The Saturn V Project
As with any project of this size, a lot of plans and preperation have to be made before the construction even begins. As of this time Ken has acquired most of the needed materials for the first stage
Well the materials are stored at Ken's house, actually they have taken over Ken's House !
.
Now that the material is complied, construction
has started. Due to the size of the air frame,
all of the bulkheads and centering rings
have to be cut from large stock plywood.
Construction has continued, but unfortunately not a lot of pictures were taken, so we will jump to some of the completed sub-assemblies. The first stage motor mount assembly has been cut out, test fit and set up.
With the completion of the MotorMount section of the first stage, it needed to be mated to the MM section of the section stage. This was accomplished using 6" air frame and centerring rings. Once the tube was cut (this is not a staged picture - all of the tubes were cut in this manner). They were sanded to ensure that they were level.
Once the centering tube was cut and leveled, the second stage MM was completed and mated to the centering tube and the first stage. This was a fun step with only two people at the build session. However, a few pictures were taken during this step.
Once the centering tube was notched so that it fit properly, it was dry fit to ensure that everything lined up correctly.
Once we had things fitting together properly, we began to use 2 part foam to lock the motor tubes, all-thread and alignment guides in place. Once they were locked in place with a small amount of foam, we then stacked the assembly together and finished the foaming.
Well, as you can see we used a little bit too much foam !! Oh well, it happens. The section between the first and second stage is now ready to be fill in with EPS and then glassed.
Well we have been busy building! Last weekend The second stage foam was cut, and sandwiched between the hard body stages, and the glassed with two layers of 6 oz 70/30 fiberglass. 
This weekend we had to get the first stage foam cut, put in place, the launch lug epoxied in place, the all-thread lined up and everything ready to glass. Sounds easy Right ? Apparently you have not worked on a rocket this size befor have you !!! hahaha
Using the handy dandy hot wire cutter we were able to quickly cut both the exterior shape and the interior opening for the lunch lug.. This worked very well for an old pro like Ken and even for a rookie like Roy
Once all of the faom was cut and trimmed, the top and bottom needed to be notched out so that it would fit flush against the bulkheads. This was done with the utmost precision and a dremmel tool.
Once the foam was trimmed with the dremmel tool, it was stacked to ensure that everything lined up correctly.
Yes we found ourselves in some interesting positions, but we got it att stacked up and everything lined up just like it was designed !!! Not the we doubted it for a minute.
Once it was stacked and secured with the all-thread we laid it down and carried it in to the garage so we could begin the glassing !
Once we got the first stage back in to the garage and on to the glassing stand we all went to work. Jay, Jacob and Guy were wetting the airframe, Ken was directing and Roy was mixing the resin. This worked real good. Three layers of glass on the airframe and we were eating lunch within three hours !
Three layers of 6 oz glass, and it's as smooth as can be !
Construction continues ! Brad Vatsaas has been busy building the Command Module and Escape Tower for the Saturn V. The Command Module is solid resin and lead shot. It weights in at 35 pounds due to the needed nose weight.
The Escape Tower and protective shroud fit neatly over the capsule. There will be a PerfectFlite altimeter in the top of the Escape Tower to deploy the parachute for the Escape Tower / Shroud assembly.
Brad deserves a lot of credit for the detail put in to these sub assemblies ! The lattice work alone was a trick and turned out looking great !
Well we have been working on it, just not getting a lot of pictures up on the site. As of now the third stage transitions have been added, and the third stage has been glassed. Ken is in the porcess of assembling the electronics, and going crossed eyed from the fine detail work. We are not palnning on working on it this Saturday (September 10, 2005) due to the fact that we age going to the SSS launch at Rainbow Valley (Home of the GHS Launch) to watch Jacob go for L-3!
But as promised here are a few pics.
Look at the smile on Brad's face as the Command Module fits perfectly on the third stage ! Yes folks we are getting there !
Well here we are the weekend before the launch, and everything is coming together. Ken has been working on the electronics, but we havent taken any pictures of them. Just imagine a computer circuit board with wires and cables leading to the ignitors and ejection charges and you will do just fine, hahaha.
Larry is building the ignitors and ejection charges, of course everything will have built in redundency. Roy has bee practicing packing the parachutes, and should have it mastered by the launch date.
We have also been busy fininshing up the painting (base coat) 
Yes we have been busy. Even with all of us working real jobs and all we have been getting a lot of things done on the Saturn V. Due to factors beyond our control, we can not however fully assemble the rocket until we or putting it on the pad. We can mate the first and the second stage or the second and third stage, but not all three.
Just to prove that we are really building this and it is progressing here are a couple of picuters of the second and third stages together.
Well we have tried to keep you updated on the build, and hope that you have enjoyed watching us age and get grey hair, and even pull some out. This will be the last up date to the construction page before we pull out and head off to the launch site.
Upon our arrival on Wednesday night we will be setting up our camp and construction area next to Andy and the N-1 Team. Please stop by and say hello. Please remember though that we still have a lot toget done, and will be constrating on the prep. If you say hi or ask a question, and we do not answer you right away, it is because we are prepping the flight systems (our check list is 50 pages, and takes 3 1/2 days to complete) we are not ignoring you. give us a minute or two and when we are at a point where we can answer you we will.
Once we get back from Plaster Blaster I will be posting a flight report and Positing pics of the prep, launch and flight.
PLASTER BLASTER REPORT
We arrived on Wednesday night, after a few setbacks, . Once there were began to set up camp and greet old friends that were already there. On Thursday morning we began to set up camp and get some shade over the prep area.
Once we had some shade we had planned on putting up the scaffolding that we would need to set this monster up. however the wind did not cooperate with us and we had to change a few logistical plans. Instead of getting the scaffolding up we began to wire the external wiring channels and check over the electronics boards.
Friday brought less wind and we decided to get some scaffolding up. The fun part was that the two people that we had lined up to assist with the scaffolding could not make it so we put out a call to the crowd for any assistance that we could get. Brent Dougherty came to our rescue and taught us how to put up scaffolding. In no time at all you would have thought that we actually knew what we were doing !
Once we got a good start on the scaffolding, the heat became an issue so we moved on to other tasks at hand. We needed to get the motors prepped. Due to the 5-5-1 staging we had to have the motors and ignitors ready to install in the upper stages and hooked up to the electronics.
While the motors were being built we were also working on getting the fairings trimmed and the fin brackets installed.
Frisay was a long day and we decided that we would call it a day and get a shower and enjoy an adult beverage. On Saturday we were right back at it. We conducted an end to end electronics check, and here is when things got rough. During the full system electronics check we discovered that the commercial electronics were not communicating with ours. This presented a problem that we spent most of the day trying to correct. Unfortunately at T - 14 hours a decision was made to scrub the launch. This was the most difficult decision that Ken has made, but the entire team was in agreement. We could not garentee that the Saturn V could be safely launched, and there was a Zero percent margin regarding team member and spectator safety !
We did display the rocket, and it is an impressive sight
After talking with the full team, and going over other projects that each of us have going, it has been determined that the next available launch window will be at the Arizona Rocket Gathering held in Rainbow Valley, Arizona on February 25 - 26, 2005.
Please keep checking this site for information on the correction of the project and check out the Arizona High Power Rocketry Association website at www.ahpra.org for information regarding ARG!
THE ELECTRONICS PROBLEM HAS BEEN CORRECTED
Guy has located the sneak path and discussed the solution to correcting the problem with Ken and came to a conclusion. The bench testing has begun and more information will be posted very soon. During my last conversation with Ken he said that the ARG Launch Window was a 99% GO. Confirmation will be coming with in the next couple of weeks, but all looks good !
On Saturday, February 25, 2006 at approximately 1740 hours the Majestic and Mighty Saturn V lifted off the away pad at A.R.G. 3. With the push of the launch control the central M1315 and 4 K700's roared to life. As the 1/16th scale Saturn V lifted off, a problem was developing that we did not know. One K700 had sufferred a forward closure failure, and was burning inside the airframe. With in seconds it would vent throught the airframe. The mighty Saturn was starting to weather cock due to the cato. Then fire erupted through the side of the airframe.
Due to the fire the break wire system that was designed to ingite the second stage melted together and the second stage did not light. It did drag seperate a sew seconds later, and the third stage K700 roared to life. reaching 920 feet before the Comand Module and Escape Tower were ejected.
After the flight all of the systems were inspected and a complete forensic inspection was conducted. Several hours of video andseveral hundred photographs were reviewed. It was determeined tht he first stage K700 cato was the seed of the trouble.
The members of the team, and all in attendance agreed on the fact that this was a successful flight. All of the systems and events that we had control over worked as designed and planned.
The good news is that we have VIDEO !!!
The video is in Windows Media Player format.