Eastern (shore) Test Range Dr. Zooch Testing

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Dr.Zooch

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Again, there will be an MDRA launch this weekend and I'll be testing lots of new stuff. I hope not to repeat the demolition durby of last month. I have extra stages and interchangable SRBs just in case. Also, I've obtained more cams from boostervision.com so most flights will have onboard video. I also hope to walk away with a lot more video than the 3 seconds worth that I got last month. Cams will be onboard, inside- outside... you name it.

This month's testing will involve the final development of the Alti series. This is a really cool concept because they change configuration during the boost phase of flight- starting ot as high drag low speed and going to very low drag very high speed using dynamic pressures to do a lot of the work. I'll also be testing an upgrade concept to my Space Shuttle kit- this concept is way, way out there but if it works- it'll be highly cool. From my SDLV line "The Stick" will be re-flying it's test. It had a small stability issue that I did not like- so we'll look at it again. Likewise the Thor will be re-flying it's test (my luck was so bad last time that I did not dare to fly it a second time for fear something weird would happen) And from the strange-O part of my being, we'll take a ride aboard a rocket with 2 ants... well... at least with two F4-B ant space suits. I have a cam mounted inside a T-60 nosecone and two ant spacesuits from my 1970's weirdest kid on the block days and we'll watch what happens to them during several flights. I always wondered what it would be like to ride along on one of my rockets- now I'm gonna find out (see the attached photo)

I won't be at the launch on Friday, but on Saturday and Sunday, we'll be conducting some flight test.
 
Dr. Zooch,

Did you say that you were flying a Thor? Will this be available someday as a Dr. Zooch kit? I was planning on cloning the old Estes Thor Agena B (and I already have a ST10 tube cut for the Agena stage), but kits are better than cloning any day.

Here's a suggestion for another kit: the Saturn V Skylab. Since you have a number of versions of the Saturn I/ IB, why not make a version of your Saturn V that has the Skylab shroud on top of the SIVB stage?

DeWain
scale nut
 
Stop cloning around... here's yer' Thor. And here's a fun Agena stage too. The ant-scale Thor kit will actually be called "Discoverer" and will give the builder asome options as to how to style their kit. It will also be an easy-build... about a skill level 1.5. I should be able to release it sometime after the first of the year. There may follow a Thor Able and there WILL follow a Mercury Thor (Yes, there was a concept to put a Mercury atop a Thor... Douglas Report SM-35528, December 1958). This kit will sell in the $19.95 to $24.95 range- I'm still crunching the numbers on it.
 
So far as other Saturns- Skylab 1 is in the works. A flying 500F, however, will do it's test flight this weekend. Here's a poor, but complete photo of it.
 
They look great, make sure to keep us vendors in the loop on the release:). People always enjoy building and flying your stuff.
 
Rain! Rain!...rain...

Although I'm sure the MDRA folks are out there today, the forecast is for 90% chance of rain all day and we're getting all 90 of it. Ceilings are very low and for testing new Dr. Zooch kits, I need to actually see them during the boost- that way a little bit of corkscrew at the end of delay can be detected and fixed. Additionally, highspeed video does not shoot well in darkened conditions such as a thick overcast. Lastly, video equipment in general does not like the rain. So I'm sitting out today, but tomorrow's forecast is better. I'll just have to shove as many into the sky as I can in one day.

Still, it is a sure bet that there is a crowd of MDRA folks at the launch site firing big motored rockets the size of telephone poles through the overcast and into the clear blue above it. Most of them hoping to generate lightning like Apollo 12. Such a thing would likely make one a legend in the MDRA history files and generate tons of cheers from the sheltered crowd.
 
Dr. Z, I just looked at the "500ftfr" pic in the skylab post and thought I put the wraps on my SV kit all wrong. I'm all about customizing but I like it to look close......even in ant scale. And since you brought it up, please tell me you are working on a the new "moon shot" rockets from NASA. Seems like an easy conversion to one of your existing kit parts.................besides, I like the idea of your sweat and tears making my trip from the couch to the front door easy...........

v/r
Bravo
 
Originally posted by Dr.Zooch
Rain! Rain!...rain...

Although I'm sure the MDRA folks are out there today, the forecast is for 90% chance of rain all day and we're getting all 90 of it. Ceilings are very low and for testing new Dr. Zooch kits, I need to actually see them during the boost- that way a little bit of corkscrew at the end of delay can be detected and fixed. Additionally, highspeed video does not shoot well in darkened conditions such as a thick overcast. Lastly, video equipment in general does not like the rain. So I'm sitting out today, but tomorrow's forecast is better. I'll just have to shove as many into the sky as I can in one day.

Still, it is a sure bet that there is a crowd of MDRA folks at the launch site firing big motored rockets the size of telephone poles through the overcast and into the clear blue above it. Most of them hoping to generate lightning like Apollo 12. Such a thing would likely make one a legend in the MDRA history files and generate tons of cheers from the sheltered crowd.

The ceiling will be an issue for them too. I'm staying away Sunday also...that field is just tooooo muddy after 2+ days of rain. If ya go, try not to slip in the parking lot! :rolleyes:
 
Yes- the SDLV line for the President's "Vision Fer Space Explorin'" are indeed in the works. This weekend The Stick will fly and following that I'll write the instructions. The SDLV in-line is ready for production and I'm currently working on the instructions. There will also be a CEV version of that. The big hold up came after the last test flight of The Stick. It did a major series of cork screws right after shutdown. I'm figuring it was a mis-aligned escape tower. So I flew one of my escape towers on a Saturn I to make sure it was good, and now I'll fly The Stick with no LES and then with the flown LES and look at the results to see if additional adjustments are needed. Of course NASA tossed me a curve by removing the fins from their version of The Stick, but it is my guess that following study they'll find, as they did on the Saturn I, they'll find that man-rating will require the fins for areas of abort stability and then add them back to the design. I'm gonna bet that the gimble ability of the SRB nozzle could not keep up with some situations and fins could stretch the envelope long enough to enhance escape options. Of course I am not a NASA engineer, and am only guessing in that direction because my kit needs those fins to fly. ;)
 
Dr. Zooch,

You have me drooling! CEV kits too! My wife is going to kill me when I come back from NYPOWER 12 next year with a half dozen Zooch kits (along with a few Semroc, and...).

Dumb question though... what Saturn is 500F? Is that the engineering model that never flew (which I think is what my "new" Estes/Centuri kit is based on)?
 
500F was an engineering test vehicle to test facilities (VAB stacking, roll out, pad etc.) It had all of then plumbing and none of the umph - but was the first full scale Saturn V to be rolled out and placed upon the pad. It was also, perhaps, the most photographed- so you see it everywhere from model boxes to post cards. It never flew. It had only 1 F-1 engine, the others were simulated with simple weights.

Following today's MDRA launch, I've elected to completely redesign The Stick. It will, however, "kit" soon.
 
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