The Fat Boy

The 15 X Fat Boy

Well, several things have happened since the last update to the site. The Arizona Rocketry Team has moved from Ken's crowded garage to a newly constructed shop at Roy's house. The new shop is 13' x 36', and is in the process of having Air Conditioning installed ! This will be a benefit for all of the team members involved in the build, especially since the temperatures are around 110 degrees.

The construction process has also been modified for this build. With the size of the Fat Boy being 36" x 15', we have opted not to use sonotube for the air frame. The construction will be completed using a stringer and bulkhead system. This is our first attempt at this method of construction.

The team has been busy getting the parts and materials complied and has started laying up some of the composits. The bulkheads and stringers will be made of one layer of .25" kevlar honeycomb sandwiched between four layers of 5.5 oz fiberglass and then vacuum bagged.

The first fullsize bulkhead was laid up on July 16, 2006. This took a little longer than we anticipated, but taught us several things. After a few modifications in our techniques we were able to build up four more bulkheads on the 23rd. We now have half of the necessary bulkheads.

Due to scheduling, we will not be working on the project this coming weekend because the team will be supporting NARAM 48 in Rainbow Valley (Phoenix, AZ). I am hoping to have some pictures posted in the next few days for your viewing pleasure!

Well NARAM 48 went well, and we even flew some rockets! Harvey had a great flight with a scratch built Red Crayon on an H165 Redline to earn his Level 1 cert ! Great Job Harvey !

Roy had a nice flight on his Polecat Honest John on a K695 Red Line and Larry had a good flight on an I300 Blueline !

Well Back to building the FatBoy.

First the material is cut out. This is a little more difficult than you may think! We found ourselves going cross-eyed following the pattern of the honeycomb. We would cut out all of the peices that we would need for the day at once. Then we would place the breather and release film where the bagging would take place.

Once everything was layed out, we would begin an assembly line process of wetting out glass (2 layers), placing it on the release film, positioning the honeycomb, then wetting out two more layers of glass and putting that on the honey comb. Once we had the bulkheads or stringers stacked up, we would put the top layer of release film and breather on them and then slide everything in to the bag. The bag would get sealed up and then break time.

Our First Bulkhead blank! Only 8 more to go. After they are all done, they will be laser cut !

"Lawn Dart" Larry Joanna "The Dish"

Guy and "Elvis" Jay Jacob "The Freshman"

We have the composite bulkheads and stringer made. This took a little longer than we anticipated, but the 9 composite bulkheads, six 4" stringers and the three double thickness 12" stringers are completed to rough shape.

The glass is ready for wetting out Two stringers ready to be bagged

A job I had to really "get in to" Cutting the stringers from the blanks

We Have Rocket Parts

We have been waiting for confirmation from a source that stated that they would assist us with the cutting, and the help that they gave us was the name of a company that should be able to cut them for us. Ken has been in contact with the company trying to get things arranged to either get them cut or to machine a set of templates for us. The concern from the machining company is that they use a vacuume system to hold the part in place, and they are not sure that the system will hold the bulkhead in place while it is being machined.

On Tuesday (9-5) we got confirmation that the machine company can machine the bulkheads for us, they also said that if we get them the blanks by Thursday, they will have them back to us on Friday !!! This means that this coming weekend we will be assembling the airframe skeleton to include the fin boxes, MMT's wiring harnesses and such in place. Starting next Monday (9-11-05) we will start placing the foam blocks, trimming them, numbering them and then removing them.

Once all of the foam blocks are trimmed and numbered they will be re-installed and glued in place. Once they are in place we can glass the air frame and then start the painting. This is going to be a very busy 29 days !

Joanna has been making good progress on the transporter, things are looking good.

Dont worry this is not how we are getting it to California, but it will be how we get it on the trailer that will carry it to Plaster blaster, to include moving the rocket from the prep area to the launch pad. Additionally, this will be used to assist in standing it up on the launch pad.

Well, this has been an interesting week and weekend. The good news came out about mid-week. We were able to confirm that we had a machine shop to cut the bulkheads for us. The downside was that they were not able to laser cut them. Oh Well we can live with that. Ken picked up the bulk heads on Friday evening.

On Saturday morning Ken was confronted with traffic jams on his way to the rocket shop, which slowed him down. Mean while at the shop, I was working on building the glassing stand. Things were not as smooth as I would have liked. I was off to Home Depot to get the wood boring bit that I needed. Then back home to start working on the stand.

Once I got back home I realized that the 4"x4" legs were not going to work. So I called ken to see where he was at. He informed me that he needed to get black iron pipe for the glassing stand spit and the PVC pipe that we would be using for the launch lug. It was decided that I would wait for his arrival at the shop and we would go to Home Depot together.

Ken get's to the house and we started to check over the bulkheads.

Off to Home Depot we go (Ken's first trip / my second trip of the day). We picked up two 2"x4"'s, two 10' lengths of black iron pipe, a coupler for the pipe, a 10' length of 1.5" PVC pipe, some couplers for that, and Ken got a toy that he had been wanting (a sawzall). Along with a few other odds and ends. Back to the shop to go to work.

Back at the shop we cut one of the lengths of black iron pipe to the lenght that we needed and coupled it to the 10' long black iron pipe. We then went to slide the PVC in place so we could get the bulkheads indexed on the PVC. Well the PVC didn't fit over the coupler on the black iron pipe.

Back to Home Depot (Ken's second trip / my third trip of the day). This time to see if we can find a 20' length of black iron pipe. So we picked up a wood dowel and figured that we could use that to join the black iron pipe. Back to the shop.

Tape up the wood dowel to make it snug in the black iron pipe. Hammered it in to place and joined the two lenghts of pipe. Now the PVC slides on the black iron pipe and we put the bulkheads on the black iron pipe. Oops the O.D. of the PVC is larger than the I.D. of the launch lug holes.

Back to Home Depot (Ken's third trip / my fourth trip of the day) to get two pieces of 1" PVC and some couplers. Back to the shop. YEAH! Everything fits now ! ALMOST.

Ken and I start indexing the bulkheads and we find that there are a few adjustments that need to be made to a couple of them. No problem, we can handle this. But wait the black iron pipe is sagging where the wood dowel is joining them together. Time for a phone call to a friend. Dave likes rocket (fly's them every great now and then) and is a plumber. Hi Dave - Do you have a 20' lenght of 1" black iron pipe I can use ??? You do!!! Thanks I will be there in a few!

Then started trimming the bulkheads that we need to adjust and a few adjustments on the stringers. Hold it, we dont have the correct bit for the dremmel tool. Well how about dinner ?? Good idea.

Sunday morning at about 7:00 a.m. Ken got to the shop. I am drinking my coffee and it's time to go to work. Ken and I start with finishing up some of the trimming that we need to do. Around 8:00 a.m. Guy and Harvey showed up and we continued to work. Trimming Bulkheads and getting to assemble this beast.

Well, Well, Well - It's starting to look like something !

One more quick adjustment - Did I mention that Ken likes his new toy !

There are three lengths of 1/4" all thread that adds stability to the air frame. So we had to spend a few minutes screwing around !

Well we now have a structure that resembles the imported image on the Plaster Blaster web site. We still have a lot of work to do, but in discussing the schedule with the others, we feel that we are ok on time.

On the Evening of September 12, Ken and I had the time to get a few small details wrapped up. We got the stringers and bulkheads glued together and installed the motor mount tubes. We were also able to take care of a few other small items on the check list. The time table is still looking good and the rocket is fully expect to be ready to be painted on September 30th.

Joanna and Larry sent out an e-mail on September 13, with a picture of the completed Transporter !

Man that's a bright yellow ! It should contrast nicely with the red airframe of the Fat Boy.

On Saturday the 16th yet another build session took place, and a lot was accomplished. We were able to get the foam blocks for six of the nine levels trimmed and numbered. Each block of foam was inserted into a bay, hot wire trimed for contour and then sanded to take out any high spots from moving the cutter over the bulkheads. Each block of foam was then removed and number to it's corresponding bay and stacked up.

Trimming the foam to length Trimming the foam to contour

Then sand off the high spots. You can't tell in the picture, but it looked like it was snowing in the shop.

Once the layers were trimmed we took a minute to secure the launch lug in place. Since we are using two sections of PVC pipe, we joined them together with a coupler, leaving some pipe sticking out both ends of the rocket. Couplers were then cut in half using a dremmel tool and the interior ridge trimmed out. We then glued these onto the PVC at several location on both side of a bulkhead to keep the launch lug from sliding around in the air frame.

Then it was on to the fin boxes. We measured the location of the mounting holes in the fins and then drilled a matching hole in the fin box. We will use 1/4-20 all thread to secure the fins into the fin boxes. In checking the alignment' we found that one of the holes at the bottom of one of the fins did not line up with the top hole. We had to figure this out!. After drilling an inspection hole' we found that we missed the alignment channel by 1/4". The hole that we drilled was filled with JB Weld, and we will redrill it later (in the correct location!)

After the holes were drilled' we installed the fin boxes on to the air frame. This was done by using a fair amount of construction adhesive on the fin box and then slinding it in to place and clamping it down. We will let these sit over night to make sure we get a good bone.

After lunch we began installing the foam blocks. Each numbered block was glued into place using the construction adhesive and tapped into place. We were able to get four rows glued into place. We were also able to do the one thing that we did not want to do and warned ourselves about to ensure that we did not !

We installed the foam in level nine, and then realized that we should have left it out so the launch lug can be trimmed to the bottom of bulkhead #8, right below the parachute bay! After a brief discussion it was determined that Roy's arms will be long enough that he can reach in and trim the launch lug using the dremmel tool. This way the parachute bay will fit correctly.

Sunday was another busy day !Jacob came down from ASU to help us out. Hope he still gets his home work done so we dont get yelled at for taking away his study time !

We started by filling the first level with the EPS Foam, as we did with the other levels. Once that was done we wrapped the level with palastic wrap to ensure that the foam would stay in place. Then we moved on to the fun part of the day!

We moved the rocket from the shop to the driveway so we could have it standing up-right when we put the two part foam in. This will lock in the fin boxes and add stability to the fincan.

It's starting to look like a real rocket !

After the two part foam was poured we concentrated on getting the electrical bay's built. There will be two and each will house altimeters and the on board camera's.

As kens and Jacob worked on the bays, I tooks a few pictures and then cut the bay covers out of the 36" sono tube.

Well we had a busy weekend, and got a lot of things accomplished. On Saturday we had the vast majority of the team at the shop (all of the major players were there). This was a good thing since this was the day that we had set as the glassing party. One of the keystone dates of the build. If the air frame did not get glassed today, we were in trouble.

The morning got up to a late start. Ken overslept a bit and was about an hour late getting to the shop, but we did not mind, those of us that were there for the 8:00 a.m. start were treated to a little Brad type treat.

Brad definately knows how to keep a crowd entertained. Here he was showing us how he comes up with his bulbous rocket designs !

Once ken got to the shop, we started working on things, and the list was not a very short one. We began by shaping the forward section of the rocket. Harvey went at it with a sanding block, and had things looking good. Then we started to make the nose cap.

Once the nose cap blank was cut out, we used the hot wire cutter to trim it to the rough shape. We then used a sanding belt that we cut open and attached to a long board to sand it to the final shape. It worked very nicely and gave us a very smooth surface. Nice enough to make Ken happy.

After the nose cap was ready, we began working on the E / C Bays. These will not only house the electronics, but two of the on board cameras. We cut the foam blocks so that the E / C Bays would fit inside of them and glued the foam around the E / C Bays. Then installed them into the proper position on the air frame.

While the E / C bays were being dry fit and installed, Brad and Jacob went to work on the nose cap. It was covered with a total of 5 layers of glass and came out as smooth as well glass !

Larry and Joanna finally got to the shop, after a flat tire on the way down from Bagdad, which delayed them for an hour while they were getting it replaced. When they arrived they showed off the transported that Joanna built for the rocket.

This gives you a little better idea of the scale of the transporter than the previous picture !

Well now it was time to start glassing the air frame. All 27 yards of glass were precut and ready to go. Roy got an early start pre-measuring several bowls of resin so that he could keep up with the other eight people glassing. Then it was time to start the party.

Once the air frame was glassed we applied release film and breather. Then we wrapped the everything in a palletizing wrap. That proved to be fun. Larry and Harvey were starting to get dizzy trying to keep the plastic wrap lined up.

On Sunday morning we went out to the shop to unwrap the air frame, and "Houston - We Have A Problem!"

WRINKLES

Wrapping the air frame was a little more difficult than we anticipated. The breather kept wanting to fall off, so it was taped into place. As we were wrapping the air frame there were nasty wrinkles forming that were not caught. The good news is that it is just the excess resin that has the wrinkles NOT the glass itself.

The reasoning behind wrapping the air frame in this manner was to prevent the wet-out glass from falling off the air frame. It did work, but was not our best idea. In thinking back to the Saturn V we did not have a problem with the glass falling off, but we are always trying new things, and that is why we accept our mistakes (as long as we learn from them).

The wrinkles are going to cause a little problem, but we have already scheduled a work session to sand the air frame and get it ready for glassing. Yes we are still on schedule !

CRUCH TIME

As always, the weekend before a launch of this size is crunch time! We had a lot to get done and stayed busy all weekend. Install electronics, wire electronics bays, write the wiring checklist, trim a little here, trim a little there, program the cameras, ensure that the electronics are properly talking to each other (we do not want the problem that caused us to scrub the original Saturn V launch date). Then pack the parachutes in the deployment bags, check the fit of the packed parachutes in the chute bay (perfect). Cut the fiberglass away from the fin boxes and tape them up so we dont get paint in there. The list goes on and on and on.

We got it done ! Well it's painted but we did not get the graphics put on it yet. That will happen tonight. I was going to do it on Monday, but it is a little difficult for one person to make sure that vinyl letters that size are wrinkle free. Here are a few shots to hold you over.

Jacob has a little experience in painting with a paint sprayer

Roy is getting a quick lesson in using the sprayer. Unfortunately the picture does not tell the entire story. It seems that Roy likes to swing his entire arm, like you are not supposed to.

Ken is an old pro at this

No this is not sewing class. We found that with the Rocket Rage chutes (RRQS 150) the center shroud line is shorter then the rest. I was marking it so when I put them in the d-bag, it could be identified and left out of the last loop so things were neater and still pulled free correctly.

Ken and Guy are driving down to the Rocket Shop tonight so we can take care of some of the last minute details that we need to get finished. On Wednesday morning we will load the transported on to the trailer, and then the rocket on to the transporter and get ready to head to Plaster Blaster with an expected arrival time of mid-afternoon.

For those that are following the build, We are planning on flying on Saturday sometime around mid morning. If you can make it to the launch please stop by and say hello !

Wednesday, October 3, 2006

We departed the shop at 0940 hours Arizona time headed to Plaster City, all was well. Ken was in the lead pulling the trailer with the Fat Boy on the transporter, followed by Guy in his truck and Roy bringing up the rear in the motor home. We made good time, averaging 65 m.p.h. between the Shop and Yuma. We stopped at Fortuna Road in Yuma for fuel and food at 1215. after about one hour we were back under way.

While we were at lunch we remembered that we did not have the six pieces of all-thread that we needed to secure the fins in place. Guy jumped out in front of us, seeing how he was able to run at 70 m.p.h. while Ken and I were stuck at 55. This worked out nicely, and allowed Guy to stop at the 4^th Ave. Home Depot in El Centro and pick up the all-thread and a few other small miscellaneous items that we felt we might need.

Ken and I stopped on Dunaway Road to wait for Guy to catch up with us. He was only 5 minutes behind us after his stop. We then discussed putting the fins on the rocket for the final leg in to Plaster City. Due to a glitch in the vinyl graphics on the fins we decided not to do this. Off we go. As Ken went over the railroad tracks the hitch came off the ball and sparks started flying!!! Thank God for safety chains – They saved all of us from crying.

Once we hitched the trailer back up, cleaned out our shorts and started back on the road. We arrived at the launch field at about 3:15 to find that the wind was against us. This was not ideal as we had things that we wanted to get done as far as last minute details. Oh well this will be an evening to relax and visit with old friends, and make a few new ones. After dinner we headed over to What’s Up Hobbies to help out with loading 1000+ motors and igniters for the mosquito mass launch. This was hours of fun for all that helped out. Then some more chatting and off to bed.

Thursday morning winds blew and things were not any better! The weather report was for 10 to 20 mile an hour winds through out the day. This put a cramp in the plans for the work we needed to get done, but allowed us to concentrate on some of the electronic details and the camera’s that will be on board.

There were a few flights today; I even took the time to fly an Initiator on a F-20-4 with a 12” parachute so I could recover it in the same county! Larry had a couple of flights on the single stage cat toy. There were a few high power flight to include two or three I-300’s. There were even a couple of CATO’s. I guess it’s best to get them out f the way before the big crowds show up. The bad news was that the weather forecast for Friday is more of the same – Wind! I guess we will have to wait and see. Keep your fingers crossed.

1200 p.m. Friday – The weather has not changed. We are still sitting here in 20 to 30 mile per hour with predictions of 5 to 15 m.p.h. on Saturday. There is some discussion of sacrificing an initiator to the wind god. We are still not sure if that will work or not.

No-Chute flew the first flight of the day, an Initiator on an F50- and it was recovered and able to fly again. After that a few more brave soles hit the flight line and a few dozen flights were recorded.

We are hoping to have a chance to fly the Fat boy on Saturday. It will depend on the wind. With the fins we can’t fly in much more than a 3 – 5 m.p.h. wind. Friday Night the winds kept blowing and it does not look like it is letting up !

Saturday Morning: Our flights in the wind must have appeased that wind because when we got up this morning the wind was gone !!! Time to start working on fat Albert’s prep. Motors Loaded, Parachutes Packed, Ejection Charges loaded, On the transporter, and Off to the pad!

In the mean time some of the team members had a few great flights! Lawn Dart Larry Foster's Black Cat and 2 Stage Cat Toy were very Nice.

Roy No-Chute Polmanteer flew Rescue 343 for L2 on a J540 Redline for a beautiful Dual Deploy flight - and got both parachutes out right on time just like planned !

Jay "Elvis" Dennis and Jacob "The Freshman" Dennis had a spectacular flight on their Up Scale Drake with not damage what so ever!

Now it's off to the pad with Fat Albert ! Here is a pictorial of the events !

Signed, sealed and ready for delivery

Ken giving he safety breifing

Starting Up

Getting Closer

Checking the launch rod alignment

Vertical

Turning it so the FATBOY faces the flight line

Team Picture

The above eight images by P. Vanderschaegen

LIFT OFF

Off the pad with 3 M1550 redlines!

Climbing at 635fps or 433mph

Rising Majestically in the sky

Approachng apogee at 1500 feet

Drogue Chute Coming Out

Drogue Chute Pulling Out The Three Rocket Rage RRQS150 Main's

Under Main With The Drogue Visible

This Speaks For Itself !!!

The above nine photographs by M. Stoops

At this time we are converting the on-board video, and digitizing the ground based video. As soon as that is done we will be posting it to the site!

As for Fat Ablert, we are planning on launching again at the G. Harry Stein Launch in Phoenix, Arizona on the last weekend of October. If you live close we look forward to seeing you at the launch.

MORE PICTURES WILL BE POSTED AS SOON AS I HAVE THEM

Well after al long wait we have some video. I have been holding off hoping that someone would send me some gorund based video. At this time no one has sent me any, so I am going to post the On-Board video that we have. If anyone sends me any I will post it then.

Until the next update

May all of your flights be stright and all of your landings be soft.