Highperion - My attempt to break the Tripoli H altitude record

[Neutronium95]

I got the bodiea and nosecone sprayed with 2k clear. Still need to do a final wet sanding, might end up doing it at the launch site...

 

[James Keller]

The rocket looks great! Which day are you planning on launching?

 

[Neutronium95]

The rocket looks great! Which day are you planning on launching?

It'll depend on conditions. It sounds like tomorrow might be windy, and I still need to do the finish sanding and charge testing. I'm leaning towards Sunday morning right now, but that's a bit up in the air. And any subsequent flights are dependent on recovering the first one.

 

[pugachu]

I got the bodiea and nosecone sprayed with 2k clear. Still need to do a final wet sanding, might end up doing it at the launch site...

Looking great!

Best of luck!

 

[Neutronium95]

As predicted, today has been very windy. Fortunately, that's given me an entire day to get everything nailed down. The tower is dialed in and set up, everything has been fit checked, and the ejection charge test was good. @DabCat brought some tiny .22 shell based cable cutters that should make the recovery walk significant shorter than on the first two flights.

I'm in the middle of wet sanding the rockets, and should be ready to fly as soon as the range opens tomorrow.

 

[Neutronium95]

2k clear and 2000 grit sandpaper go brrrr

I'm not entirely certain whether or not I'll launch tomorrow, or wait for lower winds on Monday. I'm leaning towards flying tomorrow, but will have to see what the wind is like.

 

[Neutronium95]

Today was eventful. My tracker didn't work. Fortunately I was able to borrow a different beacon and fit it into my upper bulkhead, with a bit of help from a dremel. Unfortunately the flight didn't go well.

I must have screwed up somewhere in my sims. The rocket went unstable coming out of the tower, then became stable and shot off towards the horizon. I was able to recover it, thanks to the vorrowed radio beacon, and it was fully intact.

When I get home I'm going to review everything. If I can fix the stability with a bit of nose weight, then I'll make a new nosecone with a weighted tip. I really hope I don't have to break the fins off of the other two motors I've prepped.

 

[James Keller]

Dang that sucks sorry to hear that. Did you look at how angle of attack effects the stability? I had a seemingly similar issue a little while back and the problem we when the rocket saw an angle of attack of >8 degrees the rocket became unstable even though it was stable when it was at 0 degrees. You can check in openrocket under the component analysis tab.

 

[SolarYellow]

I wonder if the lower air density at altitude reduces the effectiveness of the fins? Haven’t played around with it myself.

 

[neil_w]

Sorry to hear it didn't go well. Hope for better luck on the next attempt.

It amazes me to think of that tiny little thing going up on an H.