Last three weeks, we were fighting a nasty winter bug at home. I was sick as a dog, and not active at all on G+. For my first post for almost a month, I’ve decided to give a peek to the business side of the rocket project. Indeed, up to now, I’ve exclusively focused on the nose cone and the electronics bays. But if you take an extreme shortcut, a rocket is just a big engine with fins and a pointy top! High-power motors are controlled goods, so you should not be able to get into a shop or to the web and buy an HPR motor without a license. But, for example, to pass the L1 certification, you must build an HPR rocket, fly it successfully and the rocket must be airworthy without repairs. So, if you cannot buy a motor, how do you do it? Well, before passing your test flight, you get a temp number that you can use to buy one motor for the target certification level. You usually do that shortly before the big day. That doesn’t mean that you cannot work on the motor section of your rocket prior to acquire the motor. Indeed, many rocketeers are opting for reloadable motors, which allows you to build your rocket completely without a recharge (the actual motor). Many components of the motor block are made of aluminum for obvious strength and weight considerations. In my case, I picked Cesaroni, the Canadian aerospace and defense manufacturer’s, 54mm motors. For completeness, the other mainstream HRP rocket motor provider is the Californian Aerotech. I’ve chosen Cesaroni for supposed ease of use, but I won’t be able to talk about it in an informed way until I’ve tried both. And nothing really prevents you to use interchange both product lines in a rocket. I’ve also decided to swap out the fiberglass bulkheads of the e-bays with aluminum ones. This will require to drill extra holes into the bulkheads to attach the CO2 ejection systems and to bring to the outside of the e-bays the antennas. By itself, this will be yet another good opportunity to learn (and buy some new tools :)). Have a nice WE!

Pin