Rocketry Planet

CLAREMONT, California USA — U.S. Rockets is proud to announce the re-release of the Sonic 3100 single-stage and Sonic 3100 Phase 2 two-stage high power rocketry rocket kits. These stout birds have 54mm motor mounts and the Sonic 3100 single-stage version comes with a 29mm conversion mount.

The tubing while not cosmetically perfect before painting, is certified to be from the same batch as was tested by rocketmaterials.org and shown to have exceptional strength and exceptional pre-failure characteristics.

The Sonic 3100 is $69.95 and the Sonic 3100 Phase 2 is $99.95. Direct orders have a $12.00 shipping charge and the product is available to dealers through a stocking distributor.

The kits have thick wall specialized paper tubes, thick plywood fins and rings, and plastic nose cone.

U.S. Rockets Sonic 3100 single-stage 54mm kit.

Greg Glass and his son modified a 3100 for their flight.

U.S. Rockets Sonic 3100 Phase 2 two-stage 54mm kit.

Sonic 3100 Details:
Sonic 3100 is a beefy rocket. Extra high-strength components throughout facilitate flights over Mach 2 despite the large size and helps to withstand hard landings. The 54mm host mount accepts motors 54mm I to K motors as well as optional Interchange mounts for 29mm, 38mm or 3-24mm. Extra thick plywood fins and rings and triple strength aerospace specifation tubing. Very simple assembly. Build in one day

Sonic 3100 Specifications:

• Skill: 2
  
• Host Mount: 54mm
  
• Interchange Mounts: 38mm 29mm optional 3x-24mm
  
• Recovery Parachute: not included
  
• Diameter: 3.16"
  
• Length: 58"
  
• Weight: 600g
  
• Drag (cD): 0.50
  
• CP: 45.3"
  
• SKU#: 1072
  
• Price: $69.95

Sonic 3100 Phase 2 Details:
Sonic 3100 Phase 2 offers all the features of its single-stage brother with the addition of a booster stage also with a 54mm host mount. This is a beefy rocket. Extra high-strength components throughout facilitate flights over Mach 2 despite the large size and helps to withstand hard landings. Parachute recovery of both stages is accomplished by the use of Discontinuous Staging which is exclusive to U.S. Rockets. Stable design, through the wall fin attach and performance engineering. The 54mm host mount accepts 54mm motors I to K as well as optional Interchange mounts for 29mm, 38mm or 3-24mm. Extra thick plywood fins and rings and triple strength aerospace specification tubing. Very simple assembly. Build in one day.

Sonic 3100 Specifications:

• Skill: 4
  
• Motors: 54mm/29mm, 54mm/29mm
  
• Recovery Parachute: not included
  
• Diameter: 3.16"
  
• Length: 72"
  
• Weight: 1000g
  
• Drag (cD): 0.60/0.50
  
• CP: 54.4"/45.3"
  
• SKU#: 1073
  
• Price: $99.95

Both kits are available using Instaship. For more information, visit:

http://v-serv.com/usr/kits/sonic3100.htm
http://v-serv.com/usr/kits/sonic3100_phase2.htm

Reader comments:

#1 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

Building the two-stage version right now here (although I haven't posted in a while). And although some of the materials are "old school" I'd still say $99 for a two-stage 54mm HPR rocket is a bargain.

dixontj on 06-23-2011 11:28 PM

#2 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

Quote:

Extra high-strength components throughout facilitate flights over Mach 2 despite the large size and helps to withstand hard landings.

If someone builds one (stock) and gets it back in one piece after those speeds please let us know how that went.

Darin

MACH5 on 06-24-2011 09:24 AM

#3 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

I have never met Jerry, but I have traded posts and emails with him related to his posts here on RP. I do have first hand knowledge of the quality of his kits; I bought a bunch of them from a hobby shop that was getting out of rocketry. I have three of them on my get around-to-it pile now. (None are the Sonic 3100) All three are several years old. The tubes are decent quality, but yellow where they were in the sun in the hobby shop.
Better than a decade ago I remember reading somebody on RMR badmouthing Jerry and talking about his kits. I'm not going to repeat any of what he said because none of it matches my experience. The kits I have are decent quality. The nose cones on mine are solid balsa. The centering rings and fins are plywood. The instructions are better than many other companies I have seen, but even if they were not the kits are simple enough that anybody with experience would have no problem.

It's easy to target Jerry, but others have problems too. Just this last Saturday I unpacked an all-fiberglass kit from a completely different and unrelated manufacturer. What I found fit so poorly that I intend to contact them to ask them to make it right. They claimed CNC cutting of all parts. That is probably true, but if so their tools were worn or improperly programmed. The centering rings have burrs around the edges and even after removing the burrs will not fit into the tube without a lot of sanding. I sanded for quite awhile and never did get the CRs to go in easily. Also, the fins will not fit into the fin slots without opening up the fin slots considerably. Apparently there was nobody checking the fit when they bagged the parts. If there had been, this never would have been sent out.

Steve_Shannon on 06-24-2011 06:05 PM

#4 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

I'm almost done with my build as referenced in the first post. I would not hesitate to recommend this kit, although I would not recommend the two-stage version to someone new to HPR as you do have to play with MMT placement, spacing and plenum routing to optimize your motor and recovery options. Fun build though, and yes, I'll say it again, well worth the $99.

BTW, I don't know what Jerry is currently shipping, but my Sonic 3100 Ph2 has a plastic nosecone.

dixontj on 06-24-2011 07:30 PM

#5 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

Hi. My name is Rich O’Hara from Bellgate Distributors and I am the USR stocking distributor mentioned in the article. I don’t have either of the Sonic 3100 variants in stock so I can’t comment on what the cosmetic issue is with the tubes. I can say that I have a few 2.25” kits that have tubes that look faded or have some small stains. Structurally, the tubes are sound and after priming and painting they should turn out fine. I anticipate the Sonic 3100 tubes are going to look similar, but I won’t know for sure until I see them.

Now, I am a perfectionist and my preference is to carry only “pristine” product. I have to realize, however, that not everyone is as finicky as I am. Like dixontj says, $99 for a two-stage HPR kit is a pretty good price. I figure I’ll carry a few and leave it up to the consumer whether they want to purchase a kit or not.

In regards to the type of nose cone the 3100 ships with, I believe it is plastic. I say that because that is what is shown on the USR Web site. It looks like the Sonic Stiletto will have a balsa cone.

- Rich

raohara on 06-25-2011 01:38 AM

#6 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

Does anyone here know what USR means by "Discontinuous Staging"? Is it just a normal HPR two stager where you need to light the top stage with electronics, or is there something else going on here?

Sam

fineberg on 06-27-2011 02:47 PM

#7 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

Quote:

Does anyone here know what USR means by "Discontinuous Staging"?

It may be a term for regular electronics ignited upper stage. However, back in the day (late 80's) Aerotech made some 'near 0' delay motors with no ejection charge. You ran a piece of sheathed Thermalite from the touch hole of the booster and up the sustainer motor. The Thermalite acted as a fuse to light the sustainer motor. Sheathed Thermalite burns a couple feet/sec so the staging delay is not too much.

Rocketjunkie on 06-27-2011 05:57 PM

#8 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

Quote:

It may be a term for regular electronics ignited upper stage. However, back in the day (late 80's) Aerotech made some 'near 0' delay motors with no ejection charge. You ran a piece of sheathed Thermalite from the touch hole of the booster and up the sustainer motor. The Thermalite acted as a fuse to light the sustainer motor. Sheathed Thermalite burns a couple feet/sec so the staging delay is not too much.

Ah, yes, I eat crow again (yum, yum). Once you mentioned it, I do remember, yes... Flew right over it "back in the day" as it seemed trivial/non-applicable, but I resurrected my trusty 1984 U.S. Rockets ACE (don't know what this stands for) Information Report on Clustering and Staging. About 2/3rds of the way in (pages aren't numbered), Discontinuous Staging is defined (see attached, Copyright 1984 U.S. Rockets).

dixontj on 06-27-2011 07:09 PM

#9 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

Quote:

Ah, yes, I eat crow again (yum, yum).

I personally get tired of that dish but I have eaten it more than once...

UncleVanya on 06-28-2011 10:49 AM

#10 Re: Article: USR re-releases Sonic 3100 54mm one-stage, two-stage kits

I ran into the staging problem on the USR piston stager. I knew that I had to improvise. I modified the original kit and built a side-compartment to house a Perfect Flite mini-timer3 and a 9 volt battery. In this case the method looks ugly, but it works well. I've documented it on EMRR and it is also mentioned on some threads here in RP. BTW, I epoxied the fins "externally" (not TTW) to the cardboard tube and they have held up well with a G-motor in the first stage and a D-motor in the second stage.

aerostadt on 06-28-2011 02:01 PM

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