3" Darkstar Fastest to Altitude Drag Race at LDRS

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blackbrandt

That Darn College Student
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I was pondering this last night. Drag race. 3 inch STOCK darkstar. Any motor. EX, commercial, doesn't matter. Fastest to predetermined altitude. Probably 2K.

Who is in? :)


Who's playing?

Matt Fletcher (under certified mentor) (blackbrandt) on a 54mm 6G 7% Black Velvet formula.
michigander
mpitfield
 
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I guess if I read the thread location I would have figured that out.
 
What I was thinking was fastest to 2,000 feet. You can go as high as you want. The only number that Will decide is the time that it takes to reach 2000 feet. Any 54 mm motor (EX or commercial) that fits in the pipe.
 
Just my thought, and I'm not even going....but 2000 feet sounds kinda lame. Why not at least go to a mile??
 
Fair enough. I guess we can raise it to a mile.


Also, I just talked to a local rocketry person, and he is making a 54 mm 6G black velvet motor for me. :)
 
OK.... I thought about this some more. Here are some better rules. :) These will be edited as time goes on to clarify situations and prevent loopholes. Sorry! :p

FIRST OFF, let's define some terms.

1. ROCKET: A 3 inch diameter, fiberglass wildman darkstar from Wildman Rocketry, built to allow the use of a 54mm motor chosen by the flyer.
2. MOTOR: Any propulsion device that is 54mm or less in diameter, OR any combination of propulsion devices that has a maximum diameter of 54mm.
3. NASCAR TEMPLATE TEST: The rocket must have the same outer dimensions as a STOCK built 3" Darkstar from Wildman Rocketry. Any modifications may be done to the inside.
4. RACING ALTITUDE: The altitude that will serve as the upper barrier of the timing sequence of racing. This altitude is TBD.

DA RULES
1. The rocket entered must be a 3 inch diameter Darkstar from Wildman rocketry, flown in full stack configuration (full length body tubes, altimeter bay, and nose cone). It must pass a NASCAR template test. AKA the outside shape has to be the same. You can do anything you want to the inside.

2. Any motor is allowed. EX, commercial, Hybrid, solid, whatever you want, as long as it fits inside the motor tube (clusters are allowed if they fit inside a 54mm motor tube), and you are certified to fly it, or someone who IS certified is willing to sign it off for you.

3. All rockets must carry at least 1 flight computer that can upload flight data to a laptop to both demonstrate when the rocket passed the altitude we are flying to, and also prove that it did not exceed the waiver altitude. If flying multiple altimeters, the altimeter that reports the longest time between first liftoff and racing altitude will be the data used for scoring. In the same way, if ANY altimeters onboard report an altitude above the current waiver, you are also disqualified. Choose carefully.

4. The rocket must have a safe, complete, successful flight. The following include, but do not limit the constraints of a failed flight that will be disqualified:
  • CATO
  • Shred
  • Failed deployment
  • Busting of waiver
Essentially, if the rocket would have failed a cert flight, then it is a failure.

5. All rockets must pass the RSO. (Kind of obvious. :p )

6. Rules of cheating. Cheating is allowed AND encouraged, but if caught, you are disqualified. So cheating is OK as long as you are not caught. Bribing is allowed.


Let's keep entering! :)
 
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I have a mentor who will be signing off the flight for me. :) Me, no. Mentor, yes. :p
 
Oh, so we play THAT way now. I do have a mentor who is making the motor and signing the flight card for the flight. So technically, I am still in. :p
 
sorry I put my 3in in lake icky... it has a nice cti 6xl case in it as well, only used once :(
 
I did get a sonic boom out of mine, or that was the sound of it shredding :confused2:
 
Oh, so we play THAT way now. I do have a mentor who is making the motor and signing the flight card for the flight. So technically, I am still in. :p

No, "technically".....YOU are not flying in the race. :tongue::tongue::tongue::tongue::tongue::tongue::tongue::tongue:
 
Guys. Don't plan anything yet. Your proposed drag race has to meet the TRA drag race rules and the field must be set put to accommodate it.

There will be no unlimited altitude, and there will be an impulse limit and depending on how the field is laid out it may or may not allow research motors due to the separation distances required.

Please review the new drag race rules at https://www.tripoli.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RhLaGq2C+HY=&tabid=326 Rule F-1 is applicable.

The drag race at LDRS 31 could no longer be conducted as the minimum separation distance has increased. The pads for any 3-way or more high power drag race is 2 x time the complex separation distance of the total impulse of all the rockets flown. This mean the minimum separation distance for high power drag races is 400' for commercial motors and 500' for research motors. If the L2 pads are located at 400' as they were at URRF 1, the drag races would be limited to H motors as 4 full H motor is a Full J and 2 x the complex J motor separation distance is 400'. We also plan to have 4-6 M pads set up at 500' so that is also an option, but the next increment for more rockets with commercial motors is 600'.

Drag races are fun but they have to comply with TRA rules at the TRA National Launch so Matt please review the Tripoli rules and revise your contest request so it will conform to the fields capability.

Bob Krech, LDRS 34 RSO Manager
 
Guys. Don't plan anything yet. Your proposed drag race has to meet the TRA drag race rules and the field must be set put to accommodate it.

There will be no unlimited altitude, and there will be an impulse limit and depending on how the field is laid out it may or may not allow research motors due to the separation distances required.

Please review the new drag race rules at https://www.tripoli.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RhLaGq2C+HY=&tabid=326 Rule F-1 is applicable.

The drag race at LDRS 31 could no longer be conducted as the minimum separation distance has increased. The pads for any 3-way or more high power drag race is 2 x time the complex separation distance of the total impulse of all the rockets flown. This mean the minimum separation distance for high power drag races is 400' for commercial motors and 500' for research motors. If the L2 pads are located at 400' as they were at URRF 1, the drag races would be limited to H motors as 4 full H motor is a Full J and 2 x the complex J motor separation distance is 400'. We also plan to have 4-6 M pads set up at 500' so that is also an option, but the next increment for more rockets with commercial motors is 600'.

Drag races are fun but they have to comply with TRA rules at the TRA National Launch so Matt please review the Tripoli rules and revise your contest request so it will conform to the fields capability.

Bob Krech, LDRS 34 RSO Manager

Bob,

Thanks for clarifying this. I'm happy to see more stringent regulation placed on drag races and even happier to see URRG take them seriously.
 
F. When three or more rockets (at least one high power) are launched simultaneously, the minimum distance for all involved rockets shall be the lesser of:
1. Twice the complex distance for the total installed impulse. (The complex distance is 350 feet for a single research K and 500 for a single research L, so this would be 1K feet out)
2. 2000 ft (610 M) (2K feet out)
3. 1.5 times the highest altitude expected to be achieved by any of the rockets. (I am guessing altitudes to be somewhere in the 11-12K range, so 16,500 feet or 3 miles.)

This means that the pads have to be 700 feet out if all motors are K or less, and 1000 feet out if all motors are L or less. I hope no one is putting an M into their rockets. :p



I will do some more research on this and revise the rules as necessary. Thank you for pointing that out.
 
And if the launch organizers are not set up to comply with the pad distances, you need to keep the drag races to heats of two rockets. Asking them to reconfigure the field for a drag race will result in 1) you getting told to pound sand or 2) a whole bunch of peeved fliers waiting while the field gets moved around to accommodate.
 
Right. Let me rethink some numbers and revise the rules. Probably the first thing I will do is limit it to K motors, to keep the safe distance down to 700 feet.
 
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