We launched the rocket again today. The conditions were clear with no wind. The rocket climbed to 988 ft this time as compared with 616ft on the first launch. The differences were 1500gm wgt -about 100gm lighter, a g80 with 137ns as compared with 120ns and fins modified with trailing edge perpendicular to the fuselage rather than angled forward (perhaps reducing drag?). The booster flew straight and the parachute deployed perfectly after apogee. At that altitude it was difficult to see what was happening with the glider but eventually it appeared in a vertical dive with the wing fabric fluttering noisily and no apparent response to up elevator. But at around 50ft it pullled out of the dive flying horizontally while the fluttering stopped. I turned it to the right and attempted to level out for landing before it touched down fast but with no damage.
The whole flight lasted just 30 seconds from start to finish.. ending with all components recovered intact but little actual controlled gliding time!
Reasons? 1) The glider flew well when tested with a hand launch but perhaps the ballistic deployment from the booster impedes the full unfolding of the wing
2)The control surfaces are not large enough to cause it to pitch up at high speed.
Suggestions - increase the size of the elevators
- increase their pitch
-replace the current laser 4 receiver with a DX6i receiver which might allow for more adjustment to be made
-modify the wing deployment mechanism to reduce the tendency for it to jam
The whole flight lasted just 30 seconds from start to finish.. ending with all components recovered intact but little actual controlled gliding time!
Reasons? 1) The glider flew well when tested with a hand launch but perhaps the ballistic deployment from the booster impedes the full unfolding of the wing
2)The control surfaces are not large enough to cause it to pitch up at high speed.
Suggestions - increase the size of the elevators
- increase their pitch
-replace the current laser 4 receiver with a DX6i receiver which might allow for more adjustment to be made
-modify the wing deployment mechanism to reduce the tendency for it to jam