COX Saturn 1B Engine Mount Modification

thingiverse

I realize that only few people own this vintage COX model rocket but since I fly mine and try to make them fly safer I thought I would post a modification that I did to my model. Maybe some here have the same model and would like to do the modification as well. The dangerous part about these type of rockets is that they are prone to lawn darting because the eject charge is unable to deploy the recovery system. This is mostly due to the ejection gases leaking through openings and cracks in the plastic. A simple solution is to use a body tube as a core, holding the engine and transferring the ejection gases to the parachute compartment. To accomplish this I designed and 3D printed 2 parts. A disk adapter for the parachute compartment and an adapter for the lower end of the rocket. I took a BT-20 body tube and cut it to the appropriate length (I forgot to make a measurement). I also added an engine hook for convenience. First thing you want to do is to epoxy the top ring adapter to the body tube (see picture). Then insert the body tube into the rocket. Lastly I added some epoxy the other end of the body tube and inserted the lower adapter. Apply the epoxy only to the 3D print part and to the body tube. Do not glue any part to the rocket itself otherwise you won't be able to remove the engine mount if needed. With this modification you are now able to safely fly this rocket. Enjoy, Leo