ROCStock 35 Launch Report

[gdjsky01]

By now you all proabably have read that the evil 'W' was an issue for a good 24+ hours of the 60hr ROCStock-35. I have to clean everything. Rockets, aluminet shade cloth, coolers, range boxes, chairs, everything. I'll get to it... The AC in my truck will smell like playa dust for weeks to come...

I got there after a 4 hour journey that should have take 2hrs and 15 minutes. Idiot me left at 8am. Rush hour. - so I rolled in on the 7th at 12pm. However I was able to help setup the small pads. So I did some range setup.

I did very little prep despite vowing I would. So I quickly assembled a Aerotech F40-7 which my sims claimed would take the rocket to 1600 feet. Being a dummy, and having FIVE different recording altimeters, do you think I remembered to place one in the payload section??? F no!!!

The flight however was excellent... smooth with the 7 second delay (8 by my count) being just a tad long. But not bad. A good recovery on a 28 inch chute.

[gdjsky01]

I did prep the motors for my scratch built Deucey 2.5 (build thread here) the night before leaving. Meaning I taped the D12-0 to D12-7. I finished the prep with doggie barf, a 16 inch nylon chute, and an Adept ALTIM 1 wrapped loosely in a paper towel in the payload section (w/ battery taped in).

The flight was excellent to an Adept Altim 1 measured 1698' (517m)! ROCKSim estimated 1600'



2012-06-07-ROCStock-35-0036.jpg by InDanaPt, on Flickr

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2012-06-07-ROCStock-35-0040.jpg by InDanaPt, on Flickr

Thanks to Chris K for chasing down the sustainer on his bike!

[gdjsky01]

Friday morning was clear, calm, and temperate (say 20C to 28C by 11am). The night before I had prepped my scratch built Dagger 38 (build thread here) with an Aerotech I366R-M. The altimeter is an Adept ALTS-22. My last flight (the maiden flight) used a 60 inch (1,5m) chute. That cracked a rear fin. (The rocket is about 6lbs prepped (2,7kg)). So I bought a 72 inch (1,8m) chute. Well I got the rocket up, but I did not get the laundry out...

I used 1 gram of charge in a 3 inch tube with a length of about 24 inches. That should be enough... but as my friend Kurt G says, if 1 gram in enough, 2 grams is correct.

Anyway it separated into two with the chute jammed at the top. It landed in a pretty soft area main tube first. That cracked a 2 inch section of the Quantum Tubing at the lip. Repairable. The altimeter was beeping but a much lower altitude. I think it got reset on the hard landing. Or the medium delay motor backup charge went off first, destroying the charge and squib. Not sure, but either way I got no altitude reading.

On the other hand the flight up was awesome. Take a look...

2012-06-08-ROCStock-35-0065.jpg by InDanaPt, on Flickr

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2012-06-08-ROCStock-35-0066.jpg by InDanaPt, on Flickr

[gdjsky01]

The Dagger 38 was one of the first flights of the day... so of course everyone watched it plunge.
So I quickly need a good flight to show I was not a complete doofus.

Again the night before I had prepped one of my best loved rockets, my venerable scratch built clone of The Launch Pad kit "Osiris" I call Osiris XL. It was prepped with a CTI I212 Smokey Sam (a baby I). This rocket carries a MissileWorks RRC2 in the payload bay for apogee deployment. I added a little more black powder and buttoned it up with a 60 inch (1,5m) chute. ROCKSim predicted 1430 feet (435m). The motor backup was drilled to 10 seconds.

And we're off!

2012-06-08-ROCStock-35-0073.jpg by InDanaPt, on Flickr

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A beauty of a flight with a good recovery.


2012-06-08-ROCStock-35-0074.jpg by InDanaPt, on Flickr

The RRC beeped out 1278' (389m)

[gdjsky01]

I didn't think at 10:45am of the first official day, this would be my last flight of ROCStock 35. Alas thats how it turned out...

Happy with my redemption at the hands of the Osiris XL, I prepped my rebuilt Javelin with a baby CTI H. The favorite H410 VMax... Inside the payload section was an ancient BlackSky ALTACC 2 doing the apogee deployment chores. Again I did not skimp on 4F. Motor backup was set for 12 seconds. And for giggles, since the 2 has no way to readout altitude without a computer, I had an Adept ALTIM 1 go along for the ride.

Now photo buffs... you may know the H410 is a BANG! GONE! motor... now you see it, now you don't. Not Lo n Slow. I like both.
So imagine my surprise when, at an estimated .2 tenths of second into the flight I caught this:

2012-06-08-ROCStock-35-0083.jpg by InDanaPt, on Flickr

Oh yes! A happy camper!
Shutter 1/2000
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 88 mm
ISO Speed 160
It is a 60 inch (1,5m) rocket so I am guessing it's at 25' or so and at about 160mph (256kh). You can almost READ Javelin XL on the side!

The PML 48 inch (1,3m) chute was slow to inflate (I swear I need instructions in chute packing), but out it came and I had a great flight with the ALTIM 1 beeping out 1661' (506m). The AltAcc 2 reported 1601'. Pretty darn close. ROCKSim predicted 1800+ but when I adjusted it to a CD .6 it came up with 1690'. Close enough. BTW: That is Mark "Stickershock" Hayes' "Cranky Bitch" on the pad next door... Photos of it in the Fliclr album.

And then came the "W". With that, my hopes of launching my InnerSceptor on a sparky motor near dusk vanished, and my hope of my first night flight with the BadAzz Myzztic vanished.

And with the "W" still taunting me on Saturday morning, my hope of doubling my total impulse for the year vanished. I had hoped to stay until 5pm or so before hitting the road but with the morning gone, I saw no reason to stick it out. I think my Total Impulse will be around 1050n/s or so.

[gdjsky01]

A nice photo to end the report on:




2012-06-07-ROCStock-35-0045.jpg by InDanaPt, on Flickr

[o1d_dude]

All in all, a decent showing. Some good flights and one not so good.

Does the aluminet shade cloth really make a difference compared to the standard aluminized canopies of EZ-up etc.? In other words, is it worth the money?

[gdjsky01]

Does the aluminet shade cloth really make a difference compared to the standard aluminized canopies of EZ-up etc.? In other words, is it worth the money?

I can't say about the aluminized EZ-UPs. I and my astronomy buddies have white heavy duty EZ-UPs and there is a 10 degree difference between haves and have nots. Of course when there is a wind, its harder to tell! It most definitely lets me get an hour or two more sleep in the morning after being up almost all night by keeping the tent cooler.

If you are on a broadband connection check out my pano from the Golden State Star Party... you'll see acres of Aluminet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffgor...7627211342822/