With the new Defiance rocket first flight deployment test looming, I decided I had better get to work on a launch
rail capable of handling a 14' long 110 pound rocket. I have an old boat trailer I've been using to haul my smaller
rail on, so I'll make use of the trailer again for this system. I had an antenna tower in my yard that's been unused
for a couple of years, so my first project was getting the tower down. I'll use two of the 10' sections to form
the support structure for uni-strut.
Here you can see the mounting of the tower to the trailer bed. I used a 1" diameter aluminum shaft mounted to 2 pillow block bearing holders.
Here is the hardware detail of the rail attachment system. It's a lot of hardware for what it does, but it's sturdy and allows adjustment in all three axis. The bolt going through the uni-strut is 1/2", the plates that mate the 1/2" bolt to the u-bolt are 3/8" thick. The u-bolts themselves are 5/16". I'll use ten of the brackets on the full 20' of rail.
Here is a guide, or button on the fin can of the Defiance rocket.
In this photo you can see the struts that support the tower when raised.
Since I retired my old van, I needed more room to carry equipment on the trailer. So I added these two large cargo boxes to the forward end of the trailer.
Here is the tower in use.
Here is a rough dimensional drawing of the guide I'm using.
I'm using the Bee Line brand of uni-strut (rail), most brands are about the same dimensions. I was going to buy some new rails when I noticed that the area home improvement stores now sold these in the electrical section. The problem was, these rails all had poor tolerances and would not function well. So I stayed with the Bee Line brand from an electrical contractor supplier, they had very close tolerances and the guides don't hang up at all on them. Make sure you take a caliper to measure before you buy, also lay them out on a flat surface to be sure they aren't warped, many of the cheaper ones were.