Search:

Well Bill, if it survives this flight, and I hope it does, I'll be very tempted to load in a 6000. In which case I'll also need to add my FPV system (first-person-view - transmits "cockpit" video...

Yea, amen for functional tracking and ground testing. But I ground tested so long ago I forgot what I'd arrived at. I'm writing it with a sharpie on the bulkhead from now on :)

Here's the rest of...

Ya know Dan, now that we have altimeters that will allow, I'm thinking I'll begin to set one of them to fire 1 sec past apogee. And maybe back off on the charges a tad :)

Yea, it does. The drogue webbing (2" nylon) is appx 60'. By the way, good to hear from you :) Jerry O

DOH, sorry, just corrected that - have to remember to make them "unlisted" vs "private" Thanks for the heads-up

My feeling is either the apogee charges fired almost simultaneously or there was simply too much bp in the cans. Nose cone had 6 #4 nylon screws, has never prematurely deployed until now. Altimeters...

Ya know I really wasn't expecting any problems :)

The thrust ring got sideways and one of the alum pins just got stuck from friction. It was the release of the booster chute that allowed it to...

CTI hasn't responded yet, but oddly enough, none of the motors which catoed or blew their guts were adjacent to another failed motor. Hummmm....... They didn't all pressurize at the same instant -...

Here's that last

OK, near as I can tell...

Motor at 1:00 blew at ignition and was ejected, forward end was split open. Motor at 7:00 was ejected off the tower, case was trumpeted. Motors at 3:00 & 10:00 blew the...

Wow, you found that old pic - f'ing awesome, hahahahha.

Don't be nervous - that Nike-Nike was on me - I was trying to get away with really thin interstage rods with lots of slop so they'd separate...

Thanks for the pics Dave, very nice! Mishap aside, it was a most engaging project - I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process from conception to execution (no pun) :)

So I slowed down my booster cato footage to try get a handle on the sequence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw7rARVz-Rs&feature=youtu.be

Impressive that just one of the J595s' cato at ignition...

Thanks Lance!

This was an interesting 2 stage with several new challenges (for me) but those do keep it interesting. I think maybe the most fun part is trying to figure out how you're gonna make...

Thanks Paul, appreciate your kind words.

Yea, in the chaos of prep at the field I forgot to install the forward snap ring. I would normally do this way ahead but didn't want to lug around an assembled 7600 with installed thermite igniter.

The 2nd 2 stage flight at LDRS was the charm!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R-SdHBt9Ms&list=UUjHURP67CM-DqetH1Qbqw1g&index=1&feature=plcp

After that, I stayed up late re-prepping for the "O"...

My 1st flight at LDRS was a "do-over" of the Iris 2 stage. Good result this time despite a sustainer motor on the ragged, hairy edge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R-SdHBt9Ms&feature=youtu.be

I think they were Menonites :)

My Iris on new 115mm/22k ns hardware by Ed Romani. Propellant is a white I typically use. Nice perspective on the ascent....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLYrkNwOWQE&feature=youtu.be

I am looking forward to it Bob!

The vent line is out the side a few inches down from the cone. Otherwise it's sealed pretty tight. I'll be interested to see if adding another vent changes...

Hi Bob,

Good to hear from you Bob! Been a while since we chatted:)

So, the SL is a baro-only unit (no accel). It calculates velocity from pressure sensor data and with software is not just...

Having my 1st look at data from the PF Stratologger - I like this, very cool.

This plot is from the booster of a recent 2 stage flight. The unit appears to see a sudden change in pressure/velocity...

Are you sure David? It was pretty amusing:)

The video, on YT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n--E4ywSa6k

and on Vimeo in case you don't get YT;

https://vimeo.com/40664493

Thanks Dan and yes, if I can get the rods in time I'll have it ready for LDRS.

No worries, all the hard stuff and unknowns worked great so I'm very pleased. And I doubt I'll forget the snap rings again :)

Separation was beautiful, when it got some space I fired the sustainer motor. Then all hell broke loose. The last shot has everything - booster and sustainer under mains and the various grains of the...

Liftoff on the 9 I540s was shockingly cool. I knew the numbers were OK but I just wasn't prepared for such a ferocious flame & loud sound. Wow.

Couple of the prepping shots, all photos by Neil Mcgilvray