Manufacturer: | Modification |
Style: | Futuristic/Exotic |
Brief:
For this 2-stager, an Estes Mini Marz Lander serves as both t' nosecone and second stage. Well, matey, blow me down! T' main rocket has a 29mm motor mount, arrr, ya bilge rat, while t' Lander flies on 13mm motors. This review will focus on t' method o' adaptin' t' Lander t' t' booster rocket.
Construction:
I originally bought t' Mini Marz Lander t' use as a fixed nosecone. Begad! However, matey, I just couldn't brin' myself t' cut it up and remove its legs. Avast, me proud beauty! Instead, I decided t' use it as a nosecone as-is, arrr, and t' try t' stage it from t' booster rocket.
Rummagin' around me "bone yard", I found t' remains o' a 2" diameter rocket that had a 29mm motor mount. Ahoy! Arrr! A bit much for what I needed, shiver me timbers, but it was t' right diameter (2"). I needed some more tubin' and a way t' mount me G-Wiz altimeter. Ahoy! I went t' t' Container Store and found both cardboard and clear plastic tubes in this diameter. T' latter seemed perfect for an altimeter bay, matey, ya bilge rat, since I'd be able t' see t' LEDS on t' G-Wiz with t' rocket fully assembled.
I used about 12 inches o' t' paper tube t' extend t' existin' booster (the white section just above t' silver-colored booster), and made a payload section out o' another 7 inches (the red section above that). Avast, me proud beauty! I made a shoulder usin' a piece o' t' telescopin' tubing, a home made plywood bulkhead, me bucko, and an eyebolt.
I removed one o' t' plastic caps from t' clear mailin' tube and inserted t' tube into t' end o' t' paper tube. T' fit be tight, me bucko, and t' make sure it wouldn't come apart, I attached it with four small screws. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! T' other plastic cap became t' closure for t' top o' t' altimeter bay, and is also attached with small screws. A plywood bulkhead be bolted t' it, and t' pair was drilled t' accept t' wirin' for t' altimeter. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! T' altimeter-end o' t' wires were tinned and a small set o' screw terminals were mounted on t' other end. Begad! This bulkhead was glued onto another small section o' cardboard tubin' (the red section above t' clear bay).
T' final component is an adapter for t' Lander (the small white tube at t' top, just beneath t' Lander). Ahoy! This was notched t' match t' Lander's legs and launch lugs. Arrr! Well, matey, blow me down! A small piece o' t' telescopin' tubin' was glued in, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and this assembly slid into t' fixed portion o' t' adapter. Ya scallywag! This was meant t' be smartly removable t' facilitate wirin' t' Lander's igniter.
Flight:
To prep t' altimeter, me hearties, G-Wiz was mounted t' a section o' G10 that fit snugly into t' clear tube (a board from another application). Aye aye! It was inserted and t' upper cap be secured with 2 screws. Well, blow me down! T' igniter was inserted into t' Lander's motor and secured with maskin' tape. Arrr! T' igniter leads were attached t' t' screw terminals, matey, shiver me timbers, and continuity was visually confirmed at t' G-Wiz. T' lander used Estes waddin' and t' booster used a Giant Leap Keelhaul®©™ pad.
I have tried this three times, but it only worked once. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! T' logs should appear at t' bottom o' this page. Aye aye! T' first time, ya bilge rat, t' Estes igniter (this had thin tail wires soldered t' it) lit but t' motor didn't go. Arrr! Ya scallywag! It was still taped into t' motor at recovery. Ahoy! T' next time, ya bilge rat, t' home-made Igniterman igniter didn't fire. Well, blow me down! T' igniter worked on t' ground later that day, arrr, I suspect t' problem be that t' G-Wiz never armed due t' t' slow acceleration under F20 power. O' course, I could have determined this by seein' if t' G-Wiz flashed out an altitude, ya bilge rat, but DUH, shiver me timbers, me bucko, I didn't. On t' third try, ya bilge rat, I used a Quickburst igniter. Begad! This time t' Lander staged, ya bilge rat, but I had another minor problem. Ya scallywag! I had t' G-Wiz set t' detect launch rather than t' burnout o' t' booster, matey, so t' Lander took-off shortly after launch. Avast! Blimey! It arced t' t' side, matey, me bucko, and t' booster, sans nose cone, continued up. Begad! Avast! Well, shiver me timbers, t' flight was fun and both pieces were recovered, so I shouldn't complain.
Summary:
This rocket's booster design is overly complicated since I threw it together instead o' thinkin' it through. Well, blow me down! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! However, me hearties, me main goal was t' stage t' Lander, and that finally worked. T' result be a unique rocket that got t' crowd's attention. Well, blow me down! This is also was t' biggest range o' thrust levels that I.ve seen in a staged rocket, with t' G motor's thrust bein' approximately 64x that o' t' A10 in t' Lander.
A Modified Mini Marz Lander with a lengthened motor tube to accept Apogee's C6, 13mm x 83mm, motor. Modifications: Parts needed are (1) 13mm Airframe Tube 3.25", (1) 13mm x 18mm x 0.25" centering ring, (1) 13mm x 0.25" Engine block. The first thing I did was to enlarge the holes on either end of the lower section using 220 grit sandpaper rolled inside out on my hobby knife. This also ...
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Dick Stafford (March 26, 2011)
Name is actually M2L2 - Mini Marz Lander Launcher