Apogee Components Centrix

Apogee Components - Centrix {Kit}

Contributed by Seth

Manufacturer: Apogee Components
(by Seth) 

My order of a Centrix, 1/4A2-4, and 1/2A2-6, arrived in about 6 days in a box much small than I had expected, these are little dinks after all. 

Centrix

The instructions are very similar to Estes', and the kit is very straight-forward. I put rounded edges on the 3 nicely die-cut balsa fins, filled w/fill n finish, and glued to the body tube with tacky glue. Next the Kevlar® shock cord is tied to the thrust ring, which is glued inside the body. In order to get the ring up inside the tube I used a 3/8" dowel. The nose shock cord attachment is unique; a small bead being used to retain the Kevlar® in the nose. Tying the plastic streamer to the shock cord finishes the construction. I primed my Centrix (a good idea, the tube is slippery), and then put on waaaayyyyyy to much purple paint. In the end it looks fairly nice, and weighs in at a measly 5.9 grams (.2 oz). 

Micro motors

It was cold and windy out so I only flew the 1/4A2. Ignition was a big pain (especially with my fingers freezing off). I had 2 misfires with one motor, then switched to another and got it going. The igniters are tricky. Care must be taken not to short it at all. I didn't have any problems with fusing like at NARAM, since I'm using the ultimate wimpy launch controller (I've got a battery upgrade coming). I fear that the first engine may have been chronically-unstartable. Once it goes his pyrogen is pretty hot, and the rocket popped of the pad. The Lots-A-Smoke delay lived up to its name with a billowing trail. The rocket coasted to what looked like 200 feet (hard to tell) and fell half way back down (delay seemed like 6 sec instead of 4). The ejection finally came with a loud POP! The rocket separated :( I think I used to little glue on the thrust ring. On recovery I found it stank *really* *bad* of S02, with what looked like sulfur residue on the nozzle and forward end of the motor.? 

Overall? A very well put together product, the ignition needs to be fixed. I like the bead in the nose and smoke of the motors. 

Relinquished by Scott Johnson @

Other Reviews
  • Apogee Components Centrix (Mod) By Peter Clay

    Brief: My Centrix kit and two A2-7 motors arrived a few days before Christmas 1998. (Having spent my rocket budget on HPR, I had ordered the minimum needed to get this thing in the air.) As soon as I had the kit out of the box I knew it was something very, very cool.  Centrix is the most basic kit for Apogee's 10.5mm micro-motors and is optimized for their characteristics. It is ...

Flights

ID
Date
Flyer
Rocket
Kit
Motors
Altitude
Action
29108
2000-07-31
David Urbanek
Apogee Components Centrix
Apogee Components - Centrix {Kit}
B2-7
-
list
29105
2000-04-15
Peter Clay
Apogee Components Centrix
Apogee Components - Centrix {Kit}
B2-9
-
list
29104
2000-02-24
Robert Klinkhammer
Apogee Components Centrix
Apogee Components - Centrix {Kit}
1/4A3-2
-
list
29102
2000-02-08
Robert Klinkhammer
Apogee Components Centrix
Apogee Components - Centrix {Kit}
1/4A3-2
-
list
29101
2000-01-22
Peter Clay
Apogee Components Centrix
Apogee Components - Centrix {Kit}
MMX
-
list
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