High Power Experimental Rocket Platform

My order of 100lb Kevlar line finally came in, and I was able to bridle my steerable parachute. Overall I'm really happy with this completely custom design. I still have some slight bridle adjustments to do, but overall the flight characteristics look pretty decent.

While I'm happy with a the performance of my 1" diameter motors, I caught the bug that bigger is better. To keep going along with that idea I've progressed to using 1-1/4" PVC. This doesn't seem like a big difference but just look:

I do feel that this motor might be a bit excessive, but bigger is better right? It maxed out the motor tube of the rocket and should really let her scream.

This new motor design also requires a new boring tool width of 5/8". The local stores only held this stock in hardened steel, so the angle grinder was used to give the rod the necessary piercing tip that is necessary for boring through hot sugar efficiently. I then sanded the rod down to 1000 grit sandpaper for ease of removal after casting.

Also, when working with motors of this size things need to be precise. 1/2" machine washers are not 1/2" they are meant for 1/2" hardware. I obtained washers very close and then drilled them out with my drill press to the proper size.

For sealing the nozzle and cap I'm also using ultra high temperature gasket RTV sealant. Can't be stingy either. There's a serious amount of power in these things. The nozzle is still created with anchoring cement with a steel washer for the choke, and the cap has a layer of cement also before being coated with the RTV sealant.

Video of the full size test will come when I find a proper test range for this monster of a motor. Safety is a huge concern.

I attempted to static test an 11" motor made in July at the club launch this last weekend but it was really hard to ignite. I went through 2 e-matches, and still it did not ignite.

After coming back from the launch I developed this new igniter. It is an e-match hot glued into an inch and a half length of straw filled with FFF Pyrodex and capped on the other side with more hot glue.

The stubborn motor probably had absorbed the moisture from the bore, but the new igniter still was able to successfully start the motor.

This design will be used in future testing to insure quick ignition times.

Finished the launch stand. 8 feet of extruded rail, all it needs is the blast deflector. It has one axis of adjustment and will be secured down with ratcheting straps and stakes.

I was hoping for a flight tomorrow, but regrettably during testing I inadvertently fried a transceiver. A replacement has been ordered.

Piston Ejection Test - Full laundry ejection utilizing 1/8 of pyrodex in the piston.

Began testing the piston system for parachute deployment. I used a spare body tube to limit the chance of catastrophic failure during testing that would result in damage to my lower body assembly. I'm using Pyrodex for the charge itself.

Most of the parawing had been completed, moving on to the shroud lines next... This is a single skin parawing in the style of NASA parawings or Rogallow wings. It has one constricted cylindrical section and two asymmetric conical sections with a slight airfoil to the front of the 'chute. There are 9 darts that help constrict the front of the 3 cells and create forward movement through the air column.

Humidity was finally low enough to get some painting done. It still needs another layer of clear gloss, but already the fins melt into the body.

I've been working on the custom parafoil, and named it the Steerable Recovery Parachute. To save on weight and volume it's not a true full cell parafoil, but a ribbed tri partitioned sail. More information to come!

With the help from the female species the construction of a 44" 16 gore semi hemispherical parachute is complete. This is the backup parachute to the main which is the parafoil.

After completing this parachute I feel comfortable in creating a custom parafoil as well, so stay tuned for that!

Looks like I had severely underestimated the size of my parafoil when packed as well as to the eventual size of my EX motors. After numerous attempts and iterations of folding techniques I've decided it would just be easier to build a bigger parachute bay.

I've also upped the size of the motor retention tube to accommodate up to 2" in width and 20" in length. The new parachute bay is 12" and the piston is 4" for a grand total for the lower body of 36".

You can see the much larger motor retention tube here, allowing for EX motors up to probably J class.