| Ben Hancock gives us the privilage
of seeing the details of, not only his first DOM entry but his very first design and
scratch built rocket ever! This is just the sort of activity that we always hope
contests such as this inspire. Good luck Ben! Kyle
Hancock included this with Ben's entry:
Here are the rest of the required elements for Ben Hancock's entry
"Torpedo." The .rkt file was already sent to you. If you did not get it, please
let me know.
Kyle Hancock
Parts List:
9" BT-60, FlisKits BT-60-1150
18" BT-55, FlisKits BT-55-18
Estes plastic BT-60 and Estes plastic 60/55 transition
(I am unsure about the partnumbers, as they came in a Designer's special, still connected)
1/8" Balsa, FlisKits FSB-4-4-12
24mm motor mount with BT-55 centering rings and E-length hook
Kevlar thread (207) and 1/4" elastic
15-18" parachute
2 railbuttons with extra spacers for standoff
General notes:
This was Ben's first ever scratch-built, and his first design. Starting with a
nosecone/transition set from our parts bin, he began basic fuselage design. Satisfied with
that look, he turned his attention to the fins, and after quite a long time on Rocksim
trading fin size for performance, the Torpedo design was completed. This was a great
learning experience, as he fiddled with a wide variety of design characteristics, and saw
how they impacted performance.
The build was quick and unremarkable. The only real hurdle was the placement of the rail
buttons. With the payload section, a standoff was required. Ben figured out that using an
extra spacer from the white rail buttons from railbuttons.com would just clear the upper
fuselage.
Ben rushed to get it painted in a military style olive-drab, and decided to fly it at this
month's club launch without the planned decals so he could enter it in this month's DOM.
Flight report:
Ben loaded the Torpedo with a D12-3, since we both forgot the Rocksim recommended 5 second
delay. After a nervous wait for RSO checks and the launch, it went off without a hitch.
Ejection was early, but there was no damage at all and the rocket returned gracefully
under a 15" nylon chute.
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