One of the design changes for the GIGA IV is a common bulkhead to join the previously central avionics bay of GIGA I-III (in control of recovery) with the updated nose cone electronics (camera and GPS tracker). With this modification there is no longer space for a separate main parachute compartment as can be expected
On Sunday 26th of January the KILO hybrid finocyl core burner motor was static tested on a 66/12 reload. This 66/12 propellant is a modified version of the Slow White propellant where the 4%Zn was replaced with 4% AP resulting in 66% AP and 12% Al at 78% solids. The result is a very docile
The GIGA III was built completely from aluminium but heavy like a tank. That is probably the reason why it was so successful recovering from non-flight-critical failures. In order to shave some weight for the from the total rocket mass of the GIGA IV it was decided to replace the aluminium tubes with fiberglass (FG)
Some photos of the activities and casting of the hybrid finocyl core burner. Notes: Cylindrical foam core length: for simplicity 580mm / same length as the standard foam plate length. 580 is also approximately 1/2 of the liner length (but slightly less). Finocyl foam core will be trimmed to length in casting jig and also
On Friday the 13th, (an omen of bad luck?) JVDB & LD tested the KILO 4GXXL motor. This motor has an extended casing to hold more propellant when compared to the KILO 5GXL. The 4GXXL uses a Black Cat Rocketry 3″ phenolic tubing for liner and casting tubes. With its four XXL bates grains, the
“Black Cat Rocketry” liners are dimensional equivalent to PML phenolic tubes except that they come in 1225mm lengths whereas a PML tube is 916-912mm. This gives the possibility of an additional 310mm propellant without the need of splicing a liner. This BCR liner was already used in the BOOSTAR-ONE motor as a liner / casting
This post is a repository. Tried ball milling AP to get a bimodal AP particle distribution for a 80% solids (barely) pourable formula. Lortone 45C ball mill Container: 1500ml // 1,5liter Ceramic grinding media 20mm balls – 1400gr is approx 750ml Lortone 45C ball mill loading instructions: 1/2 full of milling media 1/4 full of
The BOOSTAR-ONE / GIGA III experimental two stage rocket sucesfully flew to +15km and was safely recovered at the LRE spring 2019 event. Please click here for the full launch report.
The amateur, experimental, two stage, BOOSTAR-ONE / GIGA III rocket reached near space and was safely receoved at the LRE 2019 spring launch hosted by the kind people of the PTR. Please stay tuned for more info.
Dry fit of BOOSTAR-ONE / GIGA III stack.