5.5" Fiberglass AGM-33 PIKE

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Great Kit for a Level 3 Project

Posted by Bob Anderson on 7th Nov 2017

I was able to obtain my Level 3 with this rocket two weeks ago! She flew up to 8,068 feet on a CTI M1810. It was a perfect flight. The Pike flew perfectly straight even on a windy day.

MadCow supplies very high quality fiberglass parts. I love the aluminum AV Bay Bulkplates that MadCow supplies with the kit. However as in most things there is room for improvements.

The MadCow Pike comes with a 22” payload tube. The instructions warn you that you will have to add a lot of weight to the nosecone to obtain a safe CG with an M motor. A friend of mine built the same kit in the stock configuration and had to add 13.9 ounces to the nosecone. The stock kit is requiring you to use part of the nosecone to store the main parachute.

I modified my kit by purchasing a 12” longer payload tube from MadCow. This allowed me to eliminate the need for added dead weight in the nosecone. The longer payload tube allowed the nosecone to be built in the traditional way. The nosecone now has room for my Kate GPS Tracker. The 96” Fruity Ultra Iris parachute now fits fine in the payload tube.

You might want to beef up the motor centering rings. I had a shop machine some custom CNC plywood centering rings that I epoxied to the kits fiberglass rings. I also installed a custom aluminum thrust plate.

The MadCow 5.5” Pike is a perfect Level 3 Project kit. The rocket isn’t so small that you will have to deal with excessively high flights on your Level 3 attempt. The 5.5” kit size is easy to work on.

It is great that MadCow provides instructions. Most of the kit manafactures don’t seem to provide instruction. I would definitely Recommend this kit for anyone attempting a Level 3 Certification. Just talk to your Advisor about extending the payload tube and beefing up the motor mount centering rings.
Great for L3

Posted by Tim Cubbedge on 24th Apr 2017

Have flown it 3 times. 1st flight was a shake-down flight for my L3. Flew to 7400' on an L1115 - perfect flight! 2nd flight was for L3 and used an M1101 and flew to 7900'. Another awesome flight. The last flight was on an M1882 and flew to 9100'. The main shroud lines became tangled so it never deployed but landed under drogue with no damage what so ever. Great rocket !
Great Rocket for an L3 Build!!

Posted by Chris D. on 15th Jul 2016

This rocket is a great example of the quality that you would expect from a Madcow kit. I flew mine for my level 3 certification and it was a flawless flight to 6500 feet on an M1297W. It would have been higher, but with the fin design, it cocked into the wind significantly (~9 MPH constant wind). Upon landing the shock cord caught on a barbed wire fence and the parachute kept picking the nose up and slamming it down on a gravel road. I was expecting to get to the rocket and find significant damage to the nose but there were only cosmetic scratches.
You will have to add significant weight to the nose to balance an M-class engine but the design is very easy to build and build strong. I can't say enough good things about Madcow kits!