My flight was not as kind. At least Mindy got a good picture before flight (she’s channeling her inner Neil Armstrong here to get her reflection in my sunglasses).
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The F67-4 got it up and separated OK, but the chutes got stuck in the tube and the rocket is basically ruined (but with many components salvageable). Video incoming once I get it edited down.
Crashing a large, pretty rocket like this comes with lots of free advice, which I have evaluated to form a plan.
I concluded that the enlarged booster chute AND the stock payload bay chute could not pull out of the booster while the payload bay was light and empty. I also packed the chutes in a new manner that I’m not as practiced in. John Pacente of TRASD, DART, and VSWR also speculated that the ejection charges for G and H motors might be more appropriately sized for this rocket. I’m open to corrections and I’ll do some homework on this but I can follow the logic there.
Another attendee’s suggestion (whose name I can’t recall at this point) to install a stuffer tube will likely go unused, with Fs being taken off the menu for this rocket instead.
The rebuild will be a single, further enlarged, much more tightly-packed chute with the rocket recovering in one piece. I’m OK with my Estes Burrito wraps taking a little longer to unfurl if they can slide out of the tube freely. I will also be flying the payload section either with my camera and housing installed, or with equivalent ballast.
I also got a hot tip from
@fyrwrxz to buy replacement tubes from BMS. He was also kind enough to offer some Fin-Lok units, as the fin detachments had damaged the ones I have installed.
John Pacente opined that despite this failure, the rocket overall seemed to be an OK design. He suggested that I get another one together, get it done ugly if I must, and go for the certification without messing around.
I’ve been thinking about this and I’ve decided that I agree. At a well-organized high-power event with a positive safety culture, the most extreme probable risk I’m taking on any given flight is the destruction of a rocket. The range reminded me yesterday that I take this risk on any new rocket, whether it be powered by an F or by an H, but only the H motor can earn a certification. Therefore the reward better balances the risk with the H motor.
My next task is to cut out/remove the undamaged components and order some new tubes.
Undamaged components include:
- Nose
- Antenna shoes
- Rail guides (simulated and real)
- Bulkhead
- Coupler
- Screw eyes
- Parachutes
- Shock cords
- Labyrinth gas cooling system/aft shock cord attachment point
- Centering rings
- Fins
- Motor retention system
Components I will replace prior to certification include:
- Forward and aft body tubes (punctured, compressed, and torn in various places)
- Fin-Lok tabs (damaged by fin detachment)
- Motor mount tube (will likely need to attack this to redo the Fin-Loks).
I will defer installation of cosmetics at this time.