Micro Maxx Pershing 1a

[sandman]

Why not?

Just came up with something playing with small pieces of wood on my lathe.

Here are the parts spread out and the second pic is the nose cone drilled for nose weight.

The hole is the same size as a BB so they will have to go in single file.

That's the nose cone plug in the background.

[sandman]

First up is the motor mount.

The motor block is a piece of 1/4" dowel with a 3/8" hole.

That gets glued in plus the centering rings.

Let that dry.

[sandman]

Now mark the fins.

Next is the hard part...cutting out all six fins and the six fin backing plates.

The fins are just under 0.20" across.

You can see I printed trice as many as I needed...just in case.

OK, I'll be back later.

[sandman]

Oh, yea...

And teeny tiny waterslide decals.

I also included a drawing here if anybody else wants to make one.

If I ever offered this as a kit the drawings and instructions would take up 95% of the kit.

[Bill]

My tweezers hurt just looking at that...

What size parachute do you think it will need to bring all of those BBs back down?


Bill

[Mark II]

Only you could muster up something like this by "simply playing with pieces of wood on my lathe." Only you, Gordie. :chuckle:


(For mere mortals like the rest of us this would have been a major, major project. And even then we would have outsourced the nose cone production to you-know-who.)

[Mark II]

My tweezers hurt just looking at that...

What size parachute do you think it will need to bring all of those BBs back down?


BillParachutes are rarely used in Micromaxx-powered rockets. It is difficult to come up with a canopy material that is thin enough to pack up and then fill properly when deployed, yet durable enough to survive the ordeal. The same is true of shroud line material, while also being slick enough to refrain from sticking together and getting all tangled up. Perhaps individual strands of silk might work.

I don't know the technical details of this, but also air (the atmosphere) takes on some different qualities for something as small and low in mass as a MicroMaxx rocket. Basically it is a bit "denser," and tiny movements in it are more significant. The result is that very low mass objects like MMX rockets fall through it differently than what we normally expect with larger rockets. Recovery needs are different at this scale.

[Bill]

Yeah, but with 11 BBs?


Bill

[Mark II]

Yeah, but with 11 BBs?


BillWell those all add up to about 0.14 oz. or 4 grams, which isn't much mass. Parachutes aren't very practical for micro rockets because for most of them, the term "featherlight" (as in featherlight recovery) can be applied literally.

If it was possible to create deployable, reusable "balloon" parachutes, similar in design to those used by ants, they might work for micro rockets. Including shrouds they would need to be not more than a gram or so in weight. Micro rockets usually weigh in the range of 3 to 10 grams. Almost all of the weight in Gordon's Pershing is or will be in the long nose cone. If it gets to be any heavier than about 10 grams it won't be very launchable on a MicroMaxx II motor. Actually around 7-8 grams is the limit for actual launching. Rockets that weigh between 8 and 10 grams are lobbed rather than launched.

[sandman]

Well those all add up to about 0.14 oz. or 4 grams, which isn't much mass. Parachutes aren't very practical for micro rockets because for most of them, the term "featherlight" (as in featherlight recovery) can be applied literally.

If it was possible to create deployable, reusable "balloon" parachutes, similar in design to those used by ants, they might work for micro rockets. Including shrouds they would need to be not more than a gram or so in weight. Micro rockets usually weigh in the range of 3 to 10 grams. Almost all of the weight in Gordon's Pershing is or will be in the long nose cone. If it gets to be any heavier than about 10 grams it won't be very launchable on a MicroMaxx II motor. Actually around 7-8 grams is the limit for actual launching. Rockets that weigh between 8 and 10 grams are lobbed rather than launched.

I did see a Micro Max rocket that used a paper cocktail umbrella.

I had to clean up my shop last night and today.

I'll get back on the Pershing later tonight.