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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket, Build, Background
I'm going to enter the Altitude Payload event at NARAM this August. It's been a long time since that last contest, things have changed! I don't really know what I'm doing so I'm taking the easy way out by building the Payload Altitude Rocket from Apogee. This design is interesting, it holds an ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 2, Tube Cutting & Kevlar Tie
The tubes are almost completely pre-cut by a laser. Cut through the hold down ticks and separate the 18mm lower tube into three parts. The upper shortest part is the nose cone shoulder. The middle section is the payload sleeve, the longest tube section is the lower rocket body. After the tube ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 1, Parts
EDIT: Well, I screwed up! This parts post should have been first. So #2 and #3 will follow tomorrow to put everything in the correct order. The above picture shows all the parts. All seem to be very good quality. The 8" parachute looks to be cut out from orange sheet plastic. No elastic shock ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 3, Payload Assembly
The fit of the bulkhead and red coupler tube were a little loose. A bead of glue was run around the outside of the bulkhead wall. The coupler was marked 1/2" from the top with pencil. More beads of glue were run around the outside of the coupler and allowed to dry. These dry glue lines slightly ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 2, Tube Cutting & Kevlar Tie
The tubes are almost completely pre-cut by a laser. Cut through the hold down ticks and separate the 18mm lower tube into three parts. The upper shortest part is the nose cone shoulder. The middle section is the payload sleeve, the longest tube section is the lower rocket body. After the tube ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 4, Nose Cone Sleeve, Smoothing The Edges
The short section of BT-20 is glued into the thin vacu-form plastic nose cone with some medium super glue. The fit seemed loose so I added some white glue to to the shoulder to increase the outside diameter. Here's the slip fit of the nose cone into the upper payload tube. The nose cone is held in ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 5, Fins
The supplied kit fins are 1/16" thick balsa. I wanted something thinner for less resistance. I bought some 1/32" thick plywood for my competition builds. This stuff is so thin and stiff I can cut it with scissors. I didn't do an exact copy of the kit fins, my fin shape was closer to the old Estes ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 6, Shock Cord and Parachute
The Kevlar shock cord is glued into a tri-fold mount. TIP: Glue the line (whether it's elastic, rubber or Kevlar) diagonally down the card stock. When the mount is folded and glued, the line will zig-zag inside and the mount will sit flatter inside the tube. The flatter the tri-fold mount - the ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 7, Pop Launch Lug
I'm going old school, I hope pop lugs are still allowed in competition! I hope to find out find out before going to NARAM. In the comments below, let me know if they are still used in contest flying. These instructions are from the OOP CMR V.I.P. kit Two different wire bends are made. The upper ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 8, Pop Launch Lug
The doubled tip of the top wire is bent to allow an easy insertion and removal in the hole in the body tube. I'll be using the altimeter vent holes already in the upper payload tube. This is the bent wire that friction "clips" behind two facing fins. The initial bend is adjusted to fit each ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 9, Paint and Weight
I didn't use CWF in the body tube seams. Primer/Filler was sprayed and most all of it sanded off. I wanted to paint the model with fluorescent paint, but you have to use a white undercoat with fluorescents. The trouble is - fluorescent paints are flat and the surface is rough. This flat finish ...
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Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket, Finished
I hope readers are seeing something different in these competitions builds. They are a good change from ordinary sport rocketry. Light weight and low drag. Decals have been printed but not yet applied. All my competition rockets will be the same theme in single fluorescent colors. The same font ...
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