Cert rockets

[pyrovette20]

L1 about 91 ISP stormbringer rocket. 2.6''x6' approx. Motor the biggest 38mm motor the I-284(kind of wimpy now)
L2 about 92-93 Loc magnum with a K-550
L3 2 years ago PR competitor 5 with a KBA M-3500

 

[snaquin]

Tripoli Confirmation Flight:

January 1989
Bonnet Carre Spillway
St Charles Parish, Louisiana
Modified LOC/Precision “LOC IV”
AeroTech H125-14
Est. Altitude 3,517 Feet

The LOC IV at this time was a 29mm motor based kit. I knew I would be flying 38MM Vulcan motors my buddy had on order already with Ross at Magnum during the upcoming LDRS-VIII in August so I built it with a 38mm motor mount and re-cut three new fins with true TTW fin tabs to the motor mount. Much the same as how Barry offers this kit today. I used a LOC/Precision MMA-2 for the 29mm H125 for this first flight. One would think the 14 second delay would have been a bit long for an H motor but the H125 was a beast …..



Tripoli Level 2 Certification Flight:

January 1998
Rocket Gumbo 2
Estherwood, Louisiana
Scratchbuilt “Stinger 4”
AeroTech J350-10W
Est. Altitude 3,620 Feet

Stinger 4 was built with 4” diameter Phenolic tubing. PML nose cone weighted and foam filled {to hold down the altitude} with a urethane tail cone & the original kwik-switch motor mount system. Model had a 9” long payload section and used the lower stage Thunder & Lightning G10 fin set that I temporarily robbed from my kit for the cert rocket build. AeroTech pre-fire J350-10W for a truly beautiful flight. No damage but did land in a crayfish pond adjacent to the field. I immediately wiped it down and it's flown many more times on a variety of motors. When I was considering leaving HPR some years ago I sold it to another member of my prefecture and he still flies the Stinger 4 at our Winnsboro, LA field almost every season.



.

 

[MarkII]

L1:
Scratch-built
2.34" Diameter
61.7" Length
23 oz. Empty weight
AT H165R (something like that)
~2500'
Date: Whenever I can get to a field large enough for the motor at a launch that I can certify at. (Have been looking for an opportunity for the past 2 years. )

Mark \\.

 

[dave carver]

L1:
Scratch-built
2.34" Diameter
61.7" Length
23 oz. Empty weight
AT H165R (something like that)
~2500'
Date: Whenever I can get to a field large enough for the motor at a launch that I can certify at. (Have been looking for an opportunity for the past 2 years. )

Mark \\.

Looks like LDRS might be the place for that It's a looooong way from Idaho

 

[MarkII]

Looks like LDRS might be the place for that It's a looooong way from Idaho

Really? Where is it going to be held? And when?

Mark \\.

 

[dave carver]

July 2-6, 2009 ··· Potter, New York

No excuses, gotta be in your neighborhood

 

[Rocketjunkie]

L1, March 1989 with a Mini-Magg and a H70. Once confirmed, you could buy any motor, including N's.
When Tripoli went to the 3 level system, all confirmed members became L1.
L2: Sometime in late 1995/early 1996, J460 in my Motoreater, a 5.5" rocket about the size of a Magnum.
L3: LDRS XV, 1996 with a M1939 in my 11.5" version of my Motoreater to 6000 feet.

 

[MarkII]

July 2-6, 2009 ··· Potter, New York

No excuses, gotta be in your neighborhood

Wow, so it is! About 5 hours away.

We'll see by then if I still have a car, or a house. I might be dressing like this guy by then...

MarkII

 

[dave carver]

naaa, that's after your 3rd lvl flight

 

[pyrovette20]

naaa, that's after your 3rd lvl flight

Or your 3rd wife.

 

[C.O.B.H.C.]

or after your 3rd wife and 3rd L3 attempt.

 

[dave carver]

or after your 3rd wife and 3rd L3 attempt.

I don't think that would even leave the barrel, that's a photo I'd be banned for posting

 

[JDcluster]

Cert 1: (April 1996) PML Phobos;
built stock & just stuffed an H 115 Smokey Sam SU from Vulcan ( Full H ).
Simmed to 3500 ft

Cert 2: (Oct 1996 )Scratch 4" PML parts ( kinda up scale of a Loc Graduator)
7ft tall weighed 8lbs or so on the pad on a J 350 hit 3100ft DD via ALTS2-50k


Cert 3: ( June 10, 2001) Scratch built 12ft x 6" dia glassed PML tubes weighed about 50 to 55lb on the pad Kosdon M 2240 to 5700 ft average between the ALTS25, Olsen FC-M1 & R-DAS.



JD

 

[MarkH]

L1 8-11-09 NARAM 51
Upscale Groove Tube, scratch, 2.6 inch dia.
H165 R, simmed to about 1500 ft.
1st flight nose came detatched at ejection.
2nd attempt a success a couple hours later.

 

[gizza2]

L1: 1/7/01, BSD Horizon 54, AT H242, altitude unknown (~2,000'?)
L2: 2/3/01, BSD Horizon 54, AT J416, altitude unknown (~6,000'?)
L3: 8/9/08, BSD 7.5" Nike Smoke, AT M2030G, ~5,100' (avg. of AltACC 2C/ARTS2)

The BSD theme was unintentional.

 

[clreynolds]

Congradulations Mark.

I can't believe I finally get to join this thread.


L1 - 08-15-2009 - Lafayette, IN
Rocket: Scratch-6" Crayon Bank conversion
Motor: H128W
Altitude: ~1000'
Size: 6" diam. x 28" high, 3 lbs 4.5 oz. (loaded)

Flight was dead straight, like it was on the rail the whole time.

Other boring/useless info: The rocket was really an accident. Several years ago, I was talking about doing a crayon, but I was thinking about one of the small Ralphco's. My daughter saw this one at the store and bought it for me. It sat for almost 2 years haunting me. I was convinced it was too big, and no adhesive would stick to the PE plastic. Then my daughter finally said, "I guess you can't make it fly." :y: You can't let a comment like that go, so L1 here we are.:bangbang:

Note: still need to change my sig

special thanks to RandyM @ Tripoli Indiana for the photo

 

[5x7]

So who has the most certs? Like George I started with NAR and then switched to Tripoli later. NAR started a cert program where you certified at each letter class, if I recall correctly.

Cert Level 'G' Naram 35, Middletown Md. THOY Peacock SU AT G25W. I miss that motor.
Cert Level 'H', PARA launch, THOY Nighthawk, SU AT H125, phenolic case. Ripped! Brushed a tree at the edge of the field.
Cert Level 'I', Battle Park Va, 4" sustainer of a two stager 'Flipper Two', AT I161W, I borrowed the case. Done the same day as the TRA confirmation below.

Before TRA had cert levels you were 'confirmed' and could then buy any motor.
Confirmation flight, Battle Park Va, same THOY Nighthawk as NAR H, AT H128W. This was converted to Level 1 later.
Level 2, RATS launch (NJ), Cluster R Standard Arm, AT J275W. Flew with a movie camera payload.
Level 3, LDRS 28 on July 4, 2009 Scratch built 5.5" Viper Sounding rocket, 40 pounds, AT M1297.

Yikes! That is over a span of 16 years!
Level 1 rocket from a flight two years ago:

 

[Handeman]

L1 Flight:
Date: 4/12/08
Scratch build: 2.25 OD thick wall mailing tubes, 5mm 5 ply fins, epoxy coated foam nose cone
Altimeter: Perfectflite HiAlt45
Drogue: 8" hemi
Main Deploy: 400 ft.
Motor: 38mm Loki I110W moonburner
Altitude: 4,200 ft.
Result: Successful L1

L2 Attempt #1
Date: 4/5/09
Scratch built: 4" LOC tubing glassed with 2 layers 6 oz, 5mm 5 ply fins TtoT glass, plastic nose cone.
Altimeter: Perfectflite HiAlt45
Drogue: None
Main Deploy: 400 ft.
Motor: 54mm Aerotech K695R
Altitude: 6,824 ft.
Result: Lost nose cone when main deployed.

L2 Attempt #2
Date: 4/5/09
Scratch built: 4" LOC tubing glassed with 2 layers 6 oz, 5mm 5 ply fins TtoT glass, plastic nose cone from Thug, securely attached.
Altimeter: Perfectflite HiAlt45
Drogue: None
Main Deploy: 400 ft.
Motor: 38mm Aerotech J420R
Altitude: 2,604 ft.
Result: Successful L2

 

[judo]

L1 - PML Ariel Kwik-Switch 29mm H-128 reload at the SRA Rocket Ranch.

I'll eventually recert on either Aziz or my 4" Photon Probe.

 

[redsox15]

L1 cert

Where: NERRF 5 Pine Island, NY (8/15/09)
What: LOC Fantom Built stock with a few modifications
Motor: Pro 38 H125-12A Classic (I shortened the delay to prevent a zipper)
Est. Altitude: ~2000'
Successful Launch!

 

[bguffer]

Level 1 Cert

Public Missiles 3" AMRAAM
Aerotech H123 or H180 (forget which)
First TORC launch
Xenia, OH

 

[cls]

This is a great thread! I enjoyed reading all the stories.

here are ours - I say ours because it was my (very-young) son who really really wanted to do the certifications, and he did a lot of the work!

L1 - scratchbuilt Blue Crayon, H97, XPRS 2003

L2 - Polecat 5.5" Skeeter, J210, ROC April 2004

L3 - Polecat 10" Nike, M1939, dual G-Wiz MC altimeters, ROC September 11, 2004

I know a lot of folks have the heartbreak of losing their special certification rockets. Somehow we have kept all three of ours.

The Blue Crayon has flown about two dozen times, mostly on F & G motors but on H motors about 6 times; no repairs.

The Skeeter has flown over 30 times, nearly always on J210s, but occasionally on J275s or J400s. It's been repainted at least 4 times. Some of the fins have been re-glued to the MMT a few times. About 6" of the upper section of airframe has been replaced. The nose cone has had some cracks & gouges filled & sanded.

The Nike has flown 4 times on M1939s, once on L1500, and had a fwd-closure failure which was repaired with new e-bay coupler and about 10" airframe on top of the booster.

 

[les]

All I have is a level 1 cert.

I used the PML Ariel with a Pro38 H143.

I got my cert at the 2003 NSL held by NEPRA in PA

Les

 

[MarkII]

All I have is a level 1 cert.

I used the PML Ariel with a Pro38 H143.

I got my cert at the 2003 NSL held by NEPRA in PA

Les

What do you mean, that's "all?" That's pretty darned good in my book. Your Ariel must have really gotten up there, too.

MarkII

 

[quickburst]

Had to drag out the book on this one:

L-1 : Monaville Texas 6/9/02
Prefect Chad Ellis
Modified EZI-65 Dual Deploy
Missile Works RRC2
I have forgotten the altitude
Pro38 I-285

L-2 : McGregor Texas 8/2/02
Prefect Rick VanVoorhis
Modified EZI-65 Dual Deploy
Missile Works RRC2
I have forgotten the altitude
Pro38 J-330

L-3 : Hearne Texas 2/6/06
Tap#1 Dan DeHart
Tap#2 Ed Jacoby
Tap#3 (Honorary) Pat Gordzelik
Scratch Built, Fiber Glassed 6" Airframe, Standard Dual Deploy
Weight 42 lbs. less motor, homemade parachute, deployment bag and
recovery harnesses.
PerfectFlite MAWD and PerfectFlite HA45 as back up
Kline Tracker in nosecone
Animal Motor Works M1480 RR
7000 feet and change


Ahhhhh ..... memories.

 

[Rod]

L1:
Public Enemy Extreme Performer
I195
Dual Deployment
Landed in top of tree, but climbed and recovered rocket.

L2:
Public Enemy Extreme Performer
J350
Dual Deployment

L3:?
Big Tall rocket
Big motor
Waiting to win lotto $$$

 

[DAllen]

L1 - Scratch built 4" replica of a Binder Excel. 1st attempt on a H220 at Three Oaks and managed to blow out the rear nozzle due to incorrectly loading it. Bought an Ellis H275-10 that same day which really turned out to be a H275-16 (talk about bonus delay) thus almost giving me a heart-attack.

L2 - First attempt was a 5.5" scratch built squat looking thing about 5.5' tall known as "One Bad Pig". Bought a J330 at NSL 2009 and trimmed the delay to something like 8 seconds or so. The reload was way old and the delay turned out to be crap so it lawn-darted. Should've caught that in the directions. I am learning that reading the directions is kinda important.

Second attempt was in Muskegon with MMAR on a 4" dia and 7'2" tall scratch built bird called, "The Hairy Eyeball." J350, PF HiAlt45k, flew successfully to 1920 and landed in a corn field. Did eventually find it.

Based on the trends I see here, when/if I go for my L3 I will plan on at least 2 attempts and reading and re-reading and re-reading and re-reading the reload instructions. And then I might re-read, and...never mind...

L3 - Contemplating a upscale Pterodactyl like 12" diameter or so. That would make it 12' tall and about an acres worth of fin area. Preliminary sims put it at 4k AGL on an M1315.

-Dave

 

[bobkrech]

L1 NERRF 3
Hanger 11 Arthur 4" 4FNC rocket on a Pro38 H400
Fast up and down to 1400'

Bob

 

[jadebox]

I earned my Level 1 certification flying my EZI-65 "Mustang Sally" on an Aerotech H128 motor at the May 13, 2006, NEFAR launch.

My Level 2 certification happened at the 2008 Florida WinterNationals.

I flew my Upscale Omega on an Aerotech J350 motor.

-- Roger

 

[Mike Di Venti]

L1
PML IO on a AT H180
at METRA in 2000

eventually lost in a drainage ditch at METRA(after ~20 flights)
L2
PML Phobos w/ CPR 3000 and co-pilot.
flew on AT J350
at NEPRA in 2001

3rd flight on rocket that same day came in ballistic
L3
BSD 7.5" Nike Smoke
on a Loki M2550
at MDRA in 2008

suffered cato last week need to replace the booster airframe. The motor mount and fins unharmed.

Needless to say my cert rockets don't like to stick around for long. Then again I fly them A LOT.
The Nike had 14 flights(over 6k ns) since Oct. 08'