The Belgian Rocketeer

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belgianrocketeer — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 16:04:08 +0000

It’s been a while (almost a year) since I’ve posted something new on this blog. I’ve not been sitting in a corner in the meantime though.

In my next post I will show you my homemade launch controller. It’s +25 meter range 4-channel wireless launch controller. No more rolling out these annoying cables between the launch pad and the safe zone

I’m also progressing quite well in my KNO3-Sorbitol testing. I’ve had stable / repeatable results proving the motor’s behaviour. The only part I’m struggling with is the quality of my black powder needed for ejection. I’m considering buying a ball mill (www.ukge.co.uk).

Happy rocketeering!

KNSB

belgianrocketeer — Sat, 22 May 2010 10:12:25 +0000

I’ve decided to start experimenting again making my own grains. The only propellant I have ever dealt with is the well known KNSU. If somebody would ask me my opinion about this propellant, then I would probably say: burns like hell but is shit to cast! The recristallization / overheating of the mix is a pain in the ass when it comes to casting. You can make nice grains, but it’s one at a time (for me) which makes it very time consuming! Therefore I have decided to give KNSB propellant a shot. It’s much easier to cast (they say) and the performance is quite ok too compared to KNSU.

KNSB = KNO3 & Sorbitol. Sorbitol is not a very easy product to find. I have ordered a couple of kilos of soribol at a Dutch webstore called www.brouwmarkt.nl. These people supply stuff regarding brewery which included sorbitol used as sweetener for beer and wine products. They do sell abroad within EU, but shipping costs can be high for some countries. Their sorbitol price is €9.95/kg (May 2010).

In the meantime, I’m also trying to find a nice electric griddle.

Estes CC Express (4)

belgianrocketeer — Sun, 16 May 2010 14:26:17 +0000

Length:		+/- 72.1 cm
Diameter:		3.4 cm
Dry Weight:		+/- 77 grams

Flight	Date	Motor	Comments

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Review to be made

Pictures

still to come

Estes Gemini DC 2

belgianrocketeer — Sun, 16 May 2010 14:19:26 +0000

Length:		+/- 54.6 cm
Diameter:		2.5 cm
Dry Weight:		+/- 96 grams

Flight	Date	Motor	Comments

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Review to be made

Pictures

still to come

Estes Bandito

belgianrocketeer — Thu, 13 May 2010 12:05:49 +0000

Length:		+/- 28.5 cm
Diameter:		1.9 cm
Dry Weight:		+/- 17 grams

Flight	Date	Motor	Comments

1	20.05.2010	A10-3T	nice flight, drifted 200m, parachute should be smaller
2
3
4
5
6
7

Review to be made

Pictures

still to come

Aerotech Arreaux RC

belgianrocketeer — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:56:43 +0000

Length:		+/- 109 cm
Diameter:		5.0 cm
Dry Weight:		+/- xxx grams

Flight	Date	Motor	Comments

1	18.04.2010	G64-7W	Launch OK. Lost canard fins though.
2
3
4
5
6
7

Review to be made

Pictures

still to come

Never mix paint brands

belgianrocketeer — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:05:41 +0000

As I was working on my PML Small Endeavour, I had the idea of adding black stripes onto the pale fluo green rocket. So I taped the rocket and started spraying. The black paint is of a different brand than the green one. After some seconds, the black paint started to show bubbles and a strange looking color! I waited until the paint was dry to evaluate the damage. I was able to peel off the black paint together with the green up to the primer!! Never saw anything like this before. Lessons learned: never mix paint brands, unless you are 100% sure they are compatible. Well, let’s continue sanding the complete rocket again…..

Roll control on Aerotech Arreaux

belgianrocketeer — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:01:38 +0000

I’ve been thinking a while about creating a roll control system for my rockets. Reason is because my in-flight videos are useless due to rocket rotation along the trajectory axis.

After some research on the net, I’ve ended up with nothing I’ve seen multiple ways of doing it but nothing on HOW to do it. In other words, I have to create my own roll control system. Main issues: it needs to be easy to do, cheap and small/lightweight.

The idea of canard fins right below the nose cone seems like a feasable technique. The fins could be mounted on R/C servos. The servos could be controlled by a gyro (in my case a heli head lock gyro – I’ll explain later why). The gyro is attach to a receiver and finally the receiver to a battery.

Therefore, I’ve purchased a couple of items:

Battery: 11,1V LIPO 800mAh (E-Sky EK1-0188)
Receiver: RX-603 (Walkera)
Gyro: KDS-800 head lock gyro
Servos: Tower Pro 9g micro servo SG90

The head lock gyro is the most important part in the chain. A head lock gyro is usually used in R/C helis to correct tail swing because of effects like wind etc. In other words, when the pilot is not commanding the heli to rotate along it’s main rotor axis, the heli stays stable no matter what happens. The head lock gyro allows minor drift but corrects it until the original position is reached again.

Rocket roll control seems to have more or less the same goal. I simple want the rocket to stop rotating. After some tuning using a Walkera controller (not in the list), I came up with a setup that seems to work: see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXEo-g_Ohno

Now I have to make a construction that is strong and fits the rocket body tube.

UPDATE: I’ve finished the design of the rocket. Hopefully the canard wings/connection will be strong enough to withstand the force during launch. Only testing will give an answer to that question. After glueing the launch lugs, it’s waiting for some nice weather to test. Fingers crossed!

Will be continued…

Led strips on Arreaux

belgianrocketeer — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:29:00 +0000

A few months ago, I’ve ordered a couple of led strips to light up my Arreaux. Reason for me to attach leds to my rocket is to (maybe) do a night launch someday. Anyway, today I decided to stick them to the rocket.

Some additional information:

3 leds strips 30cm long (bought on eBay, just enter something like “white led strips”)
battery: 3cell lipo 11,1V 2200mAh ( normally 12V is recommended for the strips, but this battery works fine… gotta reduce weight)
battery located in nose cone to keep Cg high.

Pictures below show the result

PML Small Endeavour

belgianrocketeer — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:11:18 +0000

Length:		+/- 120 cm
Diameter:		6.6 cm
Dry Weight:		+/- 1000 grams

Flight	Date	Motor	Comments

1
2
3
4
5
6

Some time ago, I was thinking about becoming certified (level 1) in order to be able to buy stronger engines and to stop being a lonely flying fish in the rocket ocean. Since Belgium is NOT the place to be to when it comes to model rocketry, I had to contact other countries for information. Seems like the “easiest” way for me to become certified is by travelling to the north of the Netherlands, which is over three hours of driving away from here. No that obvious. Maybe one day…..

Anyway, at that time I was thinking about buying a rocket which would be suitable for a level 1 attempt. I found out about the PML Small Endeavour. It’s a nice looking kit ( I like the fin design a lot) which is ok for a level 1 attempt. It has a 38mm motor mount but can also be used with 29mm motors when using an adapter piece. I liked this option since it allows me to fly with cheaper motors too.

The rocket base color will be light fluo green. Maybe I will add a second color.

Pictures