Valkyrie 3 A shameless upscale of my BT60 Valkyrie design... |
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Sorry folks, but this story kinda sorta like starts from the middle; This was my first time in doing fiberglass work, my first time doing electronics, and my first time doing a bird with dual deployment. So in a concentrated effort not to go and mess something up royally, I didn't want to get distracted or sidetracked by taking my usual build thread photos... Instead I created a sweet looking almost 7' tall bird tipping scales at about 130 oz w/o motor. She had her successful Heads-up flight at NEFAR on 10-13-2007 on Jim Harris' magnificent J 365 Black Lightning Gorilla motor... |
On top are two lift-off shots, the one on right courtesy of Thanks Jim, your Black Lightning Rocks ! That fine looking gentleman on the obligatory before shot is my darling husband Bill, who usually helps around at the launches while trying to put up with my obsession... |
Her airframe is made of 3" LOC heavy wall tubing (3.18" od) that I glassed using 10oz. Aerosleeve fiberglass sock and US Composites thin epoxy with medium hardener. Giant Leap 3" pinnacle nosecone had a little bit of a step down due to the tube od thickness, so I laminated it with 2 layups of 6oz cloth to make for a smooth transition. Forward fins are 3/16" baltic ply, main fins are 1/4" of the same. Fins got attached to 18" long PML 54mm phenolic motor tube with epoxy / chopped fiberglass mix, then laid up tip to tip over the mmt with 6 oz cloth. After I cut the fin slots and epoxied the fincan in the booster tube, I ran another layup of 6oz fiberglass cloth tip to tip, this time over the booster tube. Oughta stay put... Centering rings I whipped out of 1/2" baltic birch ply that I just happened have around the house from an earlier canned project... Avionics bay is figured for a HiAlt45 juicing up Newtons 3rd's small charge canisters. Full charge for 60" main and half a charge for 30" drogue. An Aeropack tailcone retainer keeps the motor absolutely positively secured while looking really sleek and cool too... |
Couplers were internally glassed with 9oz tape from West Systems, they got a retailer in town... Railbuttons are from railbuttons.com ... The booster is long enough to use 36" hybrid motors if I ever get around to flying them, but just in case. It is also zipperless design, and 1/16" styrene rod shear pins holds everything together nice and snug until the ejection charges go off. Video by Jimmy Yawn of NEFAR, Big Thanks once again ! |