Hey guys,
From the whiplash build, I scraped a straight section about 15 inches for my av bay and had to cut 12 inches off the airframe so I have a spare straight section of blue tube 12 inches long 1.5 inches. If anybody wants it, I live in narangba 4504 qld or if you want me to ship it, PM me and we can work something out

Regards,
Mathew

Why don't you just keep it in case you need it one day? would make a perfect motor mount for a bigger rocket.

I was thinking about that but it will be a while until I use a 38mm. Or is that a subtle hint

Guy, your offer is very kind, but I agree with Blake that you should keep it for a MM. You will be surprised how quickly you will want just such a piece of tube.

Indeed. Well I got nothing else to do at 12am. Might as well design a 4 inch . Blake, would you happen to sell a 4 inch av bay with the sled and stuff for dual deployment. What tube should I be using for a 4 inch rocket. Not this year or this season even but maybe as a "Coming home from googa project(Googa=1 month camp with school). I come back in april so maybe. I now even have a dual deployment alitmeter and epiglue.

I think im going to buy myself a present if I do googa without fail. The present will be a 1/4th patriot with retainer and other upgrades. It will give me something to look forward to on the 2km runs each morning for the entire month.

I know Blake sells 4" blue tube av bay kits, I purchased a 3" version from him a while ago. I have not had a chance to use it yet but I'm pretty sure it contains everything you will need except a switch and altimeter.

I have had a look at some of those blue tube bays and I have thought about it and Ive decided to just buy a kit. The 1/4 Patriot seems fitting so I had better start working. A few upgrades and such. It comes with a 12 inch bay so that should be plenty room for a few "goodies".

Fcuking blasphemy!

Have you no sense man, scratch you Patriot from specs that are available here, then seek Cryoscum's approval of your design!

Use money saved from not buying a kit, to buy your level one and two hardware from CDI. $141USD for a 38-720 motor and a 360 case

Be quick, limited stock.

I had done some calculations about that. It would cost a little more to scratch build (base on rough estimates) and I would have to slot the tube and get the fins cut. True my dremel would do that but the Precut fins would be more Precise. So its about $135 for buying the kit and about $175 for scrathbuilding.

G'day gents,

As you would have noticed I do enjoy scratch building and it is my method of choice, but I built many-a-kit before getting into scratch building. Have a look at the thread where I screwed up my level 1 certification, because I didn't have a clue, and that on a kit too!
Mat, I really think you need to not get ahead of yourself by jumping into the deep end. Get a stack of successful flights behind you with the rockets you have, fix them up and improve on them. Yes, I scratch build all the time, but no offense, I'm nearly 40 years old, have 2 design related university degrees, have been using computer aided design software for nearly 20 years and have been building all sorts of things for 30 years. In addition to this you would be shocked at how much money I blow on the hobby to have reached the point I'm at now and I STILL don't have a clue!

May I suggest that the fastest way you'll get the experience you need to advance would be to, for now, steer clear of scratch building and first get your build skills up to scratch, i.e. build several kits, I suggest 3 at least. Fly them at least 10 times with a 100% complete success rate, fly them on C to G motors and be 100% confident of them before you try to move on to HPR. Getting the rocket to fly straight and hold together is only half the task completed. Clean, efficient and well timed deployments are just as important. Spend time on this and become an expert in it, then move on. I'm afraid you'll also need to gain some years to really get into HPR. I followed this route, as did 99% of the people you have met at the launches. (I can only really think of one person that went a different route, and it causes challenges later).

Even though I'm no longer in Bracken Ridge you'll still see me at the launches, so we can discuss then. Don't lose your enthusiasm, but being a loose cannon can be just as fatal to success.

Nic

I find scratch building quite fun and more satisfactory. I might instead put the $200 I will have put away for the patriot into doing a mass order to krusty and getting a few body tubes, nosecones and etc and build a few 29mm rockets. I think 5 or 6 of them should be ok. No electronics. Just deploy nose at apogee and such. The BT 80 and 70 should serve as a good base and 30m of 200 lb Kevlar will do them. I agree completely about the learning curve as well.

Mat, WHAT NIC SAID is exactly true !! I personally had over 30 LPR launches behind me before doing app. same number of MPR launches and only then ventured into HPR ! NOTHING beats building and FLYING rockets rockets for experience, that is the best way to learn. I have now logged 220 successful launches ( luckily only few duds) and I STILL DON"T KNOW ANYTHING !

Don't take my post too seriously Matt, it was written with tongue firmly in cheek, the point I was making is the Patriot is quite a basic rocket, you can build one with expensive materials and electronics etc, or you can go for a simple engine deploy and cardboard body tube with plywood fins, what ever your budget can cope with.

Also, Ari and Nic do have very valid points with regards to your experience level and High power motors, a kit of known performance in the 29mm hobbyline power level is a good way for you to learn the basics. That 1/4 scale kit made from Quantum tube should be quite durable, and Blake's price is very reasonable considering what's included, but do check with him on the power requirements, ask him to recommend a kit for the 29mm hobbyline motors. Build one rocket at a time and carry over lessons learned from one build to the next, buying every thing in bulk at one time may save you a few bucks but doesn't offer you any flexibility if you change your mind down the track.

Mike.

100% spot-on!