Not letting the work bench get cold between builds. Following the restoration of the CUBIX I decided it was time to grab another from the box. Yes the box of forgotten rockets is deep and wide and the pile grows larger every week as I've never found a forgotten collection I can turn down.
This time we're looking at an Estes U.S. Army Patriot M-104. There are actually three of them in the box waiting but I promise not to bore you with rebuilding each one.
On the surface it doesn't really look all that bad and in all honesty, I could have replaced the shock cord and probably gotten a few flights out of it the way it was. Upon closer inspection it looks like it was built by someone just getting into rocketry as there are a couple of the common first timer issues present here.
On the first pic we see the a lot of first timer issues. Decals not cut along the lines and poorly applied etc. If we look closer we can see that the yellow upper tube isn't seated against the main body tube. The coupler obviously got stuck when they were inserting it and they just left it as is and covered t with electrical tape.
Also note that the motor mount tube is sticking out the rear about 1/2 and inch. Other common problems are the normal stuff, sloppy fillets and glue everywhere. Surprisingly three of the four fins were perfectly straight and aligned. Only one needed to be removed and reattached.
Time to get naked. Removing the decals was pretty easy except for the electrical tape. Here we can see where that coupler got stuck leaving a large gap between the upper and lower tube. The builder did a good job of filling it with glue for strength but its got to go. Removing the upper decal also peeled off a top couple of layer of the tube. Overall it appears that we have a solid rocket to start with.
At this point it was time to start cutting stuff up. I knew I needed to replace a section of body tube as there is no fixing that coupler issue. Since I was already replacing a portion I decided to go down far enough to get past the weakened section where the outer layer peeled off as well. While I was at to I removed the one misaligned fin. The Motor mount also came right out in my hand with little to no pressure so that statement earlier about getting another flight out of it as is was a bit premature.
Now guys, I'm not going to lie. The idea of simply attaching the nose cone and making a pygmy version did cross my mind and in all honesty, I think I will do this with one of the others in the pile. I think it would be a fun little rocket.
Time to plan the reassembly. The nose cone, fins and lower portion of the body are all reusable. Below is a pic of everything that is going into this rocket to make it air worthy again.
I've checked the body tube length and cut a section to bring the length back to stock. I'll be using a 4" coupler that I believe came from Apogee. Since we're doing a coupler we might as well make it a baffle. I cut four plates for the baffle from 3/16 lite ply. We're also adding a plywood centering ring sourced from BMS for the upper ring. Since the stock paper rings came out so cleanly, I have glued them together effectively doubling the strength and will be reusing them for the lower ring. The stock motor tube will be reused and a motor block will be added as well.
Reassembly begins tomorrow.
This time we're looking at an Estes U.S. Army Patriot M-104. There are actually three of them in the box waiting but I promise not to bore you with rebuilding each one.
On the surface it doesn't really look all that bad and in all honesty, I could have replaced the shock cord and probably gotten a few flights out of it the way it was. Upon closer inspection it looks like it was built by someone just getting into rocketry as there are a couple of the common first timer issues present here.
On the first pic we see the a lot of first timer issues. Decals not cut along the lines and poorly applied etc. If we look closer we can see that the yellow upper tube isn't seated against the main body tube. The coupler obviously got stuck when they were inserting it and they just left it as is and covered t with electrical tape.
Also note that the motor mount tube is sticking out the rear about 1/2 and inch. Other common problems are the normal stuff, sloppy fillets and glue everywhere. Surprisingly three of the four fins were perfectly straight and aligned. Only one needed to be removed and reattached.
Time to get naked. Removing the decals was pretty easy except for the electrical tape. Here we can see where that coupler got stuck leaving a large gap between the upper and lower tube. The builder did a good job of filling it with glue for strength but its got to go. Removing the upper decal also peeled off a top couple of layer of the tube. Overall it appears that we have a solid rocket to start with.
At this point it was time to start cutting stuff up. I knew I needed to replace a section of body tube as there is no fixing that coupler issue. Since I was already replacing a portion I decided to go down far enough to get past the weakened section where the outer layer peeled off as well. While I was at to I removed the one misaligned fin. The Motor mount also came right out in my hand with little to no pressure so that statement earlier about getting another flight out of it as is was a bit premature.
Now guys, I'm not going to lie. The idea of simply attaching the nose cone and making a pygmy version did cross my mind and in all honesty, I think I will do this with one of the others in the pile. I think it would be a fun little rocket.
Time to plan the reassembly. The nose cone, fins and lower portion of the body are all reusable. Below is a pic of everything that is going into this rocket to make it air worthy again.
I've checked the body tube length and cut a section to bring the length back to stock. I'll be using a 4" coupler that I believe came from Apogee. Since we're doing a coupler we might as well make it a baffle. I cut four plates for the baffle from 3/16 lite ply. We're also adding a plywood centering ring sourced from BMS for the upper ring. Since the stock paper rings came out so cleanly, I have glued them together effectively doubling the strength and will be reusing them for the lower ring. The stock motor tube will be reused and a motor block will be added as well.
Reassembly begins tomorrow.
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