Hanger Hardware

Have you ever been building a minimum diameter rocket - say, 38mm or 54mm - and wonder what you're going to do for a shock cord mount? You can't use the hardware you would use in a larger airframe, but you don't want to use any methods use on model rockets, either. Try this idea:

Go to your local hardware store and look through the items intended for use in hanging pictures or mirrors. There is a sketch of what I'm talking about to the right. The strap on this hanger is designed to attach to the back of a picture or mirror frame and the hanging wire is attached to the loop. (you can buy these with either a bent wire loop or a stamped loop. I prefer the stamped one because I presume it is stronger, but I'm sure either kind will do. You can also buy them with more screw holes, but two works for me.

I have fastened the strap part of the hanger to the inside of a body tube with liberal amounts of epoxy, well past the point where the nose cone shoulder is inserted, and I then tie my shock core to the loop. The rockets on which I have employed this method have never experienced a failure during recovery.