HPR Level 1 certification... CHECK -Now with Level 2 thoughts.

Long story short, I grew up building paper towel tube rockets with my brother in our back yard, some truly great memories. We attended AIRFEST this year in Argonia, and I instantly knew I wanted a part of the fun. Fast forward to October and I had finished my first build. Blessed with a sunny day in October, I got the chance to certify with the rocket.

My first high power rocket is a thin wall fiberglass 2.6'' Madcow Tomach with a 38mm motor mount. I built it like a tank and it came out a little on the heavy side at 5lb 2oz. But, it's built to last and will be around for a long time hopefully. For a motor I chose the Loki Research 38/480 I-210 Red. My wonderful significant other came up with the name for the rocket, NIGHT FURY, based on a dragon from the Disney movie, "How to train your dragon". She attended my certification launch and stated how much fun she had, and now she wants to build a rocket of her own and attend the next AIRFEST! Yay .

The flight went about as good as I could hope, the dual deploy worked as planned, and the rocket reached an altitude of 2,948 feet. Photography is something I have always enjoyed and so I wanted to make sure and get plenty of video of my first flight. I pieced some of the video together and got several angles including on board. I'm sharing this experience in the hopes to get other people interested in this very fun hobby!

Special Thanks to Dave, Lance, and Kloudbusters.

[video=youtube;N-AQ-8qc_Fo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-AQ-8qc_Fo[/video]

Video Timeline:
Ejection Charge Test: 0:36
Rocket Launch (ground): 0:58
Launch Pad View: 1:24
On-board Video: 1:37
Main Parachute (ground): 3:36

chuff, the magic dragon . conga rats, welcome to high power rocketry, open your wallet . Nice video.
Rex

Woo congrats! Nice flight.

Sounds like your road to Level 1 was an interesting one. Well done. BTW, if you have a woman that wants to build a rocket and go to launches -- KEEP HER!!!

Congrats! Just remember, L1 is a license to burn money, L2 is a license to burn a LOT of money, and L3 is a license to burn so much money you have to contact the fire department in California.

Good show!

Half a mile on your first shot with dual-deployment, good work.

Now I'm trying to decide how I want to get my level 2 certification. I could get it with this rocket, but building them is so much fun.

I foresee a minimum diameter in my future... Wildman Blackhawk 38 or 54. Decisions.. decisions..

There are a lot of motor possibilities for a Blackhawk 38, and you can attain some serious altitude for the $$$. Does anyone have a real world finished weight for the 38mm kit?

A-N-D-R-E-W said:

There are a lot of motor possibilities for a Blackhawk 38, and you can attain some serious altitude for the $$$. Does anyone have a real world finished weight for the 38mm kit?

Click to expand...

mass = 1029g and CG = 676mm

Includes dual deploy, altimeter, BRB900 tracker, av-bays for the electronics, and some added nose weight.

13,589 ft on a CTI J453

A Loki 38/1200 case has been ordered.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. My initial thought was to throw the loki K627 in a 38mm minimum diameter for my level two cert. But I'd hate to lose this case on the first flight! So, I'm going to fly it in my 2.6'' tomach above, while it could still be lost, I feel the risk is a little lower. I would also easily hit the 1 mile mark in this configuration. This would also let me test out an eggfinder or some sort of tracker first before pushing the limits of a 38/1200 in a minimum diameter.

I'm still going to pick up a 38 minimum diameter soon, still trying to decide what one I want to get, although I'm leaning towards trying out the Blackhawk 38.

Anyone have any thoughts on the next bird? Tracker options?

All good thoughts.

Depending on which flyover state you're in, you could have plenty of room for recovery, but min-diameter 38mm K is going to add a ton of stress to your cert-day. (especially without a tracker)

If you have an android device, the new T3 tracker from Missileworks is hot news at the moment and relatively inexpensive for a full GPS system. I'll be buying one in a week or so.

There's also the line of eggtimer products if you like soldering (or know someone that does). I don't solder, so I haven't looked into them much.

Moving up the price range there's the Missileworks RTx and the Altus Metrum line of telegps, telemini, etc.... Both sets have there supporters.


Give it a few and ksaves or others will chime in with more options.

There are tons of options for tracking now. I like my Eggtimer stuff, it's worked well and handled my L3 flight great. Of course, when I fly a tracker, I don't end up needing one, and the reverse as well... My L3 landed less than 1/4 mile away, on the salt flats. There was no doubt where it went.

If you really want to do a MD 38mm K, I highly recommend getting used to dual deploy and tracking before doing it. Both are your friends.