L3 Post Mortem - Flight of the Terminator

Thank you all so much,,,
While were on the subject I'd like to say something to be clear..
No matter how you look at it a 3rd loop is still an attachment point...
If I take a ft of material,, make a loop with a tail to be fixed to the main line,,
if you pull on this 3rd loop in the direction of the main line
then the attachment is as strong as any other loop,, because you're putting tension on the entire attachment at once...
But if you pull in the other direction you're pulling on one stitch at a time,,
you have to try hard enough,, but it is certainly possible to pop one stitch,, then another,, then another...
I have made and sold a lot of harnesses over the years,, more then I would even try to add up..
I am now up to 3 stripped 3rd loops.. By far,, most often even when there's a separation at motor burnout,,
the direction of tension has been in my favor,, the harness just simply is not going to be the weak link in this chain..
But 3 times the direction of tension was just perfect peeling back against the stitching,, one stitch at a time...
That is why I only put 3rd loops in a place for the drogue,, no more tension then the drogue can apply...
They're very necessary to get the drogue off of the av bay and
give some harness so the drogue can be shoved down into the booster
by the apogee charge while still allowing separation..
If it weren't for this necessity I wouldn't make a 3rd loop,, a necessary evil ?? lol...
I have still never had a failed end loop,, I am quite proud of that,, that isn't by chance...

Teddy

Teddy - this is why we us a bar-tacker for our harnesses. No "stitch at a time" to pop.
This is what is used for climbing harnesses and any other man-rated straps.

onebadhawk said:

That is why I only put 3rd loops in a place for the drogue,, no more tension then the drogue can apply...

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I see what you're saying about the 3rd loop and how the forces can pull the stitching out. That makes sense. But how do you attach the main then? It's own harness? Use one 2-loop harness to a connection point, with the main and another 2-loop to the nose cone? Attach the main to the same loop as the nose cone? I'm finishing up a build now and was planning to tie a loop for the chutes, so I'm glad I checked this thread before I did that. I'm planning to order a 3-loop for the drogue side, but if I'm ordering anyway, I want to make sure I get everything else I need while I'm at it. And a couple of those swivels, those look really nice.

So how fast was the rocket falling when it hit the ground?

Worsaer said:

Yep - The GPS-1 came through it great. It's going to fly again. It's a high quality product - I'm very pleased.
The Google Earth data in my original post came off the on-board memory card. It was still transmitting when I walked up to the rocket. It never lost contact throughout the flight, or when it impacted the ground.

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I have always connected the main directly to the nosecone...
This is why I always use a 2 loop in the payload section on top
and a 3 loop in the booster on bottom...

Teddy