Commander said Nov 08, 2015
Yes, I know. Some first-aider I am. The patient would have already expired by the time I get to him. On top of that, the procedure I will do to repair this problem seems more like a major operation. However, with a little forethought in stocking your rocket first aid kit, these steps can be accomplished in the field in a reasonable amount of time.
First off, I considered the simple solution, just gluing a launch lug to the side of the rocket and be done with it. Some CA glue and you're set. The problem with this is two fold. One, you do not give the glider the proper offset to the body tube. I don't know if this can cause major problems, but the symmetry being off just does something to my OCD.
Two, when it comes time to do a real repair, you will have to remove the appendage which could cause additional problems.
So no, we are going to do some in the field surgery. First, using an exacta knife, carefully cut out around where the old standoff was. I measured the remaining standoff's post and found it to be 2mm x 5 mm, we want the hole to be a little smaller than that. The plastic coupler that we are cutting through is thicker where it abuts the paper tubing on both sides. If we just cut out between the thicker portions and almost two mm wide, we will be fine. You can clean up the edges with a file.
Amazingly, I found some 2mm x 4.8mm strip styrene in my rocket field first aid kit.
Commander
Starport Sagitta
NAR No.97971