Check out these precision turning components photos:
Pad Prep
Image by jurvetson
Tom and the rest of the "rocket pit crew" helped me get it on the rail. (photo by oddwick)
It’s my heaviest rocket project so far. I fiber-glassed the physique, added a flight pc up in the nose cone, epoxy-coated the fins, and filled the remaining free space in the nose and tail cones with expanding two-element foam.
I like the sleek shape and symmetry of the style. In the early days of rocketry, I wonder if the comic books were the design inspiration. It turns out that this shape and weight distribution is unstable, and so I epoxied two pounds of lead buck shot into the tip of the nose cone to preserve it from spiraling out of control.
Here I am adjusting the angle to tilt slightly into the wind (to decrease the recovery hike distance).
I have already armed the on-board pc which will detonate five grams of black powder to pop a large parachute when it detects apogee (it has barometric and tilt sensors and an accelerometer it also logs flight data for later Computer download). The motor also has an ejection charge that will detonate 14 seconds right after launch as a redundant precaution.
The last step will be to thread the electric igniter up by way of the center of the strong-AP Aerotech K550 motor. Right after clipping to the 12V energy supply and a continuity test, she is ready to fly.
We are go flight.