AlnessW
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2013
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Sigh...
At OROC's Summer Skies launch last weekend, I shredded my old Excel Plus. I flew it on a K375NW, the Aerotech boost-sustain motor that goes in the 54/2560 case. (It boosts on a grain of Warp-9 propellant, then sustains on White Lightning.) Here is a link to my full launch report.
Per the photos below, the cardboard tube just folded under the high thrust, right below the ebay (not pictured). After 11 flights, the old airframe just gave up. The main chute also was reduced to shreds.
Video of shred with some amusing commentary...
https://picasaweb.google.com/104803...key=Gv1sRgCPqryJnejOv21gE#6041631378055414834
You'll notice that the sharp Warp-9 boost was what did the rocket in.
I emailed Mike Fisher and he pointed out that the last time he saw my rocket, it had dents in the airframe, and that those are what usually lead to shreds. Makes sense...
So you might say that "after over a year of searching, I finally found the limits of cardboard." I like to push my rockets pretty hard, so the eventual shred of this rocket did not come as a huge surprise to me.
At OROC's Summer Skies launch last weekend, I shredded my old Excel Plus. I flew it on a K375NW, the Aerotech boost-sustain motor that goes in the 54/2560 case. (It boosts on a grain of Warp-9 propellant, then sustains on White Lightning.) Here is a link to my full launch report.
Per the photos below, the cardboard tube just folded under the high thrust, right below the ebay (not pictured). After 11 flights, the old airframe just gave up. The main chute also was reduced to shreds.
Video of shred with some amusing commentary...
https://picasaweb.google.com/104803...key=Gv1sRgCPqryJnejOv21gE#6041631378055414834
You'll notice that the sharp Warp-9 boost was what did the rocket in.
I emailed Mike Fisher and he pointed out that the last time he saw my rocket, it had dents in the airframe, and that those are what usually lead to shreds. Makes sense...
So you might say that "after over a year of searching, I finally found the limits of cardboard." I like to push my rockets pretty hard, so the eventual shred of this rocket did not come as a huge surprise to me.