October 29th, 2000
Sanded all the fillets and sprayed primer on the entire airframe. Next step is to finish sand the airframe then it's off to the spray booth for two stage polyurethane silver paint.
Also built the ballast system in the nose cone, started the
electronics bay welded the O-bolt for the nose cone chute attachment.
(pictures to come).
October 4th, 2000
Epoxied fiberglass to all the fin joints. 16 joints in all.
Next step is to sand off the excess epoxy and apply the fillets.
I will be using automotive finishing glaze to form the fillets
because it sands so easily.
After that the bevels will be applied to the edges of the fins.
I should have done the bevels before I glued the fins into the
fin can assembly but I kind of got in a hurry.
September 30, 2000
The boatail is now complete and it is now time to make the fin fillets. With Eight fins this will prove to be a time consuming effort. I am running out of time before ROC Stock XII and need to get the airframe finished and to the painter before I begin the electronics package. The entire airframe will be painted the same silver color as the new 2001 VW Beetle.
September 9th, 2000
The Kilter lower section is almost completed. All that is left
is to cover the boatail and apply the fiberglass fillets where
the fins meet the airframe. The complete Kilter weighs a mere
21 Lbs. At this point (only 6 Lbs. Lighter than the ballast that
will be needed in the nosecone). Construction of the electronics
bay will follow completion of the boatail.
Sept 7th, 2000
Well it has finally begun. Construction of the Kilter Missile
is off to a roaring start. The upper airframe is mostly completed
and it is now time to assemble the lower fin can. After that it
will be time to start building the electronics bay.
The electronics bay will slide into the bottom of the upper airframe
section and be totally self contained. All the electronics, E-charges
and safety switches will be in one neat unit. All of my large
scale rockets will be built to accommodate the unit for easy transfer
from rocket to rocket. I will do a complete write up on the electronics
bay once construction has begun.
Stay tuned for more details. Construction will resume Saturday
Sept. 9th.
