VLP

Versatile Launch Platform

The purpose of this rocket was to provide a base platform that could easily be adapted to fly on a never ending range or motors and clusters. The VLP would be flown mainly from the E.A.R.S launch site so should remain below 8000ft for all flights. One of the design criteria was to use composites throughout its construction to reduce the weight of the rocket as this was to be a prototype construction for things to come! As the rocket would end up relatively light compared to its size it would need to be a fairly large diameter to keep the altitude low, secondly the large diameter would allow for larger clusters in the future.

Body Tube, 

    The design of the body tube would be constructed from composite materials first off was to find a mandrel around which to form the tubes. Ideally the mandrel would be between 8 and 10 inches as this would give the rocket the drag required to keep maximum altitude to below 8000ft when flown on an M1315 for level 3 certification. After a short while of looking for a cheap mandrel (aluminium tubes of this size are very expensive) I came up with a PVC land drainage tube on a local building site, after a quick word with the site foreman a suitable off cut was obtained. The 1.5 inch lenght of drainage pipe was not very smooth as it had been kicking around the building site but a quick modification to the wood lathe allowed me to fit this between to centering rings on the lathe and I was able to start smoothing down the outside using sand paper ending with 1200 grit wet and dry. The Tube would then be wrapped with paper joined with pva glue making sure that it does not stick to the tube this turn would be wrapped in a melinex sleeve made from sheet melinex and selotaped at the joint. This sleeve would slip up and down the mandrel allowing for easier removal of the finished body tube.

Nose Cone,

    The nose cone would need to be a custom made unit to fit the above body tube and for lightness would need to be a hollow fibreglass one. This would be constructed by first making a male plug the same shape and size as desired for the finished nose cone, the finish on this plug is important, from the plug a mould is made that will be used to form the nose cone. 

Fins,

I had always wanted to make a rocket with aerodynamic aerofoil shaped fins this would need to be a large rocket so I chose to do this on this one. I chose balsa as a core material as this is light and with a skin of carbon would be very strong. The main shaping would be made first coating the carbon / balsa core with styrofoam and then cutting this to shape with a hot wire. See my article on making a hot wire cutter for details on how to do this. This would then again be coated in carbon fiber to give the finished fin added strength.

If you want a very detailed construction then please look at my level 3 report for VLP.