I just had a thought that for me is almost kinda sad...
After this weekend the main purpose of this thread will be done (after all the compliments on what I'm sure will be a great flight).
This thread was started on this forum right around when I did and I've followed it ever since....
It's also been WAY TOO interesting...we have to find some way to keep it alive after this weekend....
Thank you. I just got home and am starting to unpack. Full launch report to follow (as well as posting pictures and videos) but here is my preliminary / summary.
First of all, I would to express my gratitude to everyone involved with this project, those who followed it online, those who offered suggestions, and especially those who helped prep and lug it to the pad and from the field. It was a wonderful experience for my whole family. To them, I owe a lot of thank you's as well, for their patience and sacrifice in my preoccupation with getting this rocket built and flown.
Both GearCams functioned properly and gave good video throughout the flight. The Jayhawk was prepped and ready by her planned launch time of 2:00 PM on Saturday. There was substantial wind in the morning, but it appeared to get better in the early afternoon. I had a lot of friends come down specifically for this day, and decided to go for launch. In hindsight, I probably should have waited longer, as the winds continued to get better into the late afternoon and Sunday. At launch, she rose majestically from the pad under the full roar of the Cesaroni N3180. (I had a press pass, so I was pretty close.) She followed that up with the Jayhawk's characteristic half roll, started arcing into the wind, and was still traveling at a good clip when the nose blew off at apogee. I had packed the 120" Spherachute drogue into a deployment bag, with a 24" Giant Leap TAC-drogue as a pilot chute to pull the bag off. The 24" was the first to open and functioned flawlessly. Even after opening under speed, it still looks like a brand new chute. The 120" wasn't quite as bullet-proof. I have taken a cursory look at the video, not having reviewed it fully, but it appears the bigger drogue split open down a seam on opening shock. There may have been enough drag to pull out the mains (the Tether functioned perfectly), but the aft facing GearCam shows a length of shock cord caught on a winglet, which kept the rocket from orienting correctly to tail down. Between the somewhat limited drag of the world's largest streamer, and the "Volvo-would-be-proud" dedicated crumple zones in the forward body (payload section) tube, there was minimal damage to the rocket at impact. Both the nose cone and the fin can are perfect, the only scratch I have found so far was the one we made putting it ON the pad. I have an extra 10" Polecat tube, so the repair / replacement of the forward tube will be easily accomplished by LDRS in 2011, where she will fly again.
:clap:
