Since Martlet 1 is a multi-stage rocket, we decided it would be great to have video of the stages separating, so we’ve installed an HD video camera in the fillet of the stage 3 fins. The camera is a #11 HD808 keyfob ‘spycam’, which with a LiPo battery upgrade can give 2 hours worth of …
Lots of progress on the Martlet 1 rocket. The last few days we have bonded a lot of components, using a variety of alignment jigs machined on our CNC router. The machined aluminium leading edges have been bonded into the C-F honeycomb that forms the fin structure, for stages 1 and 3. Together they form …
We’ve now bonded the coupling rings into the airframe sections of the Martlet 1 rocket, shown standing together in the photo below (from left Stage3 Stage2 Stage1). We have also cut down the nosecone to fit our rocket diameter. The rocket nosecone was sent in record time from MadCowRocketry in the states. It’s filament wound …
We’ve now bonded in the coupling rings for the stage 3 parachute section. The parachute section is coupled to the motor section by an aluminium bulkhead. The parachute section contains two parachutes: (1) a small sprung parachute, that is deployed at high altitude to bring the rocket down quickly but safely, (2) a large main …
Martlet 1 stage 3 parachute section rings bonded Read More »
Today we epoxied in the coupling rings for the motor section of the 3rd stage of the Martlet 1 rocket. We used a jig to align the rings at either end of the rocket, and to align the holes that locate the fins. There are two 6mm pins on each fin that go through the …
We’ve recieved all of the coupling rings and assemblies from our manufacturing sponsor, Cambridge Precision. There are 3 copies of the bulkheads that hold together the motor sections and parachute sections of each stage. There are also 3 copies of the coupling rings that hold the front of one rocket stage to the back of …
We’ve put together a concept design for the launch rail for the Martlet 1 rocket. The rail concept has a 6m truss tower, standing on a base made from standard scaffolding tubes. The tower stands on a hinged plate, that is raise and lowered using guy ropes and winches. The base is held into the …
Today we received the Martlet 1 centering rings from our machining sponsor, Cambridge Precision. The rings are turned from Nylon 6/6. The first sets of rings are to centre the rocket motors in the motor sections. The rings also have 3 radial holes to locate the fins into, and one axial hole for a wiring …
Today we headed to Cambridge Precision, our local machining sponsors. They are making all of the coupling rings for the 3-stage Martlet 1 rocket. We visited their R&D department today, to see the first version of the parts. After the anodisation process, some of the parts were no longer a sliding fit, so sadly we …
The carbon fibre airframe arrived today for the airframe. It is 118ID 122OD, made from 50% axial 50% circumferential uni directional per-preg, with a working temperature of 180 degrees C. The manufacturing process uses spiral wound heat shrink trape, so the surface has been ground smooth to get rid of the spiral ridges. They’re still …
