Jan 20, 2011

Here is another build story


THE FLOOR/HEAT SHIELD

  We have gotten to the part where we start to see the frame now. I have been working on this for a while and seem to be getting the hang of it.  The hardest part of this project will be keeping the weight low without sacrificing strength. By that I mean under 450 lbs total weight ,(loaded)
  These pictures show the progress we have made. You can also see the wood frame in the lower picture. That was scrapped due to the weight thing. Also you see Shon foaming the corners of the floor/ heat shield.


  Wed,  we went to the local Fiberglass vendor Sticky-Stuff  and purchased two part foam. After we got back to the Vehicle assembly area, IE  my shop, where we did some experimentation with the foam.  


The CM

  This picture is one where you start to see the size of the command capsule. This one is actually two ft smaller than the Apollo CM.  As I stated before we plan to coat the foam with a sealer then fiberglass them. Our vendor has told us this will be more than enough strength if done correctly. One of the jokes around the shop is that after this project, we all will be experts with fiberglass.   Agreed?

On my next post I will go into some of the details we are working on. These will include the design of the different parts.
The motor cage
The coast skirt, and other designs the team has discussed.
Please feel free to chime in any time.
   

Jan 18, 2011

MLAS Construction notes

  Well the weekend was a busy one in the shop. Tom,Shon, and myself were busy working on all the blue foam that Shon purchased from Home-Depot. We managed to get the floor completed and the sides cut.
Shon worked on the 1/28th scale MLAS that we are using for a boilerplate.  This will be two fold, one will be the basic for the flight. The other will be to figure out how to get all the events to actually happen.
 
The main problem is weight, I had thought that we would do this project in wood framing, ( I used to be a framer so this seemed like a logical choice) but once wee began to construct we quickly found weight a real problem. So we went to blue foam, after a long night and alot of critical thinking we decided to try the foam ion everything. The plan is to fiberglass everything. This will solve the weight and even some money problems.

Monday we all went to Sticky Stuff here in Phoenix,AZ During the visit we learned the proper way to layup the Glass. We also saw some of the alternatives we may have. I will add more to this later. I look foward to the build and will keep all of you guys updated as much as possible.