The Odyssey Revealed!

This is what my desk looks like:
 
On the left is my box of rings and things, with the WAC Corporal sitting on top waiting for repairs. In the upper left corner is the cardboard box that holds all my stuff. My exacto set is the wooden box in the middle; the epoxy clay is the two small tubs next to the tape dispenser in the bottom right. My power supply is on the red cart to the right.

Other visible things include my plier / snipper set, an exacto knife and saw, at least 2 sanding blocks, most of my plastic clamp set, masking tape, 2 metal rulers, a little blue LED falser module, various bits of the Odyssey and Rokit, several random pieces of wood, my crazy glue, wood glue, plastic cement, sandpaper, an LCD screen, several pencils, bits of a pen, a black set of screwdrivers, my bin of utensils and screwdrivers and dental tools, an expended 13mm motor casing, 2 types of tape, 2 fin jigs, blue clay, soldering stuff, bits of a VCR, a plastic bag holding a MMX pen rocket under construction, test tubes, a plastic bin for motors and such, bits of straws, and a little orange thing with a blade that I use to score balsa.

The Odyssey fin can under construction:
 

And the finished nose cone:
 

Unpainted, not fully glued together, and needed fillets and dowels, but the general look of the Odyssey:
 

Note how the pictures are fuzzy; The photo shoot of several rockets I took earlier will be redone with my dad's camera.

SpaceShipTwo and Odyssey pictures!

At @eloh's request, I finally got around to taking pictures of some of my newer rockets.

First is the SpaceShipTwo. This is the top side, with the lettering and DNA of flight hand-drawn by me.


This is the underside, with a massive blue eye that was not easy to draw.


Next is the Odyssey. Here's it standing up against the basement door:




















And here's a trippy angle of it. Unfortunately Picasa doesn't let you rotate pictures...

Launch Report #32: CATO 152

Absolutely awesome day. I had good luck with chutes and such. My only regret is that I forgot to put sunblock on. No pictures, sorry.

First came my downscale Odyssey on an A10-3T and Nuclear Mosquito on a C6-5 on the first rack. The Odyssey went up fast to about 300 feet and ejected near apogee. It came down fast and safely on the streamer.

The Nuclear Mosquito was a different story. It boosted fast and straight to around 700 feet and the 12" chute ejected just past. It started drifting, and drifting, and drifting... over the road. I ran out to find it, and there it was only about 50 feet from the road. Ross Tracey was there looking for his Talon II which had drifted way away on an F and 36" chute, and I helped look for a while. After 30 minutes of no luck, I finally spotted it two fields over about a third of a mile from the launch pads. It had landed with the chute visible in the tree and the rocket on the ground. Perfect recovery.

Next came Rama on a D21-4. I stiffened the fin joints with CA before flight and stuffed in a homemade 24" nylon chute. The Q2G2 igniter was easy to use - better than an Estes igniter. Unlike the C6-3s I've tried before, the D21 made a fast, clean boost and ejected just past. The 24" chute was a good match and it landed just at the edge of the bushes on the other side of the neat treeline.

Fourth was the GBU-24 Paveway III on a C6-5. Nice flight to around 600 feet. It drifted back and landed right by the pad.

Fifth was the Comanche-3 on a D12-0 / B6-0 / A8-5 combo. It staged nicely three times, arced over a bit, and ejected just past. The streamer tangled and it came it fast and stable but undamaged. I found the sustainer, and someone else kindly brought in the 24mm booster. Ah well; I have the fin patterns, and BT-50, and tube connectors. I can make another one!

Sixth was the Deltie Thunder on a D12-3. Once I'd secured it against the wind, it boosted fairly straight and ejected about 1 second past. The glider straightened out almost immediately thanks to the curve put on the back wing. It glided perhaps 300 feet in 10 seconds before hitting a tree. The shock cord mount pulled out of the booster, but nothing was damaged besides that except the craptastic Estes chute which melted. I had to climb a tree about 15 feet to rescue it from a small branch that caused no damage to it. I was able to hand it to a Cub Scout dad (several dozen cub scouts came to fly Wizards on A8-3s) so as to not have to climb down the tree while holding it.

Seventh was the Nantucket Sound on an E18-4W reload. I borrowed an Interlock igniter clip and it made it a lot easier. It boosted fast and loud and smoky to about 500 feet and ejected about 1.5 seconds past. The chute failed to open, and the nose shroud popped off. The clay weight fell fast and nearly clonked Al Gloer in the head. The chute opened just before landing and the remainder of the rocket landed undamaged. All I need to do is make a new shroud and use epoxy clay to keep the weight in. On the plus side, the motor case stayed in and soaking it in vinegar cleaned it right out.

The final flight was Lord Gavin on a D12-3. It didn't weathercock at all and drifted away on the 12" nylon chute. Sad day. The loss of the rocket is no biggie, but I *liked* that nice nylon chute. Oh well..

Stats and de-typoing coming later.

Current fleet

6mm/MMX (7):
Pen Rocket
NARCONket¹
Gnat¹
Hummmingbird
RNGbane the Valkyrie
IT
Crayon¹

13mm (14):
Gauchito
WAC Corporal
mandachan! ²
SpaceShipTwo
Twofer
Jinx
Heli-roc^1,5
Mosquito
Electric Mosquito
13mm saucer
Cohete
SpaceBusII
Rokit
Odyssey

18mm (22):
Nike Goon¹
Pigasus
Cloud Hopper
Orbital Transport⁵
Bullpup
18mm saucer
Nuclear Mosquito
SpaceShipOne⁵
Rama
Mongoose²
Screaming Yellow Zonker!
Astron Invader
Wizard
Glider 23
Transwing
Scissor-Wing Transport
GBU-23 Paveway III
Alexi Leonov²
Frankenstein II
Cosmic Cobra
Astrocam
MLAS^1,4

24mm (7):
Nantucket Sound
Vampire³
Comanche-3²
Multi-Goon^1,5
24mm saucer
Deltie Thunder
Viper IV^1,4

29mm (6):
Nike-Apache
Great Pumpkin
29mm Pyramid
Mozzie
Machnum Force
Svetlana^1,5

38mm (1):
Mach Goon¹

TOTAL:
56 compete rockets plus one lone booster

At last count I had 47 including the Vampire. Since then I've added:
6mm: NARCONket
13mm: Heli-roc, Twofer, Odyssey
18mm: MLAS, Nike Goon, (lost Mach My Day)
24mm: Multi-Goon, Viper IV, (lost Lord Gavin)
29mm: Quaddy, Great Pumpkin, Pyramid
38mm: Mach Goon

1: Never flown (10)
2: Sustainer and boosters (4)
3: Booster only (1)
4: Have kit, have not yet built (2)
5: Built but awaiting painting (5)

Odyssey and the Build Pile

First, I've found 2 new projects already. The first is a modification of the brick. Instead of having a real brick, requiring a 48" chute and 3 G motors (~$60 per flight), I'll make the brick of cardboard and fly it on 3 A motors (~$6 per flight). It's still in the planning stage, but it'll involve 3 motor mounts inside the 2.25x4x8 box, with just fins and launch lug outside.

The second will be a 1" downscale of the old Estes Odyssey. It'll be based on BT-50, but keeping the BT-20 tail section so I can send it pretty high. The nose cone is huge - half the length of the rocket. I've pieced together 6 pieces of 1/4" balsa and the glue is currently drying. I'll turn the complex cone tomorrow. I'll probably insert a 1/2" dowel up the center to keep it in one piece.

Edit, 1026pm: It's actually going to have to be a 18mm diameter rocket, with a 13mm mount, due to the size of the balsa. The cone is now almost finished - I'm done with the major turning, and the first layer of wood glue is drying. I'll do one more coat tonight, then make the final turning for silky smooth perfectness. Then one more coat of wood glue, then I take it off the 1/4" turning rod and use a bit of epoxy clay to mount the screw eye.

I'll also cut the tube tonight: 4.25" of BT-50, and 3.5" of BT-5. 2.25" of the BT-5 is the motor mount outside the rocket, which also holds the fins; the remainder is inside the BT-20 and serves to anchor it. My version is about a 0.56x downscale.


Second, I'm implementing another gadget on the sidebar. It'll be my build pile, featuring those that are being built or prepped for an EMRR review. It'll be up sometime tonight.

Random stuff

1) Sorry to mandachan for the wrong birthday link. I'm so used to automatically typing in mine that my subconscious took over. Here is the proper link. You really should go wish her a belated happy birthday.

2) Working on my EMRR review for the Nike-Apache. It may or may not be done in time for the next update.

3) Repairs are going well. I put two coats of black on the fins of the Odyssey and it's fully repaired. It's rather underpowered, though - I may have to make a cool-looking 18mm booster for it.

The Deltie Thunder is near completion. The shock cord mount is almost finished drying, and then it'll be finished and ready for its next flight, at CATO 155 in November perhaps.

The new 18mm booster for the Comanche-3 is also almost completed. All the joints have a fillet, but I'm adding a second round for more strength. It'll then get painted red, have greebles hand-painted on, and fly in a drag race (finally) in November.

Nantucket Sound: see next post.

4) Rolling down a small hill inside a 5-foot-tall tire at band camp rocks. It's ever better when your band teacher not only approves, but suggested it. Awesome.

And yet more boring updates...

Because I feel the need to have some outlet for my geeky randomness, and the internets seems to be a good place.

The Odyssey is now finished except for painting. All 6 fins glued and fillet, plus dowels (toothpucks) glued to the 3 large fin tips. The motor mount is glued to the main body and the launch lug glued on so as to not run the rod into the fins. Painting will be later today after I sleep. Primer, then white, then red, then black. Will launch saturday on an A10-3T.

The Rokit has all three fins reshaped and reglued with proper grain orientation for better strength. Launch lug and masking tape will follow shortly. May fly saturday.

Other flights definitely for saturday:
Deltie Thunder on a D12-3, then maybe an F32-4T later.
Nantucket Sound on an E18-4T reload
Comanche-3 on D12-0 / B6-0 / A8-5; drag race with Al Gloer.
Nuclear Mosquito on a C6-5
GBU-24 Paveway III; C6-5
SpaceShipTwo; A10-3T
Something on a D21-4, maybe.

Launch Report #33: LPR With the Cousins

I got to go out with the cousins today and launch a few LPR birds. My normal local field was being used by the little mini football players, so we had to use a smaller local field about 250' by 500' - a third the size.

First came Mach My Day on an A8-3. Nice flight to around 350 feet; it was a bit unstable and squirrely after burnout, though.

Second came the Odyssey on an A10-3T. Quick boost and nice recovery. The light aft bodt with big fins came down *slower* than the streamer.

Third was the first flight of SpaceShipTwo on an A10-3T. Boost was straight with only a bit of roll; it went to around 300 feet and came back at a good speed on the 4" nylon chute, which barely fit into the tiny body.

Fourth was the Nuclear Mosquito on a B6-4. It's such a great rocket: I love the colors and shape; it can use anything from an A to a D; there's plenty of room for a chute, and it's a fun, non-serious rocket. Ejection was just past at around 300 feet; the 12" plastic chute (originally from the Deltie Thunder) took a moment to unfold and it finally was under the chute at around 250 feet. It's an incredibly light rocket; the 12" chute was too much (as it was at CATO last month) and it drifted a long way. Next flight uses a 6" or 8" chute or a long streamer. It drifted over the trees, and looked lost, but a gust of wind caused it to miss the trees by literally 2 feet and land right next to me.

Fifth was Glider 2 on a B6-2. The new glider hook worked perfectly and the boost was fast and straight, with only a slight arc and roll, and the glider stayed attached till ejection at around 300 feet or so. The pod came straight down and was easily recovered; despite a steep bank (which kept it nearby), the glider went around 400 feet away as the crow flies and stayed aloft nearly a minute, coming down and recovered in an adjaicent cemetary. A sucessful flight; it'll fly on the same motor with a bit less bank at CATO.

Sixth was Mach My Day, this time on a B6-4. It corkscrewed once then headed off at a 45° angle over the cemetary; the last I heard was the ejection pop. If it's found, I'll get it back - I put my name, address, phone number, and email on it when I was planning it as a Machbuster that'd go half a mile high.

I flew 6 motors on 6 flights in 5 different rockets; one lost and no other damage with 5 sucessful flights. Totals: 137 launches on 158 motors in 54 different rockets (8 retired / lost / destroyed); total 1437.4 (12.3% K), per motor 9.1 (81.9% C) and per flight 10.49 (4.9% D).

Cosmonaut Alexi Leonov

So, you may be asking, why did I name the Alexi Leonov as such?

It's named after one of the greatest Russian Cosmonauts - Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov. (Alexi is one of several English transliterations).

He was the first man to walk in space in 1965. For 12 minutes and 9 seconds on March 18 of that year, he stepped outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft, connected only by a thin 17-foot tether. He had the world's greatest view, but he soon encountered problems. His suit soon ballooned, costing him mobility and preventing him from operating cameras. The temperature rose; he was 'up to his knees' in sweat and his body temperature rose 3.2°F (1.8°) - a dangerous rise.

He could barely get back in the airlock; he got temporarily stuck. Much longer, and he would have been forced to swallow his suicide pill. He had to risk decompression sickness by releasing air from his suit. Their automatic reenty computer failed and they had to land manually, then spend a cold night in a forest surrounded by wolves. When asked later, though, he modestly downplayed the danger.

In 1975, he flew on Soyuz 19 - the Russian part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The ASTP, with the symbolic handshake in space, effectively ended the Space Race and was a major moment in achieving detente. During the mission, the crews spoke in each others' languages; Leonov joked that there was "Russian, English, and Oklahomski", referring to Tom Stafford's pronounced accent whilst speaking Russian.

He is now perhaps the most famous Cosmonaut, and still alive at 76.

From Wikimedia

His name was given to the central spacecraft in 2010 by Arthur C. Clarke.

He's also an accomplished amateur artist; his most famous work is "Near the Moon", painted in 1967. Interestingly, it's almost identical to the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which Leonov noted to Clarke at a 1968 screening.

From Wikipedia

Repairs started

Paveway: Put fillets on a rear fin that was loosened. It's all repaired now.

Odyssey: Glued a toothpick to a fin tip to replace the one that got lost at CATO. Next is another coat of black to cover that up and clean up a few spots.

Deltie Thunder: trashed the burnt plastic chute. Reglued the eye hook in the nose cone, plus coated it with wood glue for protection. I also but fillets ont he sides on the glider hook to strengthen it for possible use on Es or even an F32 (!)

Comanche-3: I am building a new 18mm booster stage, absolutely identical to the original, to replace the one that was lost in the high grass in Salem. I've got the internal MMT and coupler cut and glued in, and the fins cut. The glue joint for the first fin is currently gluing.

Nantucket Sound: untangled chute. Will probably start on the repairs tonight.

Odyssey Update

I've got all the fins cut and coated with wood glue. The sizing was TLAR - That Looks About Right.

Screw eye glued into the nose cone.

One of two MMT centering rings slit and the shock cord knotted and passed through.


Edit, 212pm:

I've got the third of three large fins gluing right now; After that will be fillets, then the small fins, then dowels, which go on the tips of the large fins. The original dowels were 1/8", so I'll use toothpicks which are approximately scale. The nose cone screw eye mounting is dried.

Black Paint is my Friend

I got a lot done tonight with nothing more than a little bottle of black paint:

-- Painted the new fin and spin tabs on the Screaming Yellow Zonker, plus went over a few areas to make the entire fin can a nice monochrome black. Looks very nice.

--Painted the Great Pumpkin's nose shroud black, as well as covering up the glue lines on the foam transition from the repairs.

-- Touched up the nose cone of the glider pod, and the fins on the Odyssey.

I also glued the baffle in place in the Great Pumpkin, so it'll act more as a baffle and not a blockage.

Odyssey finished!

All painted and everything. Looks pretty nice. Pictures tomorrow, maybe.

Also, the Rokit is nearly fully refurbished except for some additional masking tape-ing.

Getting Ready for Licence Test

Now that I have an appointment for my licence test, I'm practicing specially for it. I have to pay attention to maintaining a speed just barely below the speed limit (less flexible than normal driving), stopping *exactly* on stop lines (rather than just past for better visibility), and nailing park jobs. You have to back in practically perfectly to get your licence.

To that end, I'll be using my sister's car. It's a tiny Honda Civic, versus the Odyssey van that I usually end up driving. The spots for test takers at the DMV are just 8 feet, 8 inches between the lines. The van is 7 feet wide; the car is 5' 7". That extra 17 inches makes backing in between the lines a lot easier.

Repairs and repainting and building

During a rocket photo shoot (pictures coming later), I managed to step on the WAC Corporal. 4 fins broke off and the bottom tube was crushed. I reglued the fins and fixed the bottom tube, but I wasn't satisfied. I clipped the engine hook to avoid the off-center thrust that plagues the mini motor hooks.

I then repainted almost the entire rocket. The nose cone got a new coat of black, making it better looking and covering up a bad spot where the solder weight I put in made a small hole. The lower part of the WAC Corporal got the fin colors reversed to the correct configuration (2 silver and one black instead of one silver and two black) and blemishes covered up, while the Tiny Tim section got the stage connector repainted to look more scale-like and got painted black to cover up scratches. It actually looks better than before now.

While I was at it, I decided to repaint bits of the Bullpup. I added white to a few bare patches on the forward fins, then painted bits of the main fins black to replace peeling decals, then used white-out to cover up paint that leaked through the masking tape. Looks nice now.

Finally, I'm making progress on the Odyssey. The three larger fins are glued and filleted, and the first smaller fin is drying now. With any luck, I'll be able to fly it on Saturday.

Odyssey on Openrocket

It took a while, but I got it simulated:


(Click to embiggen and de-fuuzzify).

The nose cone, which is in red, is a very strange shape, so I had to make in a really complex mix of nose cones, transitions, and balsa body tubes to make it look realistic. In order to attach fins to the lower tube, I had to make an invisibly thin transition between the white tube and it's not perfect, but I think it turned out ok. The simulation seems pretty accurate - roughly 130 feet for 1/2A3s, and 240 for A3s and A10s.

Screenshot was captured with the 'Snipping tool' under Accessories in Vista.