[F-FT] Recommendations for rail launchers

Exactly the point I was trying to make to David and Kurt. PVC is so easy to work with and makes an excellent modroc/midpower launch pad. For HPR you could use copper tubing and some decent propane torch soldering techniques and have a real nice HPR pad.

Above all these pads would be dirt cheap and real easy to build.

Ted Novak TRA#5512 IEAS#75

Something else to consider: An HPR pad would make a GREAT project for a high school metals shop class. I'd bet if you showed some plans to an instructor, and popped for the materials cost, that you could get some students to build you the pads. And maybe get them interested in rockets while you do it!

Bob (and Ted),

You don't seem to get it -- it's a simple matter of economics. And by economics, I mean the resources of my life.

I'm not rich. I'm not even sure I'm well off. And I have more of a tendency to 'do-it-yourself' than 99% of the people I know. I'm an electronics engineer, and over my lifetime most of my equipment has been built, not bought (for example). I've rebuilt my own car transmissions by hand, in my driveway (including an automatic) -- not because I couldn't afford otherwise, but because I wanted to learn. I rebuilt my engine in my first car before I'd done my first tune-up on it (but that's another story ). I'm one of those who wire-wrapped an S100 computer, etc. (and I know that some of the very few people who've done similar things are probably in this group).

That having been said, it is MY CHOICE to have someone else build a launch pad for me. I have built many launch pads over the years, controllers, etc., but at the present time I need a sturdy, rail-capable pad, and I have neither the tools, time, nor experience, to make the kind of robust pad that I would like. I do my share (more than my share, frankly) in giving back to the community and to helping teach the next generation about rocketry, space, aviation, etc., so I don't feel 'obligated' to try and give a local school a 'project' to work on -- and it given the level of bureaucracy these days, I'd probably be able to build one by hand (learning welding and everything else) faster than I could get something like that 'approved' by the local school system.

I CHOOSE which fields of endeavor that interest me, and where I'd like to spend 'additional time'. Building a launch pad is not one of them. Yes, learning to weld would be 'positive' and 'interesting', but the reality is that is true of MANY things in live. I have other interests outside of rocketry, let alone working at a job and trying to raise a family. So, it is my CHOICE to follow this.

And, by the way, your argument falls apart unless you go out and mine the ore, smelt the iron, design your welding/cutting equipment, etc. You CHOOSE to get those things through the work of others, because it's more ECONOMICAL (in terms of time, money, and other resources) for you to do so. Where, exactly, is the difference here?

David Erbas-White

Time is one thing to which I totally can relate to. But what we're trying to explain to you is that you don't need to know how to weld, mine ore, or smelt iron to build a decent HPR pad with a rail.

Hell, RayD does it with a old coffee can, a rod and cement. Not a rail but it seams to work him. Bet the same can be done with a rail.

Now, you want a decent HPR pad that handles a rail, right? This can be done on a L1, maybe a L2 scale with simple effort and tools you already probably have in your workshop. Think me with here; some pvc tubing, basic nuts-n-bolts from the local hardware shop, and of course your McMaster rail. Take less time to build such a pad than it does for a simple L1 bird.

By all means if your set on it it purchase a killer pad that costs some coin then do so. What Bob and I are trying to explain here that it

*doesn't* require serious coin and major metal fabrication and time to accomplish what this, or need to accomplish here with a HPR rail launch pad.

The most extreme form of engineering and downright frugal and genius engineering I've ever experienced is what rocketeers have done with what whats on hand. My god, Bob's Astron Workshop is bible for such activities!

Ted Novak TRA#5512 IEAS#75

Now my head's going to be swolen for a week :-)

It has been a few years since my last visit to Bob's Astron workshop. However, my impression is that Bob is more a use the right tool for the right job kind of guy, rather than extreme or genius engineering. On the MR/HPR scale, Bob is comfortably above average in engendering. His impressive workshop embodies his philosophy and building talents.

I hope i've eased the cranial swelling just a bit. ;)

Alan

Hardly.

But if my feet ever do return to the ground, other rocketeers that happen to find themselves in the far NW suburbs should get in touch. Tours can be aranged in most cases. Although right now, the place is a disaster area...

Frackin' spell checker. :(

You mean, Bob isn't an engendering expert?