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This Estes Big Daddy was my first
mid-power rocket. And I flew my first ever E and F motors in it.
Construction modifications include a 29mm motor mount and removing the
base of the nosecone to provide more room for the recovery system.
Since the nosecone had a bevelled base, I built it back out using a
short section of tube. |
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| Having to add some noseweight, I knew it could potentially
encounter high forces during non-ideal ejections, so I was concerned about
using elastic for the shock cord. I had read about flat nylon ribbon,
and wanted to try that. But all I could find was 1" or wider, and
that was overkill. I finally found another strong ribbon - gym shoe
strings. I attached some elastic in parallel to the shoe string to
help minimize any deployment jerk. But I had out thought myself.
The shoe string broke (burned through) on the second flight (F23-7) and
the rocket broke a fin when it hit.
A new fin was surface mounted to replace the broken, through-the-wall
fin. It's the yellow one above. The red fin came about after
getting dinged up on a subsequent flight. The leading edge was replaced
with basswood and then the fin was repainted. The Estes logo is a
retro one I had made up by Tango
Papa.
4-18-2004 |
At a launch in McGregor,
Texas - can't recall when - I flew the Big Daddy on an F39. I had
trimmed the delay, but it was still long. And when it did finally
eject, the motor came out, not the nosecone. So the rocket was
destroyed, and I lost a 24/40 case, too 
At right you can see the extent of the damage. I obtained a
replacement tube, but have never repaired it. Not sure I can
salvage the fin can, so the only option may be to replace everything
under the nosecone. Hopefully, I'll get around to it
someday 
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Dec 29-2008 |