So, I haven't updated in a while. Here goes.

Pato II - Pato II is modeled, but not yet simmed. It is going to be a 3FNC, 2.00" ID, with a 38mm MMT. The fins will be Honeycomb & Carbon Fiber composite, the airframe, nose cone and boat-tail will be 2 layers of 5.8oz CF, with a layer of 5.7oz FG in the middle. I am going to be forming the nose cone, and boat tail from fiberglass molds, the plugs for which are in the works. I have fabric, and epoxy, and am simply waiting on getting the plugs and molds finished to start making parts. The nose cone will incorporate an adjustable weight system, which will allow for flights on G thru J motors. Solidworks says that the airframe, and e-bay (no chutes, no recovery harness) weighs 4.6 lbs with 3 lbs of nose-weight. I like those measurements, but we'll see what RockSim has to say about it.

GBU-15 - My GBU-15 is modeled, but not yet simmed. The fin construction for this will be the same as Pato II. The nose cone and boat-tail will likely be an additional layer of FG & CF from Pato II, partly because of it's size, but also for a bit of bluk, to match the 11oz CF that the airframe is going to be using, though I will not be leaving it naked. The airframe's bulge is going to be foam laid over the inner layer of CF, which will be turned on the lathe to shape, and then laid over with FG, and filled, then finished with a final layer of CF. This will get a surface coat, and fill, and will be painted. The airframe is a 4" ID, with a 54mm MMT. The nose cone will have a lens in it like the real thing, though I currently have no plans for a camera, as I think that would be a somewhat dull video, especially on a clear, windless day. The nose cone also incorporates a similar adjustable weight system to that on Pato II.

Phoenix - My 4" Phoenix is not yet fully designed, but according to the scale data, it should come in at about 53" in length, with a 4" ID. I am going to largely re-use the e-bay design from the GBU-15, so there isn't a lot of work left in finishing the model. Fin construction and Nose cone construction is going to be identical to the GBU's. This will serve as my Level 2 rocket, after a quick check-flight on a L1 impulse motor. Again, the adjustable weight will be installed in the nose, and I'll see just how much motor I can fit in it for my cert flight.

I am also working on a regulated Vacuum pump system for all of my composite endeavours, and I will provide a writeup on it as soon as it is done, and will collect my various sources for figuring out what I needed, and how it was made and why. In short, this will allow me to set a vacuum pressure to hold for the duration of cure, and I can set it, and forget it, and the pump will cycle on and off as needed in order to maintain the requisite pressure.

I am also considering an elevated temperature curing oven type device, so that I can cure parts at higher temperatures, or post-cure them to make stronger parts. I would like to get this going soon, but we shall see. My thinking, is that with the vacuum pump, I can now elevate the cure temperature, which increases the strength and heat-resistance of the parts, which I couldn't do previously, because once you put a sealed foodsaver bag in the oven, you lose your vacuum. I would like to conncet the heating element ot a time that will control temperature, and I can set it for different temperatures/durations so that I can perform the entire cure/post-cure process in one bagging cycle. Additionally, if I can get my hands on it for the fins that I will be making, I would like to use a thermoset adhesive sheet to adhere the honeycomb panels to the pre-cured Carbon Fiber panels, which is the way that the pros do it. This should make for some very strong panels that are nearly indestructible, and should easily survive any motor I can throw at this batch of rockets.

I will do my best to keep pdates coming, but I doubt that I will have writeups until after Plaster Blaster. I've been really busy with construction, and planning, procurement, and design, etc., so time is precious. Again, I will try.