My Best Recovery Ever.

[McKailas Dad]

Power Line Retrival - 'How-to'


I launched (and lost) my Executioner on an F39 the previous evening. Searched for hours on Saturday and resumed the search on Sunday.

Long story short, I received a phone call that 'Mall Security' had located my rocket, hanging over a power line behind the 'Gap' store....

This is how I got my rocket off of a Live Power Line.....

This should be a Sticky......



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNLyT0ImO7U


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWfb_lwhklI

You didn't think I was going to get it down, did you?

I made one phone call to the Electric Company.

[Rex R]

Sticky please. note the power lines where I'm at carry 7200volts...I may be stupid enough to get something caught on them, but I'm not stupid enough to try and get them down myself.
rex

[qquake2k]

Did the electric company charge you to retrieve it? I've heard some do.

[El Cheapo]

Funny how theyre always in the last place you look. Hopefully you wont get a bill on your next statement.

[McKailas Dad]

No, no charge. (I asked before they came out)

I called the 'Emergency and Power Outage' number, explained my name was Tim Lehr, and told them the situation....

No, but seriously, anything caught on a power line is considered a hazard by the Electric Company, and they will get it down.

They arrived in less than 45 minutes, on a Sunday.

[Rocketman248]

I know all about landing in the power lines. My L3 flight landed in a set about a mile away. A single call to the power company got my rocket back.

[MaxQ]

I know all about landing in the power lines. My L3 flight landed in a set about a mile away. A single call to the power company got my rocket back.

What did it cost ya?

[Rocketman248]

They wouldn't take any sort of payment, so everyone that got rockets stuck in the power lines put in a donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation in the company's name.

[qquake2k]

They wouldn't take any sort of payment, so everyone that got rockets stuck in the power lines put in a donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation in the company's name.

Now that is cool.

[DAllen]

Ahhh yes...power lines


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTUi5B2HHog

-Dave

[dixontj93060]

Although I would not recommend it, I actually did perform a power line recovery at Midwest Power last year. I believe Eric Cayemburg or Justin Farrand posted some "in progress" pics (5.5" blue/silver/red rocket) somewhere. I was getting coaching from a guy that said he was a former fireman. Although it was really tangled I did manage to get it back intact with only a small section of shock cord cut. Looking back, kinda stupid overall though.

[sylvie369]

Although I would not recommend it, I actually did perform a power line recovery at Midwest Power last year. I believe Eric Cayemburg or Justin Farrand posted some "in progress" pics (5.5" blue/silver/red rocket) somewhere. I was getting coaching from a guy that said he was a former fireman. Although it was really tangled I did manage to get it back intact with only a small section of shock cord cut. Looking back, kinda stupid overall though.

Maybe you didn't notice at the time, but there were several of us watching you from a safe distance with phones in hand, fingers on the "9", ready to go. I was expecting sparks and a flash at any moment.

[MarkII]

A popular member of this forum lost his life last year when he tried to retrieve his rocket from a power line. Reading about that just a day or so after having traded posts with him here on the forum makes the danger no longer seem so hypothetical. You will never get me to go near a rocket that is hung up on a power line. If your rocket is so valuable that you can't afford to lose it, then you can't afford to launch it.

[tommy]

A popular member of this forum lost his life last year when he tried to retrieve his rocket from a power line. Reading about that just a day or so after having traded posts with him here on the forum makes the danger no longer seem so hypothetical. You will never get me to go near a rocket that is hung up on a power line. If your rocket is so valuable that you can't afford to lose it, then you can't afford to launch it.

Well said. It's just not worth it. Call the electric Co.

[pick1e]

That's cool they didn't charge you. I'm sure our power company would. Apparently they don't think junk on the lines is a hazard, I can think of several locations where there are shoes and branches on the lines that have been there for years.

[qquake2k]

That's cool they didn't charge you. I'm sure our power company would. Apparently they don't think junk on the lines is a hazard, I can think of several locations where there are shoes and branches on the lines that have been there for years.

In the city where I live, shoes hanging on power lines can be a gang message of some sort. Not sure what the message is, though.

[top150]

In the city where I live, shoes hanging on power lines can be a gang message of some sort. Not sure what the message is, though.

I think the message is that they got some new shoes and they had to show off in the most destructive way you can when getting new shoes.

[MarkII]

They are used to mark territory, I believe. Certain brands of shoes are associated with certain gangs.

[qquake2k]

I think the message is that they got some new shoes and they had to show off in the most destructive way you can when getting new shoes.

I think it would be more fun to destroy your old shoes with explosives, but that's just me.

[qquake2k]

They are used to mark territory, I believe. Certain brands of shoes are associated with certain gangs.

Stupid gang bangers.

[gdiscenza]

I think it would be more fun to destroy your old shoes with explosives, but that's just me.

Maybe add a motor mount and some fins?? Hmmm.....

Loafer launches anyone?

G.D.

[MarkII]

Maybe add a motor mount and some fins?? Hmmm.....

Loafer launches anyone?

G.D.

How many lunches can you make with a Big Loafer?

[SMR]

Although I would not recommend it, I actually did perform a power line recovery at Midwest Power last year.

The "Power" of Midwest Power should actually stand for "Power Lines". Not an uncommon occurrence. My fear now is dropping one on a wind turbine. They are getting closer.

[Buckeye]

My fear now is dropping one on a wind turbine. They are getting closer.

At the risk of hijacking this thread into an environmental argument, wind turbines are yet another threat to our open spaces of beauty and rocket enjoyment.

[closet astronaut]

Excuse my ignorance gentlemen, and maybe this is just on these large rockets...but why is the shock cords so long?

[qquake2k]

Excuse my ignorance gentlemen, and maybe this is just on these large rockets...but why is the shock cords so long?

On mid and high power rockets, we generally use Kevlar or nylon webbing for shock cords, for their strength. They're so long to be able to absorb the shock of the chute opening suddenly, without causing damage to the airframe. With elastic shock cords or lighter rockets, it's not as much of an issue.

[closet astronaut]

So it's just on the big boys. I also notice the chute isn't connected to the cone but attached about midway down the shock cord.

[qquake2k]

So it's just on the big boys. I also notice the chute isn't connected to the cone but attached about midway down the shock cord.

Well, the small rocket in the first photo has 5oz of weight in the nose cone. It's pretty heavy. In the last photo, it's a zipperless design, so it breaks in the middle. There's a lot of weight in the upper section. As for the middle photo, my LOC IV, I think it just looks better.

[jadebox]

Excuse my ignorance gentlemen, and maybe this is just on these large rockets...but why is the shock cords so long?

They are long to allow drag to slow the relative speed of the parts after ejection so that there isn't a big shock for the shock cord to absorb.

Some use the idea for small rockets, also, by replacing the elastic shock cord with a longer length of Kevlar string. Thin Kevlar, though, can easily cut through a body tube, causing a "zipper" if the 'chute doesn't deploy at the right time. For that reason I prefer old fashioned "rubber band" or "underwear elastic" shock cords for small rockets. But. sometimes I'll use Kevlar string or Kevlar string attached to an elastic shock cord.

-- Roger

[Nerull]

I remember seeing someone at NSL 2007 - standing on top of their car - trying to grab their rocket hanging from the high voltage transmission lines running near the field. Their ~8 year old kid watching from the ground nearby.