Build Thread - Estes Venus Probe
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arconhi
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Good Pics John. You got a photo of the Venusian in his ship after his successful landing. I wish I could have gotten him a bit closer. It was a great day of flying. I have more videos to upload. Thanks again for a great day.
View attachment venus probe rf.mp4
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You are now certified to make forum jokes about “the mothership.”
I got one of these in a collection I purchased and flew it on a C5-3. Was way under powered.
Decided to rebuild it with a 24mm mount that would allow use of the D and E motors. Also added a baffle to the forward tube. Have flown it twice on a D12-3 with great success. Obviously no additional nose weight needed. Looking forward to putting E30 in it when I have a bit more room.
Decided to rebuild it with a 24mm mount that would allow use of the D and E motors. Also added a baffle to the forward tube. Have flown it twice on a D12-3 with great success. Obviously no additional nose weight needed. Looking forward to putting E30 in it when I have a bit more room.
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Glad your results were better than mine. I used a standard BT-50 for a motor mount, in combination with the baffle i added, the standard BT-50 tube blew out. Not that surprising, the combination of a baffle, a small forward body tube, two parachutes in a tight space, and a heavy nose cone equivalent for my bird was too much back pressure for a regular BT-50. Interestingly it worked great on the ExoSkell, which is somewhat similar.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/venus-probe-yes-i-do-build-kits-once-in-a-while.121864/
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/venus-probe-1-2-of-a-successful-flight.126148/
Really glad then that I didn't fly it on a C5 after weighing it to 6 ounces. I have a D13W reload I also want to try it on. I think it will be a little more dramatic than the D16. My one complaint about Q-jets is the burn being so quick.
Are you sure a C5 not a C6 because I suggested a few weeks back to try a C5 since again my Venus flew slightly under powered but not grossly......it gave a slow liftoff to maybe 200-250 feet...always deployed chutes. So after hearing about those C5s last year....I figured it would do the job.
I think the differences may be semantic. @Back_at_it says "grossly underpowered, @jrap330 says slightly under powered; it depends on one's viewpoint. When I flew mine on a C6-3 I could have called it either! It was a very short flight, as jrap330 says, to 200-250 ft. But the C5 doesn't add much, if any total impulse so I'm not surprised that the C5 would give a similar low altitude.
I flew mine on a Quest D16-4 last winter and it was much better, about 40% more total impulse.
ETA: Just had a quick look at both the C5 and C6 class at thrustcurve.org and both have similar total impulse; if anything, the C5 is a hair less on total impulse. It just has that large initial thrust, but its sustained thrust is lower than that of a C6.
Were I to build another, it would be a 24mm. But a D16-4 does fine for 18mm.
I flew mine on a Quest D16-4 last winter and it was much better, about 40% more total impulse.
ETA: Just had a quick look at both the C5 and C6 class at thrustcurve.org and both have similar total impulse; if anything, the C5 is a hair less on total impulse. It just has that large initial thrust, but its sustained thrust is lower than that of a C6.
Were I to build another, it would be a 24mm. But a D16-4 does fine for 18mm.
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I agree with you. The C5-3 only put it up around 300-325ft. That doesn't really give it time to open the chutes and slow down before touch down. After making the change to 24mm, I'm much happier with the flights on the D12-3. I'm getting right at 525ft out of it which is perfect for my field.
I did consider replacing the motor mount tube with a piece of BT-50 from my stash, but decided I liked the aesthetic of the skinny lower tube, plus 18mm composite D's now exist for those underpowered 18mm rockets.
Since this has all come up, all weekend I've been designing a new booster in my head for my alien Elvis and his spacecraft. Then I stopped in at the local hobby shop and they're going to start stocking Aerotech, so I ordered (kinda on impulse) an RM18/20 case and a set of reloads. Still, I can use that in any of my 18 mm, including the Redstone; my little guy might get a new booster this winter anyway. Ultimate launch flexibility! C or D impulse in the orginal, Heaven only knows in the new one! Figure you have a blank slate, all you have to do is have room for the laundry and his big head in a tube of the correct diameter, below that you can do what you want!
I happened upon this from another post link and wanted to chime in that Testors plastic model cement seemed fine for mine and maybe held a bit too well...
Not sure if it was the landing (on a sod field though) or the legs whipping out (new suggestion to me, but possible), but I've just repaired it with more plastic cement and may try lighter weight elastic cords for the legs.
I've flown it twice and most recent was 2021 with a D16-4 when the damage occurred, but it did land upright!
EDIT: "Take me to your repair facility!"
Not sure if it was the landing (on a sod field though) or the legs whipping out (new suggestion to me, but possible), but I've just repaired it with more plastic cement and may try lighter weight elastic cords for the legs.
I've flown it twice and most recent was 2021 with a D16-4 when the damage occurred, but it did land upright!
EDIT: "Take me to your repair facility!"
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I had exactly the same thing happen after a number of flights.I happened upon this from another post link and wanted to chime in that Testors plastic model cement seemed fine for mine and maybe held a bit too well...
View attachment 553754
Not sure if it was the landing (on a sod field though) or the legs whipping out (new suggestion to me, but possible), but I've just repaired it with more plastic cement and may try lighter weight elastic cords for the legs.
I've flown it twice and most recent was 2021 with a D16-4 when the damage occurred, but it did land upright!
