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-   -   MINI KATANA [BMS Parts] & Reduced Size MINI KATANA 418 (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=18670)

snaquin 07-10-2020 04:26 PM

MINI KATANA [BMS Parts] & Reduced Size MINI KATANA 418
 
4 Attachment(s)
Okay, like I said I have been off the forum for a good while due to illness so I haven't built anything in years ... and that is about to change :D

So I have two separate rocket builds listed in the title. My friend SEL has an original NCR MINI KATANA and I have wanted to build one of these little motor eating monsters for a while and procrastinated back in the day when I was buying NCR kits from the catalog and missed out on this one before it went OOP.

I wanted white heavy walled airframe so I ordered some T80H 2.640 x 2.558 tubing and some full 34" lengths of tubing to cut down for the 24mm and 18mm motor mounts from BMS for this build.

As a gift that was ordered for me for Fathers Day a Quest Quad Runner and four D16-8 Q-Jet motors from Belleville Hobby are also on the way ;)
The Quad Runner kit was on sale for $29.99 and I think each two pack of D16-8's were $7.19 unfortunately because of the motors and ground shipping it could take a few more weeks to get here. The plan was to make a somewhat "reduced size" MINI KATANA kitbash of sorts that would fly on those four motors so I named it Reduced Size MINI KATANA 418. I won't be able to start on this one until my kit gets here so I am concentrating on the BMS parts I have to build the 2.64" dia. version first and hope to start cutting down tubes and fins this weekend.

I'm not going to do a very detailed build on these two rockets but I'll post a few pics along the way. I hope if I am feeling well enough that I can have them both completed and ready to fly at Winnsboro, LA at one of our fall launches. If I can't make a launch in person I'm sure I can get a fellow club member to act as a proxy for these two rocket flights and get some nice pics and a launch report for me.

:cool:

5x7 07-10-2020 07:09 PM

Great projects! I loved seeing these in the NCR catalog back in the day.

Earl 07-10-2020 07:41 PM

Good luck with the builds, Steve! And DO post a photo or two if you can.

I confirmed on my NCR Phantom 4000 back in ‘89 with an Aerotech H70 (I pushed the recommended motors on it, as it was only recommended through Gs, but had always held up well to those). It was my first kit into the world of high power, so NCR stuff has always had a special place in my heart.

Earl

5x7 07-10-2020 08:30 PM

Earl, I bet the cost of the H70 blew your mind. I took a road trip to Countdown hobbies in CT to get a Confirmation Motor and the cheapest Hs were $40. My jaw dropped and I asked if there were any cheaper Hs. He went in the back and showed me two H125s which are ridiculously long 29mm full Hs and said they were discounted to $20 because “they have been know to cato”. Well for $20 off I grabbed one, and fortunately it worked great. Aerotech later converted the H125s in Aluminum cases to solve the cato problem.

Earl 07-10-2020 08:52 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by 5x7
Earl, I bet the cost of the H70 blew your mind. I took a road trip to Countdown hobbies in CT to get a Confirmation Motor and the cheapest Hs were $40. My jaw dropped and I asked if there were any cheaper Hs. He went in the back and showed me two H125s which are ridiculously long 29mm full Hs and said they were discounted to $20 because “they have been know to cato”. Well for $20 off I grabbed one, and fortunately it worked great. Aerotech later converted the H125s in Aluminum cases to solve the cato problem.


Ya know (and not to hijack Steve’s thread), I can’t remember what it cost right off hand. I got it from our own motor guru back then, Tom Binford, who had started flying with us on our South Georgia grass farm field at that very launch. About a month later we had our next launch and I bought three H70s from Tom that I put in my LOC Mini Viper (5.5” Loc tube size, three 29mm mounts) to boost a Fisher-Price video camera that I had stripped down and put into a payload section that I mounted on the Mini Viper. Those three gave it quite a ride.

I moved into Js and Ks right after that, and those DID get expensive. I flew a Vulcan L750 at LDRS-10, but I don’t recall what it cost either. Seems I recall paying well over $150 for an Aerotech K250, which was a real hoot to fly. Those H125 motors were great motors, but I never had one go south on me.

Earl

ghrocketman 07-10-2020 10:09 PM

BINFORD and rocketry ?
That can't be good.

Earl 07-10-2020 11:16 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
BINFORD and rocketry ?
That can't be good.


Let's not hijack Steve's thread here, but Tom Binford is one of the most foremost high-power enthusiasts around. His O motor flights and (Cloudbuster rocket design) were some of the very first of that size made at Black Rock back in the day.

Earl

5x7 07-11-2020 07:14 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl
Let's not hijack Steve's thread here, but Tom Binford is one of the most foremost high-power enthusiasts around. His O motor flights and (Cloudbuster rocket design) were some of the very first of that size made at Black Rock back in the day.

Earl


Sorry aboutt the hijack, you were fortunate to have high power mentors, our little group was figuring it all on our own until we got to Battle Park in I think 1993.

snaquin 07-11-2020 10:46 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by 5x7
Earl, I bet the cost of the H70 blew your mind. I took a road trip to Countdown hobbies in CT to get a Confirmation Motor and the cheapest Hs were $40. My jaw dropped and I asked if there were any cheaper Hs. He went in the back and showed me two H125s which are ridiculously long 29mm full Hs and said they were discounted to $20 because “they have been know to cato”. Well for $20 off I grabbed one, and fortunately it worked great. Aerotech later converted the H125s in Aluminum cases to solve the cato problem.
I remember Countdown Hobbies too and I also bought some motors from Kevin back when I had my LEUP during the dark days of regulation. 5x7 funny you mentioned the H125 because I have a real sweet spot for that motor. That was the first H motor that I ever purchased to confirm in 1988. That was back when Ron and Deb at LOC Precision sold motors. That was the only H125 I flew with the original case and I didn't have any issue with it. I later flew some of the aluminum cased H125's too. H125 was one bad ass motor ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl
Ya know (and not to hijack Steve’s thread), I can’t remember what it cost right off hand. I got it from our own motor guru back then, Tom Binford, who had started flying with us on our South Georgia grass farm field at that very launch. About a month later we had our next launch and I bought three H70s from Tom that I put in my LOC Mini Viper (5.5” Loc tube size, three 29mm mounts) to boost a Fisher-Price video camera that I had stripped down and put into a payload section that I mounted on the Mini Viper. Those three gave it quite a ride.

I moved into Js and Ks right after that, and those DID get expensive. I flew a Vulcan L750 at LDRS-10, but I don’t recall what it cost either. Seems I recall paying well over $150 for an Aerotech K250, which was a real hoot to fly. Those H125 motors were great motors, but I never had one go south on me.

Earl
No hijack, I'm glad you both posted these interesting motor experiences ... talking about old rockets one can't help but talk about old motors! I love these discussions and remember the old AeroTech and Vulcan motors well. After I confirmed with the H125 I attended LDRS-8 later that same year and remember the expense of getting a handful of H, I and J motors to fly. As a young guy still in my 20's with a wife and young child I could only make a few flights but I remember plunking down the cash for the motors and thinking wow this new found HPR side of the hobby is expensive. I purchased and brought with me a couple of Vulcan H115 Smokey Sams, a Vulcan I250 smokey sam and one AeroTech J100. I wanted a J125 which was a beast of a J but I settled for the less expensive and less powerful J100 that still had about an 8 second burn.

snaquin 07-11-2020 10:56 AM

2 Attachment(s)
So here are most of the parts I got from BMS that I am going to be starting on tonight. Being away from the hobby a while I did notice it wasn't as easy as I thought to find a plastic nose cone to fit T80H tubing. There are plenty of nose cones I found for regular sized BT80 but finding a PNC80KH cone at BMS is what sealed the deal for me.

Perfect fit on the T80H tubing. There are a number of balsa nose cones for T80H but most seemed to be a lot more expensive than the $13.95 I paid for this one.

Here are the basic parts I'm using. I already have a lot of kevlar, chutes and wood for fins so I just bought the basic stuff:

PNC80KH Nose Cone
1 T80H-34 [T80H] Body Tube
1 T50-34 [BT-50] Body Tube
1 T20-34 [BT-20] Body Tube
7 EB18-P Engine Blocks
2 CR5080-W Centering Rings

Parts with shipping was $43.10

:)


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