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- Nov 5, 2016
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This is my build a the Zephyr from Apogee Components. I didn't think I was ready for high power rocketry & was progressing from low power into medium power rockets of increasing complexity with no real aspirations to launch H+ motors. Mostly my focus has been on clustering black powder motors. First a 3 cluster 2 stage 1:90 scale Falcon Heavy and then a 3 cluster 2 stage 1:88 scale Delta IV Heavy. Then a 1:65 scale Falcon 9 Crew Dragon with nine motors and two stages. So the natural progression was to do a 1:65 scale Falcon Heavy. That last project unintentionally exceeded the 125g propellent limit for medium power rockets, so I'm building this Zephyr to get my level 1 certification just so that I can fly the Falcon Heavy. Or so I thought...
At first I felt like this was a set back. I read the NAR guidelines carefully and even contacted the NAR High Power Rockets Chairman (John E Thompson) hoping to use my Falcon Heavy as my Level 1 qualifying rocket. John was super helpful and informed me that, in fact, to get a Level 1 certification the rocket must have an H or I motor. John said:
After double checking the requirements on the NAR page for sanity sake.
Item number 4 for level states the following:
**at least one of the individual motors must be an H or I impulse motor**
4: The Level 1 High Power Certification Candidate must demonstrate their ability to build and fly a rocket containing at least one H or I impulse class motor. Cluster or staged models used for certification may not contain over 640.00 Newton seconds total impulse. In the case of a cluster or staged model, at least one of the individual motors must be an H or I impulse motor. Combinations of smaller impulse motors that add up to meet the impulse requirements do not qualify as the model does not contain at least one H or I impulse motor. Single use, reloadable, or hybrid technology motors are permitted. The Level 1 High Power Certification Candidate must assemble the reloadable motor, if used, in the presence of a Certification Team member.**
https://www.nar.org/high-power-rocketry-info/level-1-hpr-certification-procedures/
So I started working on the Zephyr and looking for a club that does high power launches in the summer after the California clubs all go into hibernation for the fire season. I found the ROCKONN Northern Nevada Rocket Club & plan to do my Level 1 certification attempt at their next club launch on May 21st.
And so I've been working on the Zephyr & I have to admit, I'm really excited about this rocket! The instructions are very straightforward and all of the materials are well made. Because their is nothing to design (all of my other rockets were scratch built) and I'm not modeling a real rocket, I focused my efforts on doing something that would look sick on the pad and hopefully come back in one piece.
For the body tubes I decided to go for a red lightning effect:
This is done by applying Rustoleum Primer directly over a base coat of Rustoluem Sunrise Red while the Red paint is still wet.
The effect is subtle. From the distances it just looks black. But when you look closer, it draws you in..
For the nose cone and fins, I just did the Rustoleum Sunrise Red.
All of the parts required multiple coats of paint with wet sanding between each coat. I had to be extra careful with the body tubes since they are just cardboard and don't like water.
Now that I have everything painted, I can move on to finish the final assembly.
I'm really enjoying working on a project of this size and really looking forward to the launch.
At first I felt like this was a set back. I read the NAR guidelines carefully and even contacted the NAR High Power Rockets Chairman (John E Thompson) hoping to use my Falcon Heavy as my Level 1 qualifying rocket. John was super helpful and informed me that, in fact, to get a Level 1 certification the rocket must have an H or I motor. John said:
After double checking the requirements on the NAR page for sanity sake.
Item number 4 for level states the following:
**at least one of the individual motors must be an H or I impulse motor**
4: The Level 1 High Power Certification Candidate must demonstrate their ability to build and fly a rocket containing at least one H or I impulse class motor. Cluster or staged models used for certification may not contain over 640.00 Newton seconds total impulse. In the case of a cluster or staged model, at least one of the individual motors must be an H or I impulse motor. Combinations of smaller impulse motors that add up to meet the impulse requirements do not qualify as the model does not contain at least one H or I impulse motor. Single use, reloadable, or hybrid technology motors are permitted. The Level 1 High Power Certification Candidate must assemble the reloadable motor, if used, in the presence of a Certification Team member.**
https://www.nar.org/high-power-rocketry-info/level-1-hpr-certification-procedures/
So I started working on the Zephyr and looking for a club that does high power launches in the summer after the California clubs all go into hibernation for the fire season. I found the ROCKONN Northern Nevada Rocket Club & plan to do my Level 1 certification attempt at their next club launch on May 21st.
And so I've been working on the Zephyr & I have to admit, I'm really excited about this rocket! The instructions are very straightforward and all of the materials are well made. Because their is nothing to design (all of my other rockets were scratch built) and I'm not modeling a real rocket, I focused my efforts on doing something that would look sick on the pad and hopefully come back in one piece.
For the body tubes I decided to go for a red lightning effect:
This is done by applying Rustoleum Primer directly over a base coat of Rustoluem Sunrise Red while the Red paint is still wet.
The effect is subtle. From the distances it just looks black. But when you look closer, it draws you in..
For the nose cone and fins, I just did the Rustoleum Sunrise Red.
All of the parts required multiple coats of paint with wet sanding between each coat. I had to be extra careful with the body tubes since they are just cardboard and don't like water.
Now that I have everything painted, I can move on to finish the final assembly.
I'm really enjoying working on a project of this size and really looking forward to the launch.
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