Noob L1 question

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JohnRE

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I am sitting here reading thread upon thread about various L1 attempts and everyone (so it seems) is going dual deploy, swish electronics and loads'o'loot!

Looking at the UKRA notes on the matter it seems to me if I felt so inclined I could actually go motor deployment and still qualify (assuming motor is 'H' and flight is successful), very much KISS.

The silly question is ... 'did I miss something?'
 
My L1 cert flight was motor deploy, no electronics on an H123. Keep it simple and less can go wrong and less to worry about.
 
I am not sure why people are complicating an already complex and stressful event. I certified on a Loc Precision Bullet and a Loki H, no electronics. That said, I did use dual deploy for my Level II, that was at a much smaller field though.
 
Hope not! Mine is planned to be as simple as possible. Started building this week and it will be almost stock built using motor eject*. I'll start a build thread soon.

* As in motor ejection of the recovery system! The other way round would be particularly galling given one of the non-stock parts is a rear retainer!
 
I think your goals for your cert flight depend on who you are. Some people are mentally way past level 1 when they finally get around to certifying. So they make it more challenging. Others, having flown only a few mid-power rockets will want to keep it simple. Some people feel the need to prove their rocketry knowledge with their cert flight. Others just want to do the minimum to have success on the first try.

Different strokes. In the end, all you get is a new membership card, and nobody knows how you got there. Do what's right for you!
 
Dear JohnRE.

Good spread of answers here to your question. Bat-mite's reply is particularly good. If you think you're at the more advanced level of capability that Bat-mite suggests some L1 candidates can be, then go for Dual Deploy and the associated avionics. However, with all due respect, from your post it sounds like the KISS approach would suit you better, so Single Deploy with Motor Ejection is very probably your best bet.

Wishing you all success with your L1 attempt.

After that you can start to build and fly more complex HP rockets.

May I ask which UK rocket club are a member of?

Best wishes,

John Bonsor,
UKRA Secretary,
UKRA Member 1023,
L1.
 
Hi. My advice is to keep it simple. In the UK you can do L1 on just motor eject and most people do that. Leave dual deploy and electronics to L2. KISS definitely applies here.

In the US Dual deploy is not necessary for L2 (I'm not sure if that applies to both Tripoli and NAR) but in the UK it is required, so there's a little difference.

Good luck, hope to see your L1 attempt next weekend!
 
For an L1 I just used motor ejection with an H250 on my SUMO. Yes KISS, but for my L2 I plan on going with DD and scratch building the rocket only because I want to challenge myself and learn more about DD. Also if you start flying rockets above 4-5k without DD chances are you will have a nice walk ahead of you. So I think learning how to build and fly DD is pretty mandatory for the higher flying rockets.

Again its your preference ... you have to ask yourself what you want from the rocket and also what your budget allows. Everything adds up
 
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I am sitting here reading thread upon thread about various L1 attempts and everyone (so it seems) is going dual deploy, swish electronics and loads'o'loot!

Looking at the UKRA notes on the matter it seems to me if I felt so inclined I could actually go motor deployment and still qualify (assuming motor is 'H' and flight is successful), very much KISS.

The silly question is ... 'did I miss something?'

KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid :)

Look at you certification flight as a test. Don't complicate things such that you fail because something went wrong on something that you didn't need to do.
 
I think your goals for your cert flight depend on who you are.

Doesn't really matter who you are.

Anyone remember taking their driving test?

Did you turn up in a Ferrari or an Aston Martin. Did you do smoke the tyres at an emergency stop or when pulling away from the traffic lights. Of course not! You were as steady as you could be, as safe as you were able and as demonstrable with your eyes in the rear view mirror in a way that you haven't been since.

Anyone remember your first few drives after passing the driving test?

That's when the fun began.

SO.
 
Thanks for the input folks. Is good to be clear on the options, it is very likely I will go for motor deployment.
 
Because of what I read here on this forum I was scare to fail my Lev 1 certification, actually it's the same thing as launch an Estes rocket, only bigger but still the same thing, Launch - recover
 
Area66, is pretty much how I was looking at it. Just wanted to check I did not have to get embroiled in technology that I was unfamiliar with and would bust my budget.
 
If you use the Aerotech drill , make sure to use the good side. It's easy to confuse the 4 and 8 secondes.
 
Already have a Cesaroni Pro29 in hand :) Just playing with rocket designs at the moment in OR, would a BT80 collapse or should I be thinking LOC or similar heavy duty tubes?
 
Already have a Cesaroni Pro29 in hand :) Just playing with rocket designs at the moment in OR, would a BT80 collapse or should I be thinking LOC or similar heavy duty tubes?

I've flown BT80 rockets on F70s which have a fairly high average thrust, so a slow H like the H54, H87 or H90 could probably fly fine with BT80. I'd recommend LOC or similar just because heavy BT80 rockets tend to get damaged on landing.

By the way, you can certify pretty much however you like. My cert was really low and slow, a 4 pound 5.5" diameter rocket on a small H sparky. It was very simple and only hit around 900 feet. However, I know several people who have certified L1 on high altitude H flights, and I flights with dual deploy. You don't really have to cert any specific way, anything from a low slow flight on an H and a minimum diameter 38mm on an I1299 with dual deploy is fully okay, as long as it flies and recovers.
 
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Thanks Scrocketfan, good to have ideas to play with. Like the idea of low and slow (wanders off at complete tangent to original plan) :)
 
Thanks Scrocketfan, good to have ideas to play with. Like the idea of low and slow (wanders off at complete tangent to original plan) :)

Low and slow certs are fun, although I normally fly high and fast it can be nice to fly some easy 900-1400 foot flights. I'm attaching a picture of my cert, which was about as low and slow as possible. It was a LOC Mini Magg and the H123 I flew in it only reached around 800-900 feet. Perfect flight except for the delay being a bit long (I used a 7 second delay when a 5 would have been much better). Now, I mostly fly the rocket on much larger motors (I'm flying an I540 in it next month).

Something you may want to consider is building the rocket 38mm and adapting down for the cert flight, that way you have more motor options after you certify. If the rocket is 3" or smaller you're probably fine with 29mm, but for 4" and larger rockets building the rocket 38mm and using an adapter for 29mm is really useful.

CIMG0828.jpg
 
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