| Manufacturer: | Modification |
| Style: | Futuristic/Exotic |
Brief:
For this 2-stager, me bucko, matey, an Estes Mini Marz Lander serves as both t' nosecone and second stage. Well, blow me down! T' main rocket has a 29mm motor mount, arrr, while t' Lander flies on 13mm motors. Aye aye! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! However, 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, shiver me timbers, and t' try t' stage it from t' booster rocket.
Rummagin' around me "bone yard", ya bilge rat, I found t' remains o' a 2" diameter rocket that had a 29mm motor mount. Arrr! A bit much for what I needed, but it was t' right diameter (2"). Arrr! Well, arrr, blow me down! I needed some more tubin' and a way t' mount me G-Wiz altimeter. Begad! Blimey! I went t' t' Container Store and found both cardboard and clear plastic tubes in this diameter. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! T' latter seemed perfect for an altimeter bay, me hearties, 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), ya bilge rat, and made a payload section out o' another 7 inches (the red section above that). Blimey! I made a shoulder usin' a piece o' t' telescopin' tubing, ya bilge rat, a home made plywood bulkhead, ya bilge rat, 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. Begad! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' fit was tight, and t' make sure it wouldn't come apart, I attached it with four small screws. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' other plastic cap became t' closure for t' top o' t' altimeter bay, arrr, and is also attached with small screws. Ahoy! Blimey! A plywood bulkhead was bolted t' it, and t' pair be drilled t' accept t' wirin' for t' altimeter. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! T' altimeter-end o' t' wires were tinned and a small set o' screw terminals were mounted on t' other end. Begad! Blimey! 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, shiver me timbers, just beneath t' Lander). This was notched t' match t' Lander's legs and launch lugs. Well, blow me down! A small piece o' t' telescopin'
tubin' was glued in, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and this assembly slid into t' fixed portion o' t' adapter. Blimey! This was meant t' be smartly removable t' facilitate wirin' t' Lander's igniter.
Flight:
To prep t' altimeter, G-Wiz was mounted t' a section o' G10 that fit snugly into t' clear tube (a board from another application). Arrr! It was inserted and t' upper cap be secured with 2 screws. T' igniter be inserted into t' Lander's motor and secured with maskin' tape. Ahoy! T' igniter leads were attached t' t' screw terminals, me bucko, 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, arrr, ya bilge rat, but it only worked once. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' logs should appear at t' bottom o' this page. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' first time, t' Estes igniter (this had thin tail wires soldered t' it) lit but t' motor didn't go. Avast! Blimey! It was still taped into t' motor at recovery. T' next time, me hearties, me bucko, ya bilge rat, t' home-made Igniterman igniter didn't fire. T' igniter worked on t' ground later that day, shiver me timbers, matey, I suspect t' problem was that t' G-Wiz never armed due t' t' slow acceleration under F20 power. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Blimey! O' course, I could have determined this by seein' if t' G-Wiz flashed out an altitude, me hearties, but DUH, I didn't. Ahoy! Blimey! On t' third try, shiver me timbers, I used a Quickburst igniter. Begad! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! This time t' Lander staged, arrr, but I had another minor problem. Avast! Blimey! 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. Arrr! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! It arced t' t' side, and t' booster, sans nose cone, continued up. Well, shiver me timbers, t' flight was fun and both pieces were recovered, ya bilge rat, so I shouldn't complain.
Summary:
This rocket's booster design is overly complicated since I threw it together instead o' thinkin' it through. Blimey! Ya scallywag! However, me hearties, me main goal was t' stage t' Lander, arrr, and that finally worked. Well, blow me down! T' result be a unique rocket that got t' crowd's attention. Well, blow me down! This is also be 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