It will thus fall upon the "hobby rocket community" to educate both the public and the media. Good luck with that!
Thanks for the update, S6.
Glad to hear more from Ted Cochran.
I for one am surprised that a rocket made from cardboard and plastic powered by a black powder motor can do so much damage. Unfortunately it was a matter of "just the right (wrong) time and place" for Mr. Bentley. Certainly tragic. But it behooves us all, as they say, to "re-double our efforts" with regards to safety measures at our launches.
Huh? 4" pointy object weighing a pound or more came in at terminal velocity (or close to it) and impaled the guy in the face. The result is not surprising at all.
Huh? 4" pointy object weighing a pound or more came in at terminal velocity (or close to it) and impaled the guy in the face. The result is not surprising at all.
I feel the same way. After seeing paper make holes in windows, windows and floorboards, sheet metal, etc
I've seen that damage with fiberglass, just never personally seen it with paper/cardboard. But for sure, I'm sufficiently on alert now!
Human error. It is always present in one form or another. And it has happened to all of us at one time or another, myself included.
[video=youtube;Nj-fFDJ04Ic]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj-fFDJ04Ic[/video]
Rocket aimed towards houses. Really!?!??!?
Actually, no, not necessarily obvious. I haven't studied the physics, but it is possible to design crumple structures that absorb and dissipate the force--look and Indy cars. When a cardboard rocket airframe impacts, either through splitting or an accordion effect, there is some force dissipation. Obviously not enough in this case and/or the impact area was soft enough that nothing would have helped.
The impact energy and forces need to be dissipated somewhere. Crumple structures are designed to protect the occupants inside a vehicle from experiencing excessive deceleration forces. The forces are dissipated within the crumple zone which is sacrificed and destroyed in the process.Actually, no, not necessarily obvious. I haven't studied the physics, but it is possible to design crumple structures that absorb and dissipate the force--look and Indy cars. When a cardboard rocket airframe impacts, either through splitting or an accordion effect, there is some force dissipation. Obviously not enough in this case and/or the impact area was soft enough that nothing would have helped.
We are now more than 3 years past this tragedy. Are photo's of the rocket in question available ?
Dave F.
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