Well, I'll never do THAT again!

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Cabernut

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2015
Messages
1,384
Reaction score
9
At yesterday's launch I loaded my Loadstar II with a C6-0/B6-4 combo for it's first as a two stager. The first stage went off great, then nothing... arcing over... oh no... FUMP!

loadstar_ii_lawndart01.jpg
Only damage was the nosecone got jammed up into the clear payload bay about an inch. Easy fix. The motor mount broke loose and jammed up a couple inches. A bit tougher fix but not bad at all. At least the nosecone and body tube/fins are OK.


It seemed strange that the sustainer appeared not to light until a few seconds after booster separation but I did see a late burn.
Here is how it looked when I managed to dig it out.
loadstar_ii_lawndart02.jpg


Hmmm... What happened to the nozzle? Seems like the engine fired at least..:confused: I wonder about the front end...
loadstar_ii_lawndart03.jpg


Oh Shiiii :facepalm:
loadstar_ii_lawndart04.jpg


Moral of the story: When taping BP motors for staging, double check they're pointing the right way.
 
Oh man!

I recently was gifted by the rockets gods when I did not tape the motor hook to a motor.
The recovery gear deployed fine, but when I recovered the rocket and saw that the motor had also ejected, I realized how lucky I was.

I would have shared my mistake here if it had lawn darted though, so that others could learn from it, so thanks for sharing yours.
It's embarrassing sometimes but we all do this kind of stuff from time to time.:)
 
OK, I did laugh, but in a very affectionate and supportive way. Thanks for sharing :rofl:.
 
Ya, I laughed at myself when I realized what I had done. It seems the simple steps need just as much attention as the rest.
 
My first rocket was an Estes Mongoose 2 stage. I have built several of them and have a bunch of two stage flights. You are absolutely right, you will only do it once. I know I did.
 
One thing I find interesting is that the motor must have burned in reverse. Based on the look of the smoke trail after separation, the clay cap must have been blown from the booster, then igniting the eject charge, delay element, then the BP under low pressure burn.
 
I had done exacly the same thing with Loadstar II as well. By the time the sustainer lit, with delay working in reverse, the rocket was well on the way down. It got driven hard into the ground by the upper stage motor and all the plastic pieces were completely shuttered.
 
Oh hey, I forgot I have a video of the flight. It's up on YouTube now.

[youtube]C_ISnUZm6lc[/youtube]
 
jiFfM.jpg


Well, at least it wasn't the Magnum.
 
I almost did that this weekend on my Fliskits Corona. Luckily, I happened to glace at the top of the motor stack as I was putting it into the rocket.
 
many years ago, I flipped the center motor on a three stage farside. second stage motor - with no clay cap lit with a long plume of zero-trust flame. Sustainer lit about the time it hit he ground. :(
 
I'm waiting for someone to read they don't need an igniter to do a two-stager with BP motors. Then use the plastic nozzle plug by itself in the sustainer's motor.
 
Back
Top