings on the Motor Mouth and also the 75 mm retainer. Waiting till all is dry, Will wrap a fiberglass cloth around the shock cord/motormouth to give it more strength, before I slide the whole combination inside the fiberglass tube.

Update 02/25/2021 - Did use fiberglass around the shock cord onto the Motor Mouth for more strength... Also sanded the center rings a bitsy down so they slide in smoother into the fiberglass tube. Mixed epoxy and coated it on he inside of the fiberglass tube also lots of epoxy on and around the center rings, than slide the whole setup into the tube and rotated it so that the line markings line up with the ones on the fiberglass/motor mouth, so the fins will not hit any shock cord and have a clean space to glue onto.

Update 02/26/2021 - Did cut the fin slots with DremelSAW. All worked great. In the weekend I probably will glue the fins in. Need to make a template to align the fins better.

Update 02/27/2021 - Ordered Rocket-poxy for the fins, just wanna make that those will stay on at Mach speeds. Also made a template for the fins/alignment.

Update 03/02/2021 - Rocket-poxy came in, so fins project will start any day now..

Update 03/03/2021 - Did glued all the fins in with the rocketpoxy, used a lot into the grooves/cutouts and made some nice fillets already around the fins, This all will be sanded with he dremmel and more rocketpoxy will be applied to make those fillets better and sanding after.

Update 03/06/2021 - Did another work on the fillets, this time I used a mix of epoxy and carbon fiber cuttings, cut them real small and mixed them up with epoxy and fill in the fillets better, after when dry I will another and final coat of rocketpoxy on the fillets after sanding the carbon fiber part.

Update 03/07/2021 - Had some time to sand the Carbon fiber/epoxy mix and made the fillets smoother so I applied a strong bead of rocketpoxy into the fillets and let that all dry. I used blue tape to stay in the margin of the fins/fillets because that stuff is hard to sand. When all dry in the next few days I hope to find the courage to start sanding those fillets smooth... Next will be the vent hole and the rail buttons, than priming and painting so that booster is done.

Update 03/10/2021 - Sanded the fillets (Rocketpoxy) more smoother and applied bondo in all fillets, will sand this when dry.

Update 03/11/2021 - Sanded the bondo fillets, will apply spot bondo to make it smoother before priming..

Update 03/12/2021 - Applied spot Bondo on the fillets to make those almost perfect (haha), will sand over the weekend.

Update 03/13/2021 - Sanded the fillets one more time, might sand again after priming in the next few days...

Update 03/15/2021 - Gave the fillets one more bondo coat, did use older spot Bondo before but did not harden well, so I hope this next Bondo layer will fix it, Sanding next when all dry.

Update 03/17/2021 - Sanded the final primer coat and yes did another coat on the fins/fillets. When that was dry I just sprayed all the red paint onto the booster, looks very uneven and crappy. This red coat will get sanded lightly and get another few red coats. ! Do not have a clue yet for the design... Will be some white paint some where also.

Update 03/18/2021 - Sanded the red paint a bit smoother and sanded out the drips, will sand with 220 before i put on the final coat here. (design unknow yet).

Update 03/22/2021 - At this point very undecided about the color of the rocket and design, No Green / No Yellow, still leaning to red or even purple, Yes that might be it PURPLE..

Update 03/23/2021 - And YES - Purple it is, This is my Second purple rocket, paint provided by Jeff Millner with his Ultra Violet Express rocket a few years ago, Thanks Jeff !! It really prayed on very smooth, will do a second layer/coat when dray or tomorrow.

Update 03/24/2021 - Did another coat on the purple. Also to fit a 6 grain 75 mm casing I need to extend the booster with 12" to accommodate streamer and other stuff. Asking around for that now, Rocket will fly one time at SRA and than I'll take it to KANSAS / Airfest in September 2-5, 2021. Still working on the front part also to keep a safe cp/cg factor. Will have some nose cone weight.

Update 03/28/2021 - Started painting the fins, that's all I can do till I extend the rocket with a 16" body tube to make the casing 6XL 75 mm fit.

Update 03/30/2021 - Ordered some 3" and 4" fiberglass tubes to complete this rocket, according WildMan the items are already in the mail. Just need a nose cone / rail buttons/ glass for window, and finish painting.

Update 04/05/2021 - Wildman Fiberglass tubes came in today, Will recalculate and cut and install the missing pieces in the weekend. Have to re-calculate the length of both 3" and 4" that I do not go overboard with this project.

Update 04/06/2021 - Started on the wiring of the sled, just a rough idea on how to wire that sled, will think more about that when it comes closer to the final assembly.

Update 04/07/2021 - Working on the transition piece sanded it smooth a bit, applied a few coats of primer and a few coats of heat paint (BBQ paint), it will have a metal paint look for finish.

Update 04/08/2021 - Did a few BBA heat paint coats again and a few primer coats, so next will be the finish paint. Cut the sleeve so it fits inside the body tube-booster to extend the rocket lower part to the full 60" !! Used rocket poxy to bond the two part and sleeve together. Also put a small sleeve inside the rocket on top of the last centering to prevent a cato or that the motor mouth leave the rocket there. Just a pre-caution. Also made a loop in the Kevlarwith rocket poxy and taped that part real tight, will see how that hold up for 54 mm motor launches/uses. Things are going rather fast now, still waiting an a VK nosecone, MadCow is out and it will take a few months before they restock that. Will try another vendor or use one of mine. Just ordered a VK nose cone from Wildman, voila.

Update 04/09/2021 - No news from Wildman yet for shipping that nose cone, I hope he has one in stock ! So the extension is on and solid, started to sand and prime that part and put a finish coat on the whole booster 60" ! I hope that will do nicely for a first flight. Still debating on the length of the upper bay.

Update 04/10/2021 - No work done just picked up more primes and a charge well, to continue next few days..

Update 04/11/2021 - Did drill the holes in the charge wells to screw those on the bulkheads. Connected the wires and will seal those up with epoxy.

Update 04/12/2021 - Found real thin Plexi glass today at Hobby Lobby, Will use this for now till I find some nice curved glass.

Update 04/13/2021 - Did some work on the transition piece, The top has masking tape to make the 3" body tube slide in snug, it will be solid screwed with plastic screws. The bottom has primer on it and sanded with 1000 grit to the point that is acceptable snug for separation.

Update 04/14/2021 - Did another coat of silver on the transition section. Also started building the walls that hold the phone and GoPro camera. Still have to finish off some sections. The boxes are not to tight, this is for not pushing any buttons, there will be tape or foam around the camera and phone to clear those switches.

Update 04/15/2021 - Did some more left and right uprights next from the phone to keep the phone centered from moving around, Sanded the already dry rocket-poxy/fiberglass part rounded them off a bit, When all is dry I will dry fit the sled and phone and camera.

Update 04/19/2021 - Cut the nose cone bay out of a 54 mm Motor Mouth and made a center-ring for the bottom part that sits on top of the Nose Cone shoulder. Al glued in with rocket poxy... Also glued in the loop for the upper harness, all rocket poxy. Have to find a way to close off the nose cone bay that will hold the RTX tracker.

Update 04/20/2021 - Did sand one of my older bulkheads down to size of the shoulder to fit inside, so that will be the closure of that Nose Cone bay with two or three tiny screws..

Update 04/21/2021 - After work again, primed the nose cone, the bulkhead/closure and the upper body tube. After dry I also painted black BBQ paint on the nose cone. The nosecone will have another primer coat on top of that BBQ heat paint and than the final silver coat. Also sanded out a bit of that closure/bulkhead that slides over the rocket poxy and the harness loop. Ok and than some night time work, Painted the nose cone a second primer coat on top of the BBQ heat paint and the upper body in Grape color, one heavy coat, that will do.

Update 04/22/2021 - Painted the nose cone silvery, and did another coat on the upper body and also painted some silver stripes on the lower body/booster. Will drill the vent holes and airholes next, and than the windows last.

Update 04/23/2021 - Drilled all the holes in the rockets body. Upper body: Shear pinholes (2), Venthole (1), AvBay screw holes (4) //Booster:Venthole (1) - Shear-pins (3) - Still need to drill the hole for the stratologgers.

Update 04/24/2021 - Ordered the chute protectors from Madcow, I hope they are in stock, according their website they are in stock, on other websites they were all out, so I hope I do not have a negative experience with them again. 12" and 18" red Nomex chute protectors.

Update 04/25/2021 - Made a painting taping off design on the upper body, wanted more reflecting surfaces so the rocket maybe more visible up high, will paint that aluminum color.

Update 04/26/2021 - Did dry fit all the parts and loaded al the items in the rocket at their exact positions to determine the cp/cg. Its at 48" ! By doing so I noticed that the sled in the AvBay was real tight, the upright were to high and hitting the sides, so I sanded those down quite a bit, used the Dremel saw also. Now that did not help a lot, than I noticed that the rod did not slide in well in the copper tubes of the sled, so I had a hard time adjusting those, had to Dremel out the original drilled hole for both rods and slides then slightly over so the sled slide in smoother. After a fight and a few tries it helped a lot. It now slides in very good and smooth and no friction at all. Will continue finishing up that sled so I can concentrate on the window cutouts. Also finished up painting the upper body. Also drilled the 2 static port holes for the stratologgers in the AvBay transition part.

The total weight of rocket dry empty = 5498 grams / 12.1210 Pounds. !!! Jeezzzz. / Also CG is at 54" right on the nose !

Update 04/26/2021 - Connected the stratologgers and used some batteries for testing, made a few video's and it seemed that the main #1 stratologgers is working ok, but the back Up stratologgers draws a lot of amperage like 200/116 at times so there is really something wrong there. will replace that one and test again, also will buy new batteries for sure.

Update 04/27/2021 - Replaced the stratologgers with the one from Hi-tech rocket and now all is working fine, will give it a test again soon. Still looking for some low profile switches..

Update 04/29/2021 - Made foam bumpers in the nose cone that will hold the RTX. Top and bottom.

Update 04/29/2021 - You should place the two buttons so that they are on either side of the Center-of-Gravity (CG) of the rocket. Further apart is better if you have room. As mentioned, I put the rear one as far back on the tube as practical - just so that you can load the rocket on the rail a bit easier.

Update 05/01/2021 - Did a lot of adjustments today, Installed the rail buttons, one on the very bottom and one past CG. All rocket-epoxied and screwed in !!! Solid ! Epoxied all the tiny holes in the AvBay sections. Than locating and drilling the windows for the Phone camera and the GoPro camera. A bit big but both are wide angle view. Had to re-drill the shearpin holes and relocate them (one). Had to see that camera's did not interfere with launch rail also. By doing that the bottom of the AvBay came lose, so I had to use rocket poxy to glue those two part together again and much more solid than before. Repainted the upper booster so that those holes are covered with paint and looking a bit better. Still have to build up the wall before gluing in the windows. Also made all the charges for drogue and main, used a new wire for that long drogue charge. Found the 3/4" screws in The Home Depot that I will use in the closure of the RTX/nose cone section. Also added another layer of Rocket Epoxy on the nose cone loop. Will see how the first *test* flight will be before making more adjustments. Evening job: made padding for the phone and the camera, all fits snug. Will have to cut out some of the fiberglass side wall on de phone to get those switches on the side free and not touching while in flight. Night Job: Sanded the edge of the wall in two places so that those two phone switches are free and open and can not be pressed accidentally. Still thinking about mounting switches twisting wires might be difficult to do.

Update 05/02/2021 - Well that plexi glass did not work, bending or so did not work great, it cracked or deformed every time. Will use just some plastic for now and replace hat with glass if and when I find it, was looking in the Home Depot for a lightbulb with some curvature, but nop, those new ones are even made of plastic !! Also had to walk away from my rocket project, was getting frustrated in finding a good switch on/off, but most of them are located in China (?)... Even Jason got puzzled. Will look more tomorrow!.. Grinded out the bevel on the two windows so that a window fits better, flatter.. Grinded the inside out of the rail button screw.

Update 05/03/2021 - The Madcow chute protectors cam in, made a loop and fixed them on the shock cords/harness. Also did 3 winds of masking tape on the shock cords on the part were they are close to the charge and exit the booster/upper Bay so to prevent zippers or snagging of the shock cord.

Update 05/05/2021 - Those screw switches came in today, well eh, they work but they look like crap. Ordered those rotary switches from Binder/doghouse.

Update 05/08/2021 - Loaded the motor this early morning. Had a struggle with the grains, had to peel them a bit to get them slide into the liner, than this was assembled, loaded theliner with all the closures in the casing, had to use brutal force, like a hammer and a dowel to get them in were they need to be seated. Went a bit to far so I have to use a plastic plumbing pipe to get it a bit out, I used a spacer to move the liner up or down. I really do not know why this all is so tight, use O ring were I could but never had this problem before. It is all seated real real tight and I hope to it all out after the launch !! Now I hope that those rotary switches will fit if not I will use those two screw switches, and still need to do the windows, dam.

Update 05/08/2021 - Switches came in today !! I have a feeling that it all will fit nicely. Couldn't wait and drilled the 1/2" holes with panel bit and yes perfect fit and location. Just have to drill the two holes to turn them on and hope they align with the switches properly !!

Update 05/09/2021 - Drilled the holes for the switches, 1/2", than drilled the pilot holes in the AvBay and measured them that they are lined up with the witches. Than measured those pilot holes and marked them on the upper bay and drilled those out, and they were exactly in line with the AvBay pilot holes, just easy to reach with a flat screwdriver. Have to make sure to cover up those holes once the electronics are armed. Maybe a plastic screw or rivet.

Update 05/10/2021 - Drilled the switch holes a bitsy larger, will try to find some plastic screws that will fit in there, if not I just tape those holes off. Installed some stickers also for decoration and also 2 SRM (electronics) stickers on the switch holes. Looks all good, Will wax later.

Update 05/11/2021 - Did the windows part today and cut the two windows and glued them in with rocket poxy. Hope this will work for this flight !!! Had the Plexiglass curved and heated for a few days so there was a little curve to work with.

Update 05/12/2021 - Made a test video if the camera's are properly seated for the windows.

Update 05/21/2021 - I had good response on getting samples of that bendable glass CORNING WILLOW, two companies are going to send me samples and I hope they will be big enough for those 4 windows.

Update 05/22/2021 - Took the Plexiglass windows out of the AvBay. Waiting for the Corning Willow bendable glass to arrive. Sanded the rocket-poxy smooth to fit the new windows, also painted the inside and outside and rim black to prevent any reflection on phone or camera recordings.

Update 06/06/2021 - Nop, all that previous glass solutions did not work, could not find 4" curved glass like wine glasses, vases or even light balls that are curved enough to use. It has to be thin because the GoPro sits real close to the inner edge of the AvBay.... Not even that thin plexi glass that started to crack when making the bend or even that bendable Corning Willow glass that broke when making the 4" curve inside, was a real disappointment. So I moved on to my first guess... and that was safety glasses, Right now I bought one of those $1.75 goggles took out that glass and sanded the inner AvBay more were is has to be seated. Cut on oval piece out of the goggle glasses and glued it in with Rocket poxy, I have it sitting there under pressure with a clamp, prospected with shop towel. I will keep it there till next morning, the pressure is real high, the glass/plastic did not crack so far and I hope that the rocket poxy can keep it in place. Will have to paint that surface black again on the sides of the glass for any reflections there.

Update 06/12/2021 - Well, well, those goggle glasses did work for a while but popped up as soon I released the pressure of the clamps. I still glued them in but right now they do not sit that close to the inner wall of the AvBay and the GoPro hits that glass. So it might work if I move over the GoPro to the center more that means adjusting the rod holes in the bulkheads, like 1/4". I will wait on that!

Update06/13/2021 - The window solution just came in ! Jason ordered two something around 4" lab beakers that will have the right curve, less than 4" !! like 3 5/8" and that will be perfect !! He already cut the pieces and also some cuts for GRIZZLY, so finally I can move on with that project as well. I hope I see Jason at the next launch day at Palm Bay to get those glass pieces.

Update 06/28/2021 - Jason mailed me those cut glass pieces and they are the right curvature and size. Thanks Jason it all will work out just fine. Now I can continue with this project to launch in Kansas.

Update 07/01/2021 - Could not wait till the weekend, got the windows out that I put in from those safety glasses, they kinda worked but did not got the curvature for the GoPro camera. Sanded the blobs of rocket poxy out smooth and painted it all with BBQ high heat black paint for any reflection. Will finalize it all tomorrow or in the weekend and paint another high heat black coat. Also will mix the rocket poxy with black paint so there will be no reflection. Hope it all works out very nice.

Update 07/02/2021 - Started to glue in the first window, made epoxy and mixed it with the black coloring die. Waited a few minutes (30) so the epoxy was not so liquid and dabbed it on the sides of the glass window, it spreaded real great and also under the glass all the way up to the rim of the window without leaking out there. Will do the next window later tonight so that project is done and worry free. Ok now both windows are done !!! Drying now, will fry fit both phone and GoPro tomorrow. DONE! Thanks Jason.

Update 07/04/2021 - Looking thru those other cut window pieces I noticed that there was some distortion in the picture, So I took a test video with the GoPro camera and after viewing the video I actually could not notice any distortion that would bother me. So I might go ahead with the windows for Grizzly.

Charges: DROGUE 2.0 grams/2.4 grams - MAIN 1.8 grams/2.2 grams FFFFg -