In 2019, both of my daughters took part in the process of being selected for the United States of America's international team, and as a result, they were both given positions on the Streamer Duration team. This is one of the most difficult competitions to take part in when you consider that it takes place on an international scale. You are in command of a single A-engine aircraft, and the only thing you have access to besides a streamer in order to keep the aircraft airborne for longer than three minutes is a timer. If you want to do well in this competition, you need to construct a rocket that is not excessively heavy. This is an absolute requirement. For the purposes of this competition, weight is the primary consideration. Those who are able to build rockets with the fewest number of components and the least amount of mass have an advantage.
For previous iterations of this competition, we have built our rockets using fiberglass and epoxy as the primary construction materials. However, other countries were shifting away from traditional rockets made of metal and toward rockets made of 3k carbon fiber tube and epoxy due to the lighter weight of the latter. We were compelled to start making use of this composite material in order to keep our standing in the industry at the same level it was previously at.
However, we did not have the necessary manufacturing experience to produce ultra-lightweight airframes from carbon fiber, and our competitors had no intention of sharing any of their trade secrets with us. We did not have any other information besides the fact that they had been manufactured using a two-part female mold, which we could tell just by looking at them. This was the only piece of information we did have.
As a consequence of this, I have spent the past two years contributing to a study that aims to determine how carbon fiber round tube epoxy can be utilized to create airframes. This course is the culmination of everything that came before it, and it ensures that no secrets will be withheld from its participants. You will learn in a matter of hours what it took me close to $5,000 and thousands of hours to learn.
My approach, when it was all said and done, helped the United States of America team win four medals in the streamer event, including a gold medal for the junior female division, silver medals for the senior individual and senior team competitions, and bronze medals for the junior individual competition.
When I started working on this project, I had six requirements that needed to be satisfied by these rockets, and they are as follows:
A surface with such a high gloss and level of smoothness that it would lessen the amount of resistance, or drag.
In order to qualify as ultra-lightweight, it was necessary for both the tube and the nose cone to have a weight that was lower than 5 grams.
airtight: the tube could not have any air leaks; otherwise, the nose cone would not be ejected when the motor fired the ejection charge. This was a requirement. The lack of a vacuum is what we mean when we talk about airtightness.
We were successful in achieving each of these goals, and we even exceeded the majority of them. Despite the fact that it required a significant amount of time and effort to develop, we were able to do so. In point of fact, the weight of each rocket was significantly lower than 4 grams, and this difference was sizeable. Due to the fact that the surface was so smooth, they were also able to boost higher than any of our other competitors. And in contrast to those of our competitors, our rockets were easily able to deal with the high speed lift-off that occurred as a result of being launched from a competition piston. This was in contrast to the fact that our competitors' rockets were unable to deal with the high speed lift-off.
What I've found; do you think this is something that you'll eventually become familiar with as well?
In order to successfully fabricate these tubes, you will need more than just a two-part mold, some carbon-fiber cloth, and epoxy. You will also need additional materials. If that were the only requirement, the very first tube that I attempted to use would have been successful. However, that wasn't the case at all. They were not the one hundredth weasel between the two of them...
I've come to the conclusion that success requires a number of different things, including the following:
Instruments of a Particular Kind: The two-part mold is an unavoidable requirement. Nevertheless, there are a large number of additional small specialized tools and jigs that are absolutely necessary for the lay-up process. If you do not have them, either your rate of success will plummet to an all-time low, or it will take you a noticeably longer amount of time to reach a tube that will work. Both of these outcomes are highly likely to occur.
Techniques: One of the most significant factors to consider is the manner in which the activities are carried out. For instance, what is the correct order in which the carbon-fiber cloth and epoxy should be layered? The methods that are used make a significant contribution to the product's overall quality, which is why these methods are so important. And the best way to learn a technique is to first watch someone else perform it and then try to imitate their movements. This is the most effective way to learn a technique.
Knowledge of physics - If you know what is going on at a molecular level during the process, you will have new insight as to how we'll lay-up the tube so that its weight is minimized while its strength is maximized. This requires that you know what is going on at the molecular level during the process. In order to successfully complete this task, you will need to be familiar with the process on a molecular level. We are going to demonstrate all of the qualities of carbon fiber round tube that make it a significantly superior material to fiberglass cloth. These qualities are what set carbon fiber round tube apart from other materials.
Miracle Components While I was doing my research, I came across a number of products that fundamentally changed the playing field. These products are referred to as miracle components. These miraculous products provided answers to questions that, prior to setting out on this journey, I had not even entertained the possibility of asking. If you do not have access to these materials, there is a good chance that you will never be able to construct an airframe tube that satisfies the six criteria for success that I had.
