L3 Page 4


	What's New L3 page updated 2-22-04 Construction Begins BATFE at it again! The BATFE is reportedly working on a video to show model rockets shooting down an aircraft. John Wickman has created a compromise bill which is much closer to the original S.724 proposed by Sen. Enzi, John hopes that the Senators will approve of this version. S.724 on hold! NY & NJ Senator's vow to filibuster the bill Senator Enzi's Bill S724 makes it through committee, but not as originally written. Bill now exempts APCP based hobby motors up to .9 pounds. Storage requirements exempted for up to 25 pounds total. The hobby needs your support! Give to the NAR/TRA legal fund. Join ARSA and support the legislative effort. And most important of all, buy stuff, support the vendors at this difficult time.

L3 Page 4

Construction 2-28/29-04

This weekends goal was to finish the main parts for the nosecone assembly and begin the motor tube construction. Since it is still a little too cold in the storage area I use as a shop I brought the nosecone inside, the two part foam doesn't expand as well at lower temperatures.

To better anchor the threaded rod into the nosecone and "beef up" the top half I decided to fill it with urethane foam (2 part expanding). If I need to add weight to the nose it will also have the added benefit of cushioning the nose from the weight if there is a hard landing. Trust me, if there is a rock on the field for the nose to hit I will manage to find it. To prevent the fiberglass nosecone from getting too hot, the foaming was done as three pours.

For the aft centering ring I decided to double the thickness, two centering rings were glued together and glued to the motor mount tube. Since this is a wood/wood and wood/phenolic joint I elected to use a polyurethane glue (elmer's probond). This glue was used on my modified Bruiser-EXP with impressive results. This type of glue requires moisture to cure properly so the surfaces were dampened lightly before applying the glue. Prior to this the centering ring that would face forward was marked for the fin locations. After curing overnight I used a piece of angle stock to extend the lines up the tube to allow accurate fin placement. Then a coupler was inserted into the tube so I couple line up the AeroPac retainer and drill the holes for the threaded inserts.

Nosecone after foaming

A 2 part expanding foam was poured into the nosecone to further anchor the threaded rod and provide additional strength.

Drilling nosecone bulkplate

Three 3/8 inch holes are drilled though the bulkplate. The center one is for the threaded rod to pass through, the other two are for the u-bolt.

U-Bolt attached

The u-bolt is now attached to the bulkplate, the recovery harness, pilot chute and deployment bag will attach to this point.

U-Bolt back side

Here is a view of the backside, the threaded rod will pass directly through the backing plate for the u-bolt. This way the loads will pass directly through to the threaded rod running the length of the nosecone. This should make for an extremely strong attach point.