Level 3 Build "The Grand Optimist" Ultimate Wildman

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Onebadhawk
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Rex R said:
close, the rocket needs to stay inside the waiver for the entire flight. which is generally a radius of 1/2 the waiver altitude or a minimum of 1500'.
Rex
Click to expand...

Right, the waiver at Argonia is 50K'. It landed appx 1 mile away from the pad, close.
 
Rex R said:
close, the rocket needs to stay inside the waiver for the entire flight. which is generally a radius of 1/2 the waiver altitude or a minimum of 1500'.
Rex
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. It's whatever is on the FAA paperwork. 1/2 the waiver altitude at the site I fly at would be
7500'. The waiver says one mile radius. That is the groundwork one has to work from. Kurt
 
PokerJones said:
Right, the waiver at Argonia is 50K'. It landed appx 1 mile away from the pad, close.
Click to expand...

In post #128 you mentioned two miles away. Above you say one mile from the pad. The pad is the starting point on the radius. The radius of the waiver is what's on the FAA paperwork as mentioned. It is odious that I read this was hashed out at the TRA Bod level and if the rocket has a main at apogee event it's allowable to pass if the waiver
requirements are meant. On the other hand the statement, "Any other legitimate reason the TAP member deems merits non-certification." allows them to do whatever they want. Which means with different TAPs the outcome could have been different. Bad taste in mouth people. Kurt
 
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ksaves2 said:
In post #128 you mentioned two miles away. Above you say one mile from the pad. The pad is the starting point on the radius. The radius of the waiver is what's on the FAA paperwork as mentioned. It is odious that I read this was hashed out at the TRA Bod level and if the rocket has a main at apogee event it's allowable to pass if the waiver
requirements are meant. On the other hand the statement, "Any other legitimate reason the TAP member deems merits non-certification." allows them to do whatever they want. Which means with different TAPs the outcome could have been different. Bad taste is mouth people. Kurt
Click to expand...

I wrote post #128 when I first got back from the launch, 2 miles seemed like a reasonable estimate given how long we drove to find it. The Argonia site is divided into 1 mile squares bordered by dirt roads. After I did a screen grab of the flight it was easy to determine the actual distance of approximately 1 mile.

As I said, I am fine with not passing the certification, the flight did not go as planned and we all knew it. I will be flying this L3 rocket and many others for years to come.

Screenshot (52).jpg
 
ksaves2 said:
In post #128 you mentioned two miles away. Above you say one mile from the pad.
Click to expand...

I suspect what happened is the drive to the field was close to 2 miles (roads are a grid there), and the "as the rocket flies" distance was about 1 mile. I had one land almost dead center of that same field, and my distance from pad when I plugged it in to my mapping app was 0.9 miles. He was well within the radius.

You got it next time. The flight was beautiful, and the video very cool.
 
Yea, shake down flight that's all. How was your decent rate on the main?
You can tweak your OR settings for the altitude etc. next flight the TAP will brag on your altitude and speed predictions :).

You could also space the bottom of your camera mount out a bit so the picture will have less of the rocket, is that a Landru? That is what I'll be using, may space mine out a little.
 
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PokerJones said:
I wrote post #128 when I first got back from the launch, 2 miles seemed like a reasonable estimate given how long we drove to find it. The Argonia site is divided into 1 mile squares bordered by dirt roads. After I did a screen grab of the flight it was easy to determine the actual distance of approximately 1 mile.

As I said, I am fine with not passing the certification, the flight did not go as planned and we all knew it. I will be flying this L3 rocket and many others for years to come.
Click to expand...

Right, I see now. Straight line versus road distance. I realize how you feel about it but now you're forced to spend the big bucks on a reload when perhaps you could have
planned for the next project further down the line. I'm sure you'll get it next time. Kurt
 
Sorry to hear that. Time for some poka-yoke (mistake-proofing, in nicer terms). I build my bays so that I cannot reverse the connections. IE male plugs on the top end of the sled, female plugs on the bottom end of the sled. If you put it in backwards, you'll realize that they will not connect. Doesn't stop me from putting the bulkheads the wrong way, but they ARE labeled and I only have one rocket that has a bay in which I have a body tube connected to both sides. Otherwise, half the bay has the main bay connected to it, and the other is shear pinned to the motor section.

Best of luck on the next shot!
 
ksaves2 said:
Not necessarily. It's whatever is on the FAA paperwork. 1/2 the waiver altitude at the site I fly at would be
7500'. The waiver says one mile radius. That is the groundwork one has to work from. Kurt
Click to expand...

It would also help to start with the correct figure of 1/4 from Part 101.
 
mrwalsh85 said:
Sorry to hear that. Time for some poka-yoke (mistake-proofing, in nicer terms). I build my bays so that I cannot reverse the connections. IE male plugs on the top end of the sled, female plugs on the bottom end of the sled. If you put it in backwards, you'll realize that they will not connect. Doesn't stop me from putting the bulkheads the wrong way, but they ARE labeled and I only have one rocket that has a bay in which I have a body tube connected to both sides. Otherwise, half the bay has the main bay connected to it, and the other is shear pinned to the motor section.

Best of luck on the next shot!
Click to expand...

I do this too. . And do lids Wayco style with the all thread.

Take the all thread and 'fix' to the aft lid with nylon nuts .. up top use wing nuts. . When i pull it apart the all thread stays on the lower lid-fringe benefit is the all thread stays almost aligned to the upper deck holes ..

That with the reversed wire connectors , allow me to field strip the sled and back together pretty quickly in the same config

Kenny
 
My wiring is color coded. Blue = main, white = drogue, orange = switch, red/black = battery. When flying redundant altimeters, the primary has male connectors, the back up has female. I also label the lids, couplers and which terminals go to which altimeter, if using redundant. The bays are built so the wing nuts are on the drogue side, unless it's a nose cone av-bay.

A large part of my day job is idiot-limiting processes and equipment.
 
I have everything prepped and ready for my second L3 certification flight tomorrow morning at the HOTROCS field in Asa Texas. Weather looks perfect for flying and confidence is high that it will be a success. I will report the outcome of the flight and add some pics/video tomorrow evening.
 
PokerJones said:
I have everything prepped and ready for my second L3 certification flight tomorrow morning at the HOTROCS field in Asa Texas. Weather looks perfect for flying and confidence is high that it will be a success. I will report the outcome of the flight and add some pics/video tomorrow evening.
Click to expand...

Good luck!
 
Sweet, bet the flight will be perfect ! Can't wait to see your report...MWP is calling your name regardless of the drive!
 
Congrats Jeff! It was a great flight and recovery. Really glad it went well and welcome to Level Three. Looking forward to photos.


Tony
 
ALL of my ebays have an arrow pointing up, keeps what's left of my feeble mind from screwing that up. I used to mark bulkheads until I switched those around..... I also mark the coupler with arrows on the outside. Everything goes together with the arrows UP......
 
My L3 flight went very well yesterday but I didn't get any pics of the liftoff (if you have any please PM me) but I did have 3 cameras taking video from different angles. The liftoff was shot with my phone (a little shaky), I had a go pro on the pad and a mobius on board, I'll attach a short video of all 3.

I used the Aerotech M1315W again and it boosted the 48 pound rocket to 7048' in about 19 seconds. The liftoff seemed a little slower than at Airfest but it managed to go about 150' higher. I used the Rocket Locater App on my phone for the first time with the Eggtimer TRS instead of just using google maps. After a bit of tweeking to update our current position, it took me right to the rocket. Pretty cool little app when paired with the bluetooth LCD.

The recovery was a little bizarre, the HOTROCS field in Asa is miles and miles of dirt fields and dirt roads and I managed to land on the only piece of concrete in site at the small compound they use for storage and farm equipment. The pic below is exactly as we found it. The nozzle took the brunt of the impact leaving my Aero Tech retainer with just a small scratch. The payload section and nose cone landed a few feet away in the scrub. All in all the rocket came back in near perfect condition with a few small chips in the fins. I guess it could have been worse, there is a creek down an embankment about 10' from where the nosecone landed.

I'll put up some more pics when I get them

DSC_1222.jpg DSC_1225.jpg DSC_1221.jpg

Video

https://youtu.be/NNpeReoahA8
 
ksaves2 said:
Ok, So Jeff rode a 4-wheeler? Hmmmmmm, since it was a success, no walk and it was damn windy as you say, "That does not compute Will Robinson.":facepalm:
(Unless the windy part was sarcasm.):wink: Kurt
Click to expand...

It landed about half a mile away but we didn't have to walk very far from my Jeep :)

20161015_123423.jpg
 

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