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The one point of very slight damage to the rocket was the escape tower.

During recovery, it was supposed to drop out of the nose section of the rocket and hang from a thin Kevlar line, but it...

Some nice flight pictures thanks to Dave Lindbergh.

The last three images showed something about this flight I had not previously known:

The motor "backup ejection" actually separated the...

Thanks for the kind words all.

I've fired a number of Pro-X 24mm 3grain F30 engines, as they have a regressive, 2.4 second burn that looks good in the middle of a cluster of BP engines. This was...

Got the video edited:


http://youtu.be/6ZolFWCGCPQ

Before and after pictures plus the Raven altimeter data.

The excellent Rocketflite CF igniters are mostly wired in series strings of 2 and then those are joined in parallel, reducing total current...

At about 1pm on a beautiful sunny day at the CMASS Amesbury 4/27/13 launch, the Soyuz lifted off on a column of fire and smoke for a very nice flight.

All 17 engines fired and both Top Flight...

After reviewing flight performance from the Soyuz' first flight and comparing to the preferred cluster for my English Electric Thunderbird, selected the cluster of motors for the Soyuz flight...

pic 1: After several more build-ups of epoxy, the base of the boosters are very firmly anchored to the core.

pic 2: Standing the rocket up fully assembled. Taking the picture from a low vantage...

If you would like to see how I power and wire cluster ignitions, please check out the Cluster Box and Rocketflite links on the website in my signature.

Yessir, Soyuz repairs are completed and final flight prep is in process.

(This tribute to) the Russian space program will launch at the CMASS 4/27/13 launch in Amesbury, MA.

Long range weather...

Thanks, I like that you are using recycled electrons, shows a real commitment to protecting the environment :)

Pictures and video of the first, and only previous flight, are in posts 125 through...

Another example of (model) rocketry pushing the envelope in (masking tape) materials bonding technology.

Mike, how are you doing? Hope all is well.

Haven't seen you at a CMASS launch in quite...

Carefully bonded each booster to the core using West 206 epoxy thickened with colloidal silica.

Bonded one booster each night for four nights, checking alignment repeatedly as the epoxy dried.
...

Touched up the white paint on 3 of the boosters.

Also re-painted the orange on all 4 boosters and the core.

This should have been a quick task, but took much longer because of repeated orange...

Drilled a series of small holes along all contact areas between core and boosters, to give epoxy more to bond to.

Only area not drilled was the area of the core that has no inner wall = chute...

Catching up on posts:

> Numbered each booster and sanded to get best fit to core section.

> Formed 0.75" x 1.25" through-the-wall pine posts to anchor base of boosters to core.

> Epoxied...

You are doing some fine scale work there.

The chute recovery space is tight and the investment in labor is huge, I would suggest the chute setup the kit recommends and that I used. One chute for...

Thanks.

My current plan is to use slightly thickened West 206 epoxy, with small holes drilled where possible and surface roughened for re-bonding.

Leaning towards surface mounting to the core...

Please do post pictures of how you did this. Also pics of your completed Vostok. Has it flown?

Thanks.

Yes, if this ever comes down onto the launch rod the Spinning Saucer of the Apocalypse may very well be destroyed.

As an HP flier, the 200ft spectator distance will keep people quite...

Yes, spin stabilized throughout the flight, hitting a peak of about 1000rpm at spin motor burnout, and still spinning quickly for seconds after touchdown.

Probably a moderate amount of "saucer...

It might hold together, but the stresses would be risky on its flat draggy form.

I'm leaning more towards longer burn for the lift to minimize structural stress and maximize total lift.

2012 year-end summary of the Spinning Saucer of the Apocalypse.

This year:

7 flights total, always with 2x 29mm AP motors for lift and 8x 24mm BP motors for spin.

All 70 motors loaded...

Flight 7 video:


http://youtu.be/mm-iBroFb1A

flight 7: 11/17/12 CMASS Amesbury, MA

Used 2x AT G80T engines for lift instead of the usual G64W, resulting in a slightly quicker and higher lift and more definition to the helix of smoke...

flight 6: 10/6/12 CMASS / MMMS Berwick, ME

Another good flight on 2x G64 + 8x D11-P

That is a very interesting question....

I have a few 3grain 29mm Pro-X long burn motors on order, including some H54's.

As the 8x D engines provide lots of spin, a little more lift could be...

This video of flight 5 shows the fast spin continuing for several seconds after touchdown.

Standard flight pattern for this saucer.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FysgxlZqnlA

flight 5: 7/21/12 CMASS Amesbury, MA

Lifted off again on 2x G64 + 8x D12.

Good stable, fast spinning flight.

Finally getting around to repairing the Soyuz.

In its first and only flight on 4/2011 the boosters separated from the rocket core during recovery. While the real Soyuz drops its boosters, my...