10" diameter JayHawk

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Sather; Great to see the Jayhawk shaping up again. As always, looking forward to your flights this weekend.

Note - attachment #2 is in the hallway of the Best Western in Wichita, KS, at LDRS XXX.

I recognize that hallway. Straight ahead, lobby to the left, breakfast to the right:).

-Eric-
 
Will be busy packing tomorrow, so I'll post tonight using stock footage (from LDRS) to simulate the real thing. Trailer goes on car, rockets go in trailer, with boxes of support equipment. On a Venn diagram, this is the intersection of everything I think I'll need and everything I can remember. Which, of course, leaves all that other stuff behind... the things I didn't think I needed (but did) and the stuff I did need (but forgot). Thankfully, Wildman will have most of that, so the most important item to pack is a credit card. Weather forecast looks great. See you all on Friday.

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Sather

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Proof she made it to MWP. Great flying weather on Friday (JayCoke Zero on L3150 Vmax) and Saturday (Pandora in the N5800 drag race). Wind was picking up on Sunday morning, and by about 9:00 was past my personal limit for the Jayhawk. Good friend and fellow WOOSH member Marc S. brought over an iPhone with weather radar imaging of an approaching storm, (isn't modern technology GREAT!), so we took a few quick pictures and pulled her down before the rain started. Thanks to all for your support and encouragement. We'll try again at Thunderstruck. Sather

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Okay, time for a little catch-up. In February at NIRCON 2012, the Jayhawk was on display at at the Challenger Learning Center in Woodstock, IL. The event was hosted jointly by FVR and NIRA. At 12' 5" (3.8 m), she was too tall for the room - we had to remove a ceiling panel. She won the People's Choice Award by popular vote. Photo by Dave Heim.

And over the winter, I build a dolly to roll the Jayhawk around on. She is too heavy and awkwardly sized to heft around by myself. It is a 30" x 96" piece of 3/4" plywood, with a 1" x 3" frame added around the perimeter for rigidity. The wheel assemblies are from a steel mesh deck wagon, Haul-Master #38137, purchased on sale at Harbor Freight. Lessons learned from her first operational foray into the field...

1. While the 10" pneumatic tires are fine for paved surfaces, dirt roads, playa, and the runway at Bong, they left a little bit to be desired when rolling through a freshly plowed corn field. Bigger tires and a wider wheelbase will be a future upgrade.

2. The front tires steer, individually at a kingpin like those on a car vs the entire axle pivoting like on a wagon. This is a nice feature of the Haul-Master deck wagon. Unfortunately, the pull bar's angle is what steers the front tires, and due to an unfortunate coincidence in their respective geometries, the Jayhawk's nose cone exists in the space where the best angle for pulling the dolly would put the pull bar's handle. We had a work around by attaching a length of kevlar shock cord to the handle to make it longer. A future mod will be to either lengthen the pull bar, or change it to a draw bar capable of being attached to a trailer hitch or 4 wheeler to tow. (Which would solve the towing resistance over uneven terrain issue of #1.)

3. All the nose ballast is in the tip of the nose, which puts a lot of torque on the nose cone's shoulder when horizontal. The shear pins sheared on the way to the pad. Not a problem, as I had more and re-pinned it once vertical on the pad. It would probably have been easier to wait and install the nose cone at the pad vs in the prep area.

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We'll try again at Thunderstruck.

Let me start out with a big thanks to the great folks at Indiana Rocketry. Thunderstruck was an incredibly well planned and well managed event. Never a shortage of pads, plenty of people helping out, and literally held on a field of dreams. I know there was a lot of hard work done behind the scenes, because it made the event effortless for the flyers in attendance. Thank you all.

Patience is a virtue. After several weather scrubs in 2011 (at LDRS XXX and MWP9), we finally had several days of near perfect weather at Thunderstruck 2012. It was just a little bit windy on Friday, so we paced ourselves and launched a few rockets in the "G" to "I" range while doing some prep work on the bigger members of the fleet. My family and some friends wouldn't arrive until later anyway, so things fell in place for a Saturday launch of the Jayhawk. Saturday started with a low overcast sky and nearly calm winds, so we prepped her for a low flight on the Cesaroni M4770 Vmax motor (98-3G), keeping the dual deploy option via Defy Gravity Tether intact in case the clouds would part. Thanks again to the group of friends who helped push and pull the dolly to the pad. (Not an easy feat. See previous post.) Once she was on the rail in the early afternoon, the skies magically cleared, and I was tempted to rush back and swap out the motor. (I was also tempted to challenge Manny to a drag race, as he had the Carbon Nightmare on the adjacent pad.) Realizing the motor swap would take time, and the drag race would be very lop-sided, I choked back both temptations and pressed ahead.

The motor came up to pressure very quickly and 148 pounds of Jayhawk took to the sky. The M4770 was a good motor choice, as the entire flight including deployment sequencing, was clearly visible from the spectator area. The ascent was straight, almost a dead stop at the 1,400' apogee, followed by drogue deployment. I used two Giant Leap (36" and 84") pilot chutes to get the TAC-9C drogue chute out of it's kevlar deployment bag. (I found in the first flight of the 12" modular booster that a 24" pilot chute wouldn't be enough.) I used a slider on the 4 shroud lines of the TAC-9C as an insurance policy to avoid a hard opening. The actual opening was gentle enough that the slider never moved, keeping the feet of the drogue near each other. There was still plenty of parachute area to pull out the mains, and then to safely bring the 38 pound nose down solo after the scheduled separation of the body at main deployment.

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I had the MAWDs set to fire the Tether at 1,100', so deployment of the mains was almost a continuous event following the drogues. All three 192" Spherachutes were pulled free of their combined kevlar bag as scheduled. The #3 main opened inside the shroud lines of the #2, and briefly attempted to inflate, but wisely gave up to avoid any further conflict. It rolled itself up into a ball, settling in the convergence of the #2 chute's shroud lines, and remained there for the duration of the recovery. With the propellant gone and the nose (38 pounds) now on the drogue, three mains should have given the remaining 102 pound body a lot of hang time at a 9.8 fps descent rate. Two mains were planned to be enough, and at a gentle 12.0 fps, the Jayhawk gently touched down just a few hundred feet or so from the away cell pad she took off from. At which point, the #3 parachute popped out and started to work. Thanks to Daveyfire for grabbing the chutes to keep her from wind-sailing across Indiana. (And for the awesome pictures!)

This has truly been a group project, and I would like to again express my appreciation to all the people who have volunteered to help make this happen. Rocketry is a social activity, and the community has always been there for me. And a special thanks to Gus, Diane, Nicole, Bill, Ben, Manny, Judy, Jackson, and Jeff for all the help at the away cell. Cheers. Sather

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yup the trailer is A) too narrow B) too short...(with nose attached, a cradle for the nose would help). I'm thinking the wheel/tire assembly for a wheelbarrow would work nicely.
 
Sather,

Congrats on another fantastic flight of the Jayhawk. I feel priveleged to fly in the same general region as you and thereby get to watch your fine craftsmanship take to the skies frequently! The Jayhawk on the M4470 is a hoot; good kick off the pad followed by a quick motor shut down and gentle coast to a very manageable apogee. It was exciting and darn pretty to watch all those chutes blossom and gently carry the big orange bird back to the ground!

Well done and hope to see it again at Midwest Power!

-Eric-
 
... hope to see it again at Midwest Power!

-Eric-

Well, she got her third flight in, 5 years after her maiden flight and in almost the same exact spot. From the away cell at MWP 13 (Oct 2015), to be precise. My apologies for the lengthy delay in uploading the videos and completing the flight report, but here we go.

First off, a bunch of thank you's are in order. To the friendly folks of QCRS for putting together this great launch, year after year. Nothing better than spending a long weekend with close friends flying rockets. To Tim and Jackie, for opening up your home and welcoming in a bunch of homeless migrants after a long day of trudging through dusty fields in pursuit of abused collections of cardboard, plastic, fiberglass and aluminum. Thanks also to my family for not only putting up with this time-consuming and somewhat expensive hobby of mine, but fully participating in it as well. David Reese at the LCO table, for your most generous introductions and captivating in-flight commentary... always appreciated. I wish we could find a way to harvest the depth of experience you have in rocketry, we all miss that since you've relocated. And a big thank you to my ground support team - David Kittell, Kelly Ranum, Ben Walbaum, and Dick and Zach Bennett. The Jayhawk is a complicated and slow prep, and you took the time (better part of a day) from flying your own projects to help assemble mine, as well as haul her to and from the field and set her up on the pad. It definitely would not have flown without your commitment and support. Thank you. Some great photos and videos document the experience, thanks to Kelly and Tricia Ranum, Justin Farrand, and Chuck Haskin. It takes a good eye, a steady hand, and a big sacrifice to spend that much time looking through a tiny B&W viewfinder on a clear sunny day full of color and activity. But, thanks to you, we have a permanent record of the event, to remember, analyze, and share. Thank you all. And finally, a big shout out thank you, and wishes for a speedy and full recovery, to my good friend Dr Jeroen Louwers. Dr J. is an important member of our small and tight-knit community, and very in-tune with and receptive to our needs. The superb N5600 White Thunder motor in this rocket is a result of that, filling a small gap in the product line-up for a really small cadre of rocketeers that fly in a specific niche - big heavy rockets that will fit a 98-6G but NOT a 98-6GXL. This is the perfect motor for this rocket, and her successful third flight is a direct result of Dr J's personal involvement. Thank you, sir!

Getting late, pictures and videos tomorrow.

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Thank you, gentlemen. Rocketry is a social activity, like dining, best when shared with friends. So here we go. I'll try to do this in order. For a quick refresher, remember the fog that blanketed the field on the morning of day 1?

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But the weather improved and we got a few flights in. We spent pretty much all of Sunday morning getting the Jayhawk assembled. Zach and Ben were very patient as it progressed, as we actually had to disassemble her a few times, as a wire kept getting caught as we lowered the payload tube (with chutes installed) over the motor section coupler. (The apogee ejection charges are in the nose, to avoid the hot pressurized gases having to go around the mains in their tethered deployment bags.)

Finished by about 2:00 PM, we tried a new method of transport. As mentioned previously in this thread, for flight #1 in Oct 2010, we carried her to the away cell. photo 1. (Not my best idea!) For flight #2 in April 2012, we rolled her out to the away cell on a trailer. photo 2. (Hey, it worked for GBR on the playa.) For this flight, on the advice of a few friends, we just chucked her in the back of my Volvo and drove out. photo 3. Way better plan!

P.S. You may notice Ben is in every one of these pictures. Jackson in two of three.

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To keep the weight manageable, we left off the 38 pound nose cone and the 25 pound motor until the body was on the rail. The ejection charges in the nose cone are connected by break-away wires, so as not to interfere (get tangled) with the recovery harness and parachutes. (The ends of these wires will be visible in the onboard videos after deployment.) Once the rocket is vertical (with no side load on the nose cone's shoulder), #2 nylon shear pins are installed to prevent drag separation... always an issue with weighted nose cones and draggy fins.

Notice also the upgraded onboard video cameras. Technology is a wonderful thing, and it keeps getting better. In the 5 years since the original Booster Vision GearCams flew, high definition video cameras have become better, smaller, and cheaper. So this time we flew two Sony HD video cameras, using a beefier attachment bracket (in the same bolt pattern as the removable antennae). One facing up and one facing down. Videos from them to follow.

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Rocket weighed 160 pounds on the pad. Launched using an N5600 White Thunder motor. Beautiful flame and smoke column.

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I left another video camera on a tripod near the pad. Not as good quality but a nice shot in real time and in slow motion...

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I tried my hand at following her with a hand-held video camera, but lost it in the viewfinder rather quickly...

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Luckily, Justin has steadier hands and better vision than I do. This is a clip from his video, used with permission. The full video, including flights from many other great rockets flown over the weekend, is available on the MWP13 multi-DVD set.

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The apogee event occurred exactly as the nose touched the horizon. A 36" Giant Leap pilot chute pulled the Giant Leap TAC-9C drogue out of its deployment bag. Main deployment was at 900', where the Defy Gravity Tether released the mains. The drogue was then free to pull them out of the body tube and then pull their deployment bags off. Nose recovered separately (free bag) under the drogue, remainder of rocket under the three 192" Spherachute mains.

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Through my telephoto lens, depth gets compressed, so from my vantage point (at the away cell) it looked like the rocket landed near (or in) the parking area. Fortunately, that was not the case, as it drifted slowly over the flight line and landed gently in a field a half mile or so to the east. The main body and the nose cone landed relatively close to each other in both time and distance.

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Good friend and fellow QCRS member Chuck H. filmed the main deployment from the flight line.

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OK, this one is out of order. Kelly shot a super-slow motion video of the launch with her phone. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that you tube preserves the slow motion feature.

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Are those the HDR-AS50? I looked at them and wasa bout to buy on e when I found a really good deal on a used FDR-X1000V.

Notice also the upgraded onboard video cameras. Technology is a wonderful thing, at it keeps getting better. In the 5 years since the original Booster Vision GearCams flew, high definition video cameras have become better, smaller, and cheaper. So this time we flew two Sony HD video cameras, using a beefier attachment bracket (in the same bolt pattern as the removable antennae). One facing up and one facing down. Videos from them to follow.
 
OMG that is awesome! And your flying the this year?! Hope so!

Nope, sorry. I have settled into a rotation schedule to space out my bigger projects. Jayhawk will fly again in 2019. The 2 stage SeaHawk will be at MWP15 in 2017. This year will just be normal sized stuff, the biggest being my 7.5" diameter Pegasus, (an upscaled Galactica). I hope to get a good launch picture of Pegasus this time around... missed getting one on her last flight as the motor (CTI N3180) took a full 45 seconds to come up to pressure (with no external visual indications). Everyone had their cameras down expecting a reset. The 60 second wait before approaching the pad is a really good idea!
 
Are those the HDR-AS50? I looked at them and wasa bout to buy on e when I found a really good deal on a used FDR-X1000V.

No, they are HDR-AS15. Got a good deal on them at REI a few Christmas's ago. I used the included waterproof clear boxes to make the attachment to the airframe more secure. This created more lens flare than a JJ Abrams movie, and also hid a speck of dirt on the up camera, but otherwise great videos. Having the ability to put a decent sized SD card insured I would not run out of memory if the launch was delayed. Ended up with over 30 minutes of HD video per camera, which I edited down here to just show the flight. Also including a few screen shots to highlight some of the key points of the flight. Here is the aft (down) facing camera.

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