Advanced Rocketry Group Ltd. - Four Exciting ARG Rocket Prototypes

[snaquin]

My fellow EnerJet fans on this forum: You're going to love this!

Let's see, where do I start?

On February 10th I received a package from Taras with ARG that included parts to build four concept/flight test rockets with the understanding that my comments would be incorporated into the actual production kits. Parts included tubing, nose cones, engine mounts, thrust rings, centering rings and fins for two of the designs. Fin templates were provided for the others as well as specs for fin material and thickness. I'm providing various sized Top Flight nylon parachutes, kevlar shock cord anchors and a few yards of 1/4" elastic for the shock cords.

I finished and flight tested one of these prototypes at our Louisiana launch this past Saturday and Taras has given me permission to make some posts with some basic information about these rockets. I created and forwarded a RockSim file for each of the prototypes but out of respect for his designs and because these will be actual kits and sold by ARG, I'm not going to post RockSim files - only some details about the builds, pictures, flights and some basic measurements :)

The four prototypes are:

SR1720 Sounding Rocket (Completed, First Flight 3-4-06)
Yokes Away (Egg Lofter)
T222-24 102 Sounding Rocket
Booster Stage For T222-24 (T222-24 is part of the current ARG kit line)

When I built the RockSim files I played a little with the colors to export an image to see what these cool designs might look like when finished. I mapped the EnerJet logo onto a couple of the images but Taras told he is working on a Black/Red "ARG ROCKETS" logo of his own to "sort of" recreate that style.

More to come ..... I'll address the SR1720 first since that one has been finished and flown. Of course your comments are important and very much appreciated! :D

[snaquin]

I should have posted some basic dimensions and info for the prototypes above:

SR1720 Sounding Rocket
35.375" Long, 1.72" Diameter, 8.5" Payload Tube with 7" Useable Payload Space, 29mm Motors

Yokes Away (Egg Lofter)
39.14" Long, 2.26" Diameter Above Transition, 1.72" Diameter Below Transition, 10" Payload Tube with 6.25" Useable Payload Space, 29mm Motors

T222-24 102 Sounding Rocket
45.0" Long, Sustainer Length 17.5", .908 Sustainer Diameter, 2.22" Booster Diameter, 3 x 24mm Motor Clusters

Booster Stage For T222-24
Adds 3.875" to T222-24 Kit and Brings Total Length With Booster to 44.375".
3 x 24mm Motor Clusters in Booster staged to 3 x 24mm Motor Clusters in T222-24 Sustainer. Pre-Build simulations with 3 x D12-0 in booster and 3 x E9-8's in sustainer to 3,035 feet in altitude. :D

[snaquin]

ARG SR1720

The parts in the first image minus the fins were included with a fin template for four fins. I cut the fins from 1/8" aircraft plywood using the supplied template. Although the template did not include it, I decided to slot the airframe tube and mount the fins through the wall to the motor mount. I used AeroPoxy ES6220 fast setting liquid epoxy adhesive for the build. I used Pratt TKM braided kevlar for the shock cord anchor and a full 8 yards of 1/4" elastic for the shock cord from Wal-Mart. The nose cone and fins are painted with Krylon 1806 Sun Yellow Gloss. Silver, black and black stripes are entirely self-adhesive monokote.

Since the SR1720 is a sounding rocket I decided it should carry an altimeter payload and provide me with some flight data. I chose the PerfectFlite miniAlt/WD and decided to use it in a record only mode without deployment. I retained the nose cone with two blind nuts and screws to assure the miniAlt/WD stayed secure. I chose an old F23-7FJ for a first flight to keep it low and slow so I could observe the flight. The SR1720 flew well to 1,049 feet and was recovered nearby with a 15" Top Flight parachute. Not bad for boosting a 3 ounce payload with a 56 N-sec motor. Future flights with that same 3 ounce payload sim to 2,978 feet with a G40-10 and 3,611 with a G80-10 single use motor.

I thoroughly enjoyed building and flying this rocket. Extremely stable design with the CP sitting right at 29.9" just slightly in front of the fins. I want to see this available as a kit and I will definitely purchase another when it's available to have a spare since I have motors even more evil than the G80 planned for this one ..... :cool:

[Ltvscout]

My fellow EnerJet fans on this forum: You're going to love this!
Taras has some great kits. I'm glad to see he's working on bringing back the Enerjets!

BTW, he'll be at NARCON!

[snaquin]

Taras has some great kits. I'm glad to see he's working on bringing back the Enerjets!

I agree and the components are all good quality. The 1.72" dia. tubing is also used in some of his larger Black Brant kits. The plywood centering rings and plywood fins are all laser cut, kevlar shock cords and all of the balsa nose cones and transitions Taras included are custom turnings and fit perfectly in the tubing.

The T222-24 I purchased from him the week of NARAM last year has some great flights on it with Estes D's. I'm going to build and use the prototype Booster Stage he sent for the T222-24 to stage (3) D12-0 to (3) E9-8's.

Should be interesting.

Next one in the build queue is the T222-24 102 Sounding Rocket. I'm going to start cutting the sustainer fins this weekend while you guys are up at NARCON having a good time ;)

[Ltvscout]

Next one in the build queue is the T222-24 102 Sounding Rocket. I'm going to start cutting the sustainer fins this weekend while you guys are up at NARCON having a good time ;)
I just found out this morning that Taras isn't going to be able to make it to NARCON now.

[snaquin]

Finally ..... back to building :)

Taras based the T222-24 102 Sounding Rocket off a two-stage rocket designed by Larry Brown of EnerJet. The original rocket utilized the 3 x 29mm cluster design of the EnerJet 2250 for the booster and used the Centuri Screaming Eagle with clipped fins for a sustainer.

An original can be seen in the 2650 literature standing on top of the table in the foreground. According to the October 1982 California Rocketry Magazine issue, the original EnerJet model was flown at Anaheim Stadium in 1974. The original used a PNC-231 for a reducer on top the ST-20 with a staging tube passed through the inside of it to the Screaming Eagle sustainer.

The ARG T222-24 102 features a 3 x 24mm motor mount with a solid balsa reducer. What I have is a single stage prototype and I'm not sure if a future release would be offered as single stage rocket or a two stage rocket kit. From what I have observed during this build, I can see it would not be very difficult to modify what I have into a fully functional two stage rocket.

Last night I bonded the fins, launch lugs and some very light weight spackling to finish out the gaps between the motor tubes where I had added cellulose insulation soaked in epoxy to fill the air gaps. Taras provided laser cut fins for the booster and I cut my own for the sustainer. A few fillets tonight on the fins and motor tubes and I should be ready for primer by tomorrow. I've already painted some of the components and I'm not going to finish it according to the pictures. I'm thinking of painting most of the booster flat black or possibly black with orange fins or one orange fin. Not sure. I'm thinking of flying it at one of our fall launches here in Louisiana at the HPR field because the field my NAR chapter uses in Baton Rouge would be way too small for a 3 motor cluster of E9's or even D12's. This rocket is very light for it's size.

45.0" Long, Sustainer Length 17.5", .908 Sustainer Diameter, 2.22" Booster Diameter, 3 x 24mm Motor Clusters

[JSP]

All I can say is I hope you have good eyes for tracking.... This thing's gonna scream....

[snaquin]

All I can say is I hope you have good eyes for tracking.... This thing's gonna scream....

I ran it in RockSim and for the motors it's designed for, it has almost pefect DV's for the C11, D12 & E9 motors in long delays.

It has the ability to scream on 24mm composite motors like a cluster of F21's but I'm going to use what was recommended in the hopes that these prototypes may one day become actual ARG kits :D

The black and white picture above shows an original laying on the ground and in comparison to an EnerJet F engine. The original on a cluster of three progressive EnerJet motors staged to the Screaming Eagle ..... well, it was designed to scream :D

It was really cool to build this ARG prototype based on the actual EnerJet sounding rocket that was designed and flew over 30 years ago. Other EnerJet concepts were featured in catalog line drawings and fact sheets but have no actual documented flights. I really enjoyed building this one .....

[JSP]

Very cool. Keep us posted!

[Initiator001]

Steve,

Glad to see you are building rockets, again. ;)

You had better take plenty of extra eyes with you when you go to fly that rocket!

Bob

[tbzep]

Concerning the original rocket:

I would think at the speeds the sustainer would attain from boost, that it would be prudent to make it pretty heavy and let inertia do some serious work on it, i.e. the Loki Boosted Dart. The Screaming Eagle is really light and flimsy. I bet it would fly higher as a boosted dart if built out of sturdy materials and weighted optimally than a regular Screaming Eagle with clipped fins would with a C6-7 sustainer, or even a composite D sustainer on top of the 2250.

[snaquin]

Concerning the original rocket:

I would think at the speeds the sustainer would attain from boost, that it would be prudent to make it pretty heavy and let inertia do some serious work on it, i.e. the Loki Boosted Dart. The Screaming Eagle is really light and flimsy. I bet it would fly higher as a boosted dart if built out of sturdy materials and weighted optimally than a regular Screaming Eagle with clipped fins would with a C6-7 sustainer, or even a composite D sustainer on top of the 2250.

You are correct in assuming that the Screaming Eagle used as a boosted dart would benefit from some added weight, probably a couple of ounces. I weighed the rocket on my scale and the total weight right now with a few more fillets to go and still needing paint on the booster and a chute is 8.4 oz for everything. The sustainer only accounts for a little over an ounce of the total weight. RockSim is forcing me to add .5 oz of nose weight for E9's, but not C11's or D12's ..... however RockSim doesn't account well for me forcing the fins into the motor tube wedges in the design. RockSim only accounts for the fin area that would be outside of the ST-20 and see's the part of the fins wedged between the tubes as "thru-the-wall" of the ST-20 however I believe that portion of the fins still adds some stability that RockSim doesn't take into consideration. I'm going to check my final weights and stability real good before I let it go on a cluster of E9-8's just to be certain but I think I'll be ok.

The sustainer on the original used the PNC-89 nose cone and a clipped Screaming Eagle fin can but the airframe tube was a 12" section of ST-8, not 8" so it was stretched slightly. The original also used ST-7 for the motor tube so it would have had an 18mm motor of some sort in the upper section. The ARG prototype Taras sent had fin patterns and suggested I cut the fins from .0625" thick aircraft plywood so I do have a little added weight from that but as you said, optimally weighted would be better than stock and produce higher altitudes - it's just too light in the front. Since the original was a two stage having the extra one ounce of say a C6-7 motor in the sustainer may have been just enough added weight for the motors they intended to balance it out. Also RockSim can sim it as a boosted dart if a near zero thrust "dummy motor" is used in the sustainer, but I've never tried it. I think I read about that in one of the Apogee newsletters .....

BTW I really like your Screaming Eagle / Powr-Pad set up. That brought back some great memories. Do you think your orignal PNC-89 with the shoulder on your Eagle is heavier than say a balsa equal?

Edit: I found a few more build pics that I forgot I had taken prior to painting the sustainer and reducer and added them to this post .....

[snaquin]

I finished this one today in spite of high humidity and rain almost every afternoon here in southern Louisiana. It will probably take weeks for the paint smell to dissipate in the garage .....

Because it was a prototype there were no decals so I used Krylon in yellow, ultra-flat black and fluorescent and MonoKote trim sheets that I already had on hand to finish it.

It was a really challenging rocket to build and I can't wait to fly it. I'm planning to use three E9-8's for it's first flight but I need to wait for our field in Winnsboro to become available again this fall.

.

[barone]

Good looking rocket Steve!. Detail work is great! Looking forward to seeing a launch report.

Don
NAR 53455

[JSP]

REALLY cool! Nice job!

[snaquin]

Thanks for the compliments.

I wish I could find Fill 'n Finish in the stores here so I could give that a try one day. I've been using the Kilz Original primer in the quart can from Wal-Mart for my wood parts and I just shake the can real well before I use it and brush it on with a small foam brush. I use the spray Kilz too but I find I'm using the quart can to paint it on so I don't have to mask everything for spraying. I'll bet the thinned Fill 'n Finish method that most of you guys use would dry a lot faster and sand easier than Kilz though .....

This afternoon I started on the Yokes Away (Egg Lofter) and the Booster Stage for the T222-24 that converts the current ARG T222-24 production kit into a two-stage rocket. I need to check my emails from Taras from a while back because I think he made reference to use a hole punch on those three motor tubes and there was placement of the thrust rings that I had to make note of as well so I need to locate those additional instructions for the Booster Stage.

[snaquin]

I recently finished the build part of this ARG egg lofter. Similar to the 1972 EnerJet Egg Crate but a fairly large and robust rocket.

Specifications:
39.14" Long, 2.26" Diameter Above Transition, 1.72" Diameter Below Transition, 10" Payload Tube with 6.25" Useable Payload Space, 29mm Motors

The airframe is the same 1.72" diameter ARG airframe tubing used in some of the Black Brant kits. The payload tube above the transition is 2.26 and looks like Loc type tubing although I haven't tried to see if a Loc nose cone would fit. Taras provided all the parts including laser cut plywood centering rings and stand-offs as well as the big honkin' balsa nose cone and balsa transition and a pattern for the fins. As suggested on the fin pattern I cut the fins from 1/8" aircraft plywood. As I did with the ARG 1720 Sounding Rocket I decided to mount the fins TTW to the motor mount and used RockSim to print the pattern with the TTW tab for reference. I used epoxy for the entire build and mounted the kevlar shock cord harness directly to the motor mount.

I haven't given much thought as to what colors to use to finish it yet. Because of my indecisiveness choosing colors lately I only painted the nose cone and transition so far. I used a can of Krylon Banner Red Gloss that I had in the garage but I'll admit I'm not too fond of this color red, it's not a bright red like most of the Aero-Darts I'm seeing hanging around this forum ;)

I still need to fill the fins and fillet the fin to body tube joints. I couldn't find fill n' finish so I bought a tub of the Elmers wood filler and I'm going to use Don's suggestions to apply that. I'm going to try that product thinned instead of trying to fill the grain with several coats of Kilz. Filling and sanding the nose cone and transition using only Kilz primer wore me out. Maybe I can get by with less work with the thinned wood filler as a base on the fins prior to primer? :)

The weight at this point is 10.2 oz with parachute installed but still needing fillets and more paint. I'm guessing the final dry weight to be about 11.5 oz. I took a picture next to my stock ARG Trident 222-24 for size comparison. I will use that T222-24 for flight testing the T222-24 Booster Stage that can be added for two stage flights.

.

[snaquin]

I finally finished the ARG Yokes Away rocket today :D

The dry weight with parachute installed but prior to paint and fillets was 10.2 oz and I had guessed that it would have a finished weight of about 11.5 oz. I weighed it on my scale and it is exactly 11.5 oz. so I ran some simulations with RockSim using motors I have on hand and a few with reloads I have on order with BRS. Simulated performance looks good on a variety of motors but DV's were high with E motors because most of those ejections occured after apogee.

I still need to build the last ARG prototype the cluster booster stage for T222-24 and I hope to get that finished this weekend.

Thanks to all who offered suggestions on the thinned fill n' finish. I couldn't find fill n' finish so instead I used thinned Elmers wood filler with very good results on the fins.

[JSP]

Actually, I usually use thinned Elmers wood filler too. It works well for me. Great looking model, by the way!

[snaquin]

Actually, I usually use thinned Elmers wood filler too. It works well for me. Great looking model, by the way!

Thanks JSP for the compliments. I used a couple of those small plastic disposable drinking cups and mixed the wood filler with water until it thinned so I could paint it on with a foam brush. Sands so easy I doubt I'll go back to the Kilz paint on stuff for fins. It could have used a second coat of thinned filler but the primer caught the rest.

I'm not real happy with the trim on the fins, I should have just painted them black but I was running out of ideas ..... and time.

[snaquin]

Finished the last ARG prototype today, the booster stage For Trident 222-24 kit. I painted it with red glowing orange fluorescent Krylon spray with crystal clear acrylic for the final coat.

It feels really mean in my hands with 3 D12-0's and 3 E9-6's loaded into it ..... :D

Taras suggested I punch 3 holes in the booster motor tubes about 1/2" from the top of each for venting but I can't find a hole punch here so I'll punch those later. I probably should have punched them before I painted the booster but too late for that.

I still need to mount the engine blocks in the sustainer since it would be hard to friction fit the E9's in there with tape since 1/2" of the rear of the E9's is what holds the two stages together. I need to do this because the ejection charges from the booster motors at separation could easily blast the E9's up into the sustainer tubes if it happened to be my lucky day.

[Green Dragon]

Steve,

do you feel ok with that staging like that ?

personally, I'd be apprehensive - nothing wrong with staging without taping the motros together, works fine for single motor flights * knock on wood * , but for clusters that might be a fraction of a second off ....

I'd be worried about a motor lighting a split-second earlier than the rest and seperating the booster prior to the others igniting.

In the past I've always direct-taped the boosters when staging BP clusters ( most we did was 5 D12's in our 'Beast' rocket at the Static 1 and LDRS 5 launches - first try the staging shok the bird enough the short coupler came out and it deployed at staging ( payload fell off ), LDRS try with longer coupler, not all motors lit, and wehn it staged, the boosters , being taped together, puilled loose,some igniting from the top ends, but not all sustainers igniting.. rocket repaired with 29mm core, 4 x 24mm outboards, but damaged again by F100 cato ( still half repaired in the 'que', lol ) .

just wondering, and if you've flown em like this, the US Rockets 2225 I have (unbuilt ) also has space between the two, iirc.... only other cluster I've flown was a drop-staged Ace Allegro on D12's with no issues.

~ AL ( always looking for a new challenge )

[snaquin]

Steve,

do you feel ok with that staging like that ?

personally, I'd be apprehensive - nothing wrong with staging without taping the motros together, works fine for single motor flights * knock on wood * , but for clusters that might be a fraction of a second off ....

I'd be worried about a motor lighting a split-second earlier than the rest and seperating the booster prior to the others igniting.

In the past I've always direct-taped the boosters when staging BP clusters ( most we did was 5 D12's in our 'Beast' rocket at the Static 1 and LDRS 5 launches - first try the staging shok the bird enough the short coupler came out and it deployed at staging ( payload fell off ), LDRS try with longer coupler, not all motors lit, and wehn it staged, the boosters , being taped together, puilled loose,some igniting from the top ends, but not all sustainers igniting.. rocket repaired with 29mm core, 4 x 24mm outboards, but damaged again by F100 cato ( still half repaired in the 'que', lol ) .

just wondering, and if you've flown em like this, the US Rockets 2225 I have (unbuilt ) also has space between the two, iirc.... only other cluster I've flown was a drop-staged Ace Allegro on D12's with no issues.

~ AL ( always looking for a new challenge )


AL

The motor tubes on the booster are 3-7/8" in length so I can't tape the tops of the D12's direclty to the E9's in the sustainer. There will be an estimated 1" gap between the booster and the sustainer motors when using a 1/2" overhang on all of the motors.

I'm going to use QuickBurst electric matches that fit perfectly in the nozzles of the D12's (Hot Shots). I used those several times before on the T222-24 with (3) D12's and all three motors ignite instantly. They're a buck a piece but they work great. I'm going to use a hole punch to punch a hole in each motor tube about 1/2" from the top as Taras suggested like the old Centuri Pass-Port Staging System couplers to vent a little gas before the booster blows completely away.

RockSim estimates 3,035 feet in altitude with this motor combination. Should be interesting and yes I will be taking pictures :D

[snaquin]

Launch date is Saturday October 7th.

Getting them ready and going to try and get in at least one flight per rocket. I was able to adjust the overhang of the motors in the T222-24 Sustainer with the Booster to allow the three Booster D12-0 motors to butt directly up against the three E9-8's. Stability checks out fine with this configuration.

The placement of the thrust rings in the sustainer still allow it to be flown single staged with three D12's with a 1/2" overhang.

Should be an interesting "heads up" flight ;)

.

[Ltvscout]

Launch date is Saturday October 7th.

Getting them ready and going to try and get in at least one flight per rocket. I was able to adjust the overhang of the motors in the T222-24 Sustainer with the Booster to allow the three Booster D12-0 motors to butt directly up against the three E9-8's. Stability checks out fine with this configuration.

The placement of the thrust rings in the sustainer still allow it to be flown single staged with three D12's with a 1/2" overhang.

Should be an interesting "heads up" flight ;)

.
Hopefully you've made more than one booster. I don't think you'll see this one again. :D

[snaquin]

Hopefully you've made more than one booster. I don't think you'll see this one again. :D

I have a feeling I'm going to get it back but it will be toasted from staging. It took some careful sanding of the motor tubes and I had to assemble it with motors inside to get perfect alignment. I still had to chamfer just the edges of the E9's and lightly sand the casings to get them to slide into the booster past the passport holes and not bind. It took a while to get everything taped up & secured, aligned and fitting just right.

I don't know what I was thinking when I pulled the G40-10W from the range box. Not a wimpy modern day G40 but one I purchased back in the day when a G40 was 114ns with a 3sec burn.

I stuffed it into my Laser-134 clone for a mile high flight attempt at over 500mph :D

I just finished loading all of the recovery sytems and motors each of the ARG prototypes. First flights on all but one so I'm going to limit the first flights to "F" motors in the single motor designs.

We are launching from the HPR field in Winnsboro, LA so I have plenty of space for recovery. Weather forecast looks great!

.

[snaquin]

And the group shot of what I have flight ready for the launch as of tonight .....

.

[snaquin]

Well I did accomplish what I set out to do, and flew each of the ARG prototype rockets once each at the launch yesterday in Winnsboro, LA.

First up was the ARG Yokes Away on a single use F20-7W for a nice flight to an estimated altitude of just under 2,000 feet. Nice straight boost and recovery within walking distance from the pads.

Second flight of the day was the ARG SR1720 sounding rocket. This was my second flight on this rocket and I used an F20-7W for this flight. The SR1720 is set up to use a PerfectFlite miniAlt/WD altimeter but I forgot to pack the altimeter into my range box before I left :o
Without the altimeter it sims to just over 2,100 feet. Beautiful straight boost and I used a small 12" nylon chute with recovery maybe 30 - 40 yards from the pads.

My third flight of the day was with the ARG T222-24 102. I used a cluster of three D12-5's with an 18" top flight parachute. As I was waiting my turn and looking over at my rocket on the pads I thought about the original EnerJet model that was flown at Anaheim Stadium in 1974 that Larry Brown had designed, and how spectacular that must have been to witness that launch with three EnerJet motors to boost the modified Centuri Screaming Eagle sustainer.

The T222-24 102 turned in a perfect flight and was recovered in almost exactly the same place as the SR1720 about 30 - 40 yards from where I launched it. Beautiful flight and recovery with no "toasted" tubes from the three D12 ejection charges - I was pleasantly surprised.

My remaining three flights with my Laser-134, Aura & T222-24 with Booster continued in the next post .....

.

[snaquin]

My next flight was with the ARG T222-24 Sounding Rocket using the prototype booster. The T222-24 had flown last year as a single stage rocket and always turned in a good flight.

I had three D12-0's loaded into the booster with three E9-6's in the T222-24. I used three QuickBurst electric matches with the leads twisted for ignition. I signed the flight card as a "heads up" flight, stepped back from the flight line and hoped for the best ..... RockSim had estimated an altitude of just over 3,000 feet with this motor combination and that's what I was hoping for.

The QuickBurst matches ignited the booster motors instantly with plenty of fire and smoke and the three D12-0's starting pushing away at the T222-24 sustainer which weighed 20.5 ounces fully loaded with the three E9-6's. RockSim had estimated it would clear the 72" launch rod in about .35 sec and it was really moving by the time it was overhead. After the booster motors burned their 1.65 seconds it staged at an estimated 160 feet and then the three E9's kicked in and it really started to go, and go, and go. It was just a spec in the sky at apogee when the three motors popped to bring it back safely. The booster was recovered about 20 feet from the pads and I had downsized the parachute on the sustainer to minimize drift but it still drifted about 100 yards downrange. Post flight showed not damage to the booster or sustainer. I'd give that flight a 10+

I saved my last two highest flyers for the end of the day. A Loc / Precison Aura that I extended and flew on a single use Ellis Mountain H50-10W and my SSRS Laser-134 Clone on a G40-10W single use. The Aura was projected to hit almost 7,000 feet and probably did. It was tracked all the way from apogee to the ground with binoculars but unfortunately went behind a tree line at the back side of the field that has no access roads and my knee probably couldn't stand the hike so I let that one go. The Laser-134 on the G40-10W was an awesome flight. The last two flights were so fast I couldn't catch them on film and all I got was smoke trails at the pad from those two rockets. The Laser-134 was tracked and recovered just behind the tree line you see in most of my pictures at the back side of the field.

All in all we had a really great time :D

.

[Doug Sams]

My third flight of the day was with the ARG T222-24 102. I used a cluster of three D12-5's... You didn't stage it? I'm chomping at the bit to see how this one does staged.

Doug

[Initiator001]

Steve,

I like your hat. :D

Bob

[Green Dragon]

Lookin good, Steve ! :-)

Nice birds, nice field and photos ( and flights :) .

Hoping to get out this coming weekend and fly a few at the NEPRA launch, including my yet-to-fly,been-prepped-since-June, 2250 ( 3 x E9-6).

Got a lot of small birds done and unflown, so wait n see, could be a baptism-by-fire for quite a few , including:

Enerjet 2250 clone
Crown LASOR 134 clone
Challenger II clone
restored (new paint and decals) Astron Omega
Vigilante Clone
Custom Rockets Venture
Semroc Thunderbird
Custom Rockets Bullet
Estes Vector clone
Estes WASP
restored Estes Wolverine
mini-tri-pak Sting Ray

also,if I get painted or fly naked - Centuri T-Bird clone, Estes Delta Star clone ( yes, I like multi-stagers :) , Attack Craft Orion ....

maybe even fly a few of the other classics... will keep posted, lol ..

~ AL

[snaquin]

You didn't stage it? I'm chomping at the bit to see how this one does staged.

Doug

I thought about it and even created two separate RockSim files for a single stage and two-staged version, simmed both versions and planned out how to overcome the design challenges of staging it. Taras sent me the basic parts for a single stage prototype and included a solid balsa transition so I built and flew it as he suggested and will return comments. Should this model become an ARG kit I will suggest that he offer a two-stage version or parts kit to convert the standard kit for two-stage flight and I have some ideas for that.

It flew really well single staged and it's a couple of ounces lighter than the T222-24. I was surprised at how high it flew on three D12's.

I agree Doug staging it would have been cool ..... that little sustainer would have really ripped.



Steve,

I like your hat. :D

Bob

Me too! It's become my new official launch cap :D
Thanks Bob!


Lookin good, Steve ! :-)

Nice birds, nice field and photos ( and flights :) .

Hoping to get out this coming weekend and fly a few at the NEPRA launch, including my yet-to-fly,been-prepped-since-June, 2250 ( 3 x E9-6).

~ AL

Thanks for the comments AL. Good luck and post some pics!

.

[Green Dragon]

Thanks for the comments AL. Good luck and post some pics!


Will do my best :)

Was looking around Taras' ARG site tonight , not so much the trident series ( although the 117-13 mini version might find a home in my fleet ;-) ... but the Millenium series is great.

Going to have to save a few bucks and grab at minimum, the ' Shotput ' ( SLS Payloader II ), and probabally the Aero-Dart 'facsimile' , good birds and good pricing ,too.

Will post a launch report if we get to get some flights in, I'm antsy to fly some, been a while since we got out and flew some last spring.....

~ AL

[snaquin]

Will do my best :)

Was looking around Taras' ARG site tonight , not so much the trident series ( although the 117-13 mini version might find a home in my fleet ;-) ... but the Millenium series is great.

Going to have to save a few bucks and grab at minimum, the ' Shotput ' ( SLS Payloader II ), and probabally the Aero-Dart 'facsimile' , good birds and good pricing ,too.

Will post a launch report if we get to get some flights in, I'm antsy to fly some, been a while since we got out and flew some last spring.....

~ AL

Hey, Happy Birthday AL :)

Go buy yourself some more rockets .....

.

[Green Dragon]

Hey, Happy Birthday AL :)

Go buy yourself some more rockets .....

.

lol, thanks Steve :)

actually, figured I'd treat myself to a mini-road-trip to FLY some rockets.. think of it as a "weekend pass for my birthday", lol.

although.. gonna be working a lot of OT in the coming weeks as we move the store / shop, so might get to buy a few, lol .

Talk at you laters, late fro work now, :p

~ AL

[snaquin]

Taras sent me parts for an improved version of this rocket in June 2007 and I finished construction a couple of months ago. Instead of using BT-70 for the main airframe and payload section, a thicker walled tube is used instead and the nose cone shoulder has been decreased in diameter to fit.

The nose cone is also improved and instead of a solid foam nose cone with a hard outer shell that was similar to the NCR Aerofoam nose cones, it now appears to be made of a stronger urethane type material and is hollow. It took very little prep work and took primer well, very smooth.

The parts included two small 1/4" launch lugs but I may opt to using rail guides, one mounted into a motor tube and the other in the upper airframe. I may need a little shim the same thickness as the wall thickness of the upper airframe to do this and mount the lower guide towards middle of a motor tube where it won't interfere with even the longest of 24mm motors I could possibly use. The double thickness of cardboard will make for a stronger mounting surface.

I shot about one and a half cans of Dupli-Color white primer so I'll need to scrape or sand a little spot to mount the rail guides or lugs to the rocket. I'm not sure how to finish the model yet and I left the payload section unfinished to use either aluminum or chrome self-adhesive monokote and possibly some black bands and vinyl EnerJet logo to finish the payload section with. My original color scheme is below in black and yellow but I thought it looked boring .....

I'm still recovering from a recent surgery but I hope to have it finished in about a month, weather permitting. Deployment velocities look high on the E15, E30 and G55's I have on hand so altimeter deployment with my PerfectFlite miniAlt/WD would be necessary. My original BT-70 based version flys best on Estes D12-7 and E9-6, and with the prototype booster with D12-0 staged to E9-6.

I have several cans of bright fluorescent colors {yellow, red/orange} on hand that would look good over a white base primer but without a clear coat those always fingerprint or soil badly so I may steer away from those. Any paint color suggestions?

.

[Rocketflyer]

I would suggest, Medium Blue, Silver and, Red. :)

[snaquin]

Finally got to paint the latest version T222-24 this weekend after all the severe weather pulled out of the area. This is the fourth ARG T222-24 I've built ..... 2 prototype models and two kit models. This is the latest kit version with the improvements including thicker walled airframe tubing and stronger hollow urethane nose cone.

I deviated from the planned paint scheme I had in mind and went with simple black and white. I'll add some EnerJet decals and self adhesive Monokote to the airframe & payload tube soon.

I also painted my SEMROC ARCAS this weekend. It has been so long since I worked on the ARCAS I realized I built the baffle but forgot to install it in the rocket so I need to get the baffle & shock cord mounted. If you plan on launching it on engines with less than 50 Newtons of average thrust, it can be built with yellow glue. I'm will be using higher thrust engines for some of the flights so I built it with epoxy and all the joints are well filleted according to the SEMROC instructions included with the kit if building for high power.

.

[Jerry Irvine]

Taras based the T222-24 102 Sounding Rocket off a two-stage rocket designed by Larry Brown of EnerJet. The original rocket utilized the 3 x 29mm cluster design of the EnerJet 2250 for the booster and used the Centuri Screaming Eagle with clipped fins for a sustainer.

An original can be seen in the 2650 literature standing on top of the table in the foreground. According to the October 1982 California Rocketry Magazine issue, the original EnerJet model was flown at Anaheim Stadium in 1974. The original used a PNC-231 for a reducer on top the ST-20 with a staging tube passed through the inside of it to the Screaming Eagle sustainer.

45.0" Long, Sustainer Length 17.5", .908 Sustainer Diameter, 2.22" Booster Diameter, 3 x 24mm Motor Clusters

Since this is based on a publication I made and since I was physically there during the original test flight I just want to make clear the unit flown then was a "model" and flown with a single motor on a single stage flight.

It was a model of a proposed Enerjet rocket that would if released use a 3 cluster 29mm booster to a single 18mm upper.

Enerjet had quite a bit of published vaporware.

Jerry

[snaquin]

Since this is based on a publication I made and since I was physically there during the original test flight I just want to make clear the unit flown then was a "model" and flown with a single motor on a single stage flight.

It was a model of a proposed Enerjet rocket that would if released use a 3 cluster 29mm booster to a single 18mm upper.

Enerjet had quite a bit of published vaporware.

Jerry

Thanks Jerry.

You had mentioned in this other thread that "The upper stage was inert, attached, and unpowered".

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=420&page=1&pp=10

I did not know the original test flight was a single motor flight however I thought it was odd that only one EnerJet motor was shown next to the rocket in the photo that was used in your article. (I referenced the article you authored in the other thread).

I would have liked to have seen the little EnerJet Prime or some of the other rockets seen only in some of the catalog line drawings offered as kits or at least as plans. I thought a couple of times of trying to build the Prime with one of my egg capsule nose cones but never could get the wing angles quite right and gave up .....

I wish I could have attended some of those Lucerne launches or NARAM-14 to see the EnerJet models in action.

:)

.

[Jerry Irvine]

Thanks Jerry.

You had mentioned in this other thread that "The upper stage was inert, attached, and unpowered".

I would have liked to have seen the little EnerJet Prime or some of the other rockets seen only in some of the catalog

I wish I could have attended some of those Lucerne launches or NARAM-14 to see the EnerJet models in action.

:)

.

I built that tube and fin stabilized "shuttle" rocket. I flew it several times on EJ F67's and notably on several occasions with Mike Smalley who was also an Enerjet groupie like me. Mike is deceased now. He and I and Dave Griffith (Rattworks) used to hang out a lot.

Anaheim not Lucerne.

Just Jerry

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/enerjet72/72ejetcat.html

2250 initial intro:

http://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/enerjet/ejn04.pdf

[snaquin]

I built that tube and fin stabilized "shuttle" rocket. I flew it several times on EJ F67's and notably on several occasions with Mike Smalley who was also an Enerjet groupie like me. Mike is deceased now. He and I and Dave Griffith (Rattworks) used to hang out a lot.

Anaheim not Lucerne.

Just Jerry

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/enerjet72/72ejetcat.html

2250 initial intro:

http://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/enerjet/ejn04.pdf

I meant Anaheim but my fingers typed Lucerne .....

I always thought that shuttle rocket would have made a cool kit and wondered if it was tested. Did your shuttle rocket use glide recovery?

This model says it was also flown at Anaheim Stadium in 1974. Is this an EnerJet Sonic 36? I've seen references to the Sonic 36 in some old NAR publications but never knew who designed it or what it's intended purpose was. I didn't know if the EnerJet reference was because it was intended for EnerJet motors or if EnerJet the company designed it.

.

[Jerry Irvine]

Did your shuttle rocket use glide recovery?

This model says it was also flown at Anaheim Stadium in 1974. Is this an EnerJet Sonic 36?

No mine was parachute recovery.

That two stage Nike Ram was probably a 36 by being 2x18 F67. I believe it was a rocket built by either Gary Rosenfield or Kerry Hoffman. Held at the moment by Jim Humphries.

My favorite rockets at Anaheim Stadium were actually rocket cars!

Every time I drive south on the 57 freeway past Anaheim Stadium I think of the many rockets I flew, watched and "ran" there.

Jerry

[snaquin]

Last night I finished the details on my ARG T222-24. I used red, gold and white self-adhesive monokote for the color bands. I didn't notice until I pulled the red off the backing that it was a transparent red. I assumed it was solid red like all the other times I had purchased it but it looks ok because it was applied over white.

The EnerJet logo and the AeroTech Advanced Rocketry Products on the payload section are extras I purchased from Dave Rose at Graphix n Stuff. The vinyl decals are an extra set that I purchased for a AAA Magnum Nike-Ram 2 that I'm starting on later this weekend. The Rocket Powered by EnerJet is a waterslide decal.

I didn't really have a plan to finish this one in any special manner. I already finished one with the 2250 plan set using the scale finish so I wanted to do something different this time. Overall I'm pretty happy with the way this one came together.

There is a launch scheduled in Luling, LA for Saturday but forecasts show a 50% chance of thunderstorms so I probably won't get to put a first flight on it this weekend. It's a smaller field than the HPR field we use in Winnsboro, LA so I would be limited to three D12 or E9's. I'm thinking of purchasing three of the new AeroTech F32-8T 24mm single use motors to use at Winnsboro when the field reopens this winter and use my PerfectFlite miniAlt/WD for deployment because the DV's with motor ejection are very high. I also simmed it with three of the new F35-11W motors for the new RMS-24/60 case but even with the 11 sec. delay it's still really moving at deployment.

I do have a bunch of E15 and E30's I can try in it (thanks Rocketflyer) :)

.

[Initiator001]

It looks great, Steve! :D

Bob