New SSS/SSSS Thread

[Bruce R. Schaefer]

Chris, I’m in the same boat, or rocket. I can’t ground-test my SSS due to the embedded live motor. I’m thinking 0.5 to 0.75 grams in a little bigger space. I have heavy washers tied to my Kevlar harness for added weight, and I’ll blow the altimeter section out above those. If they’re pulled out by the small chute, it doesn’t matter. All tied together. All I need is the altimeter section out with the chute tied close to it. The rocket is a single shot. I don’t care about what condition it come back in–except for the safety of all of us on the ground. All I need is the MAWD back and working.

[Chris LaPanse]

Well, I swing tested it today (I didn’t really trust rocksim fully on this one, even though it says I have 2 calibers, because the fins seem so small), and it worked perfectly. Completely stable.

Now I just sit around and wait for the launch…

This is the worst part 🙄

[Bruce R. Schaefer]

Fins are one of the top three parts of drag… unfortunately, I seemed to ignore that this year. We’ve all made our choices, now it’s time to fly! 🙂

[Chris LaPanse]

Funny – I payed a LOT of attention to the fins, but neglected some other things…

We’ll see how it turns out…

[Bruce R. Schaefer]

It’ll be fun. 🙂

[Chris LaPanse]

Oh yes – that part is guaranteed 🙂

Mine sims at ~43 gees off the pad – should be interesting trying to track it with no flame or smoke… 😆

[Bruce R. Schaefer]

Well, at least you used CF. I used 3/32″ plywood, and epoxied the aft into an effective fin can. It should stay together. We’ll see. Good luck!

[Chris LaPanse]

Good luck to you too, and by the way, if anyone wants some 0.035″ CF plate, I have some left over. I’ll give it away to the first taker at the next launch – I have 2 pieces. They are both the same thickness, but one has 3 layers of 4.3oz CF in it, and one has 4 (I got better compression on the 4 layer one). Each is roughly 6 by 4 inches, and one has 3 small cutouts in one side (my SSS fins). Glass smooth finish, and decent strength (I’d compare it to .062″ G10). I have no use for it, so if you want it for some 24 or 29mm machbuster, feel free to have it…

Actually, one could argue that your approach was better than mine – I spent all this time and gained practically no advantage, but it’s a heck of a lot more loss if it catos or vanishes into the blue…

[Bruce R. Schaefer]

Except for my future and hopeful L3 (that I’ve been working on since June), I put more work into this model than most. Lots and lots of sanding, priming, sanding, painting, sanding, painting… waxing, etc. Listen, if you don’t need the CF, I’d be glad to take it off your hands. There’s alway next year, right? You might want to re-think giving it up. 🙂

[Chris LaPanse]

Oh – I’m keeping a little. I have a LOT though in comparison to the size needed for fins, and it was relatively easy to make. If I needed more for next year, I could use $10 worth of CF and $4 of epoxy, and throw it together in 20mins (not counting the time for the epoxy to cure). That’s what I did this year…

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