DARS Launches - Dallas Area Rocket Society

[grouch]

If the field is reasonable, I'd be willing to motor pop a J to 4000' or so.

 

[jpoehlman]

I've got a DMS J425 to try a L2 Cert flight. Need the finishing touches on a BD Tyrannosaur, but I think I have all the parts I need. I guess I need to figure out the written test part too.

Jack

 

[Cl(VII)]

I go a few flights queued up pending field and wind conditions...

- Sat Interceptor on an H something or other Dark Matter
- Arapahoe-J for it's name change flight on a K550W
- Duster (should be done by then) on a G138
- 38 MD (Aram) out of the tower on a 38-4 grain blue (don't remember the designation)
- Cherokee-I on an I59WN

The Cherokee, Arapahoe and Aram flights all sim to between 5500-7500, so wind will be a consideration for sure.

Come on stars, align already.

 

[pyrobob]

When it comes to notes, I recall many times in school when I couldn't even my own handwriting! Of course I had many preoccupations at the time.....

 

[pyrobob]

I've got a DMS J425 to try a L2 Cert flight. Need the finishing touches on a BD Tyrannosaur, but I think I have all the parts I need. I guess I need to figure out the written test part too.

Jack

When in doubt, circle "B" .

 

[pyrobob]

I managed to make really good progress on my very first fiberglass scratch build today. It's somewhat complicated using a boat tail I fashioned from a conical nose cone and also using a custom aluminum motor retainer. I've never had to cut fiberglass before but used my chop saw and a tile saw and it worked just fine. I plan to modestly bevel the fins tomorrow using a special jig I put together many years ago (hope it holds up) with my disc sander. I'll be using some aircraft grade epoxy that I've never used before so I'll probably need to do some testing before I set things up. I highly doubt it, but there's a chance I can have it ready for the January launch in Corsicana. We'll see.

 

[pyrobob]

I managed to finish off most of the motor mount assembly sans the aft centering ring. I plan to foam the space between the airframe, fins, and MMT so I'll epoxy the forward centering in first while using the aft centering ring only dry fit to center the MMT . I also drilled about a dozen ~1/8" holes in the fin tabs so the foam has something to grab hold of. I fully intend to fly some L motors and am seriously eyeing the 99% K - K250W semi single use motor. It's awesome and an overlooked motor due to it's unique hardware requirements. I envision this rocket almost made-for this motor. If I didn't already mention, it's a 3" FG scratch kit with boat tail. I figure 12k is about right. Asa (or Corsicana?) here I come!

 

[tmacklin]

Was it not a perfect day in North Texas to launch a rocket? Unfortunately, the weather cycle seems to always bring turd floaters on weekends lately. I was very tempted to put one up in the air but the fields are all quagmires around these parts and besides I'm scheduled for yet another bladder surgery on the 23rd, just in time for Santa. This has been a rough year for this old man! :duck:

 

[tab28682]

Looking good but a little breezy for Saturday. Hopefully things will dry out and we can get a launch in.

 

[pyrobob]

Was it not a perfect day in North Texas to launch a rocket? Unfortunately, the weather cycle seems to always bring turd floaters on weekends lately. I was very tempted to put one up in the air but the fields are all quagmires around these parts and besides I'm scheduled for yet another bladder surgery on the 23rd, just in time for Santa. This has been a rough year for this old man! :duck:

I made a quick trip up to Durant, OK yesterday and on my return I noticed the fields around Van Alstyne were saturated. This was somewhere just north exit 48. Good looking fields out their right off 75 except for all the dang water. Weather was indeed perfect.

 

[tab28682]

Looks like I will make to Frisco tomorrow. Might be a little breezy, but I do have a new non-pyro non-altimeter dual deploy device to try out in a mid power rocket with an F or a G....

My dual deploy gadget is homebrew, RC based and cost is about 15 bucks as long as you happen to have an 2.4 Ghz Spektrum RC transmitter in your possession. Total added weight to a mid power rocket is about one ounce.

 

[pyrobob]

Looks like I will make to Frisco tomorrow. Might be a little breezy, but I do have a new non-pyro non-altimeter dual deploy device to try out in a mid power rocket with an F or a G....

My dual deploy gadget is homebrew, RC based and cost is about 15 bucks as long as you happen to have an 2.4 Ghz Spektrum RC transmitter in your possession. Total added weight to a mid power rocket is about one ounce.

Ahhh, dude. I - Must - Know - More!!!! Sounds super cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tab28682]

Ahhh, dude. I - Must - Know - More!!!! Sounds super cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If it works as planned, I will reveal all....

The quick and dirty prototype will need some refinement, but it ought to work.

 

[tab28682]

Well, color me a happy camper!

Tested the RC chute deploy and it worked as expected. I have witnesses, but no action photos, darn it.

The RC parachute "sled" was installed in my venerable NCR Eliminator. Chute was a stock AT yellow 24" light weight nylon. First launch was on an AT G40-7. A pretty breezy day, with winds 10-14 or so.

Nice boost in a clear blue sky. Motor ejection was on time a bit after apogee. Sled and shock cord deployed nicely. Due to the light weight of the rocket and the generous size of the fin can, I got a long floating decent with the Fin can flying happily above the payload bay part of the time, with the chute strapped in place on the sled. At about 200 AGL, about 800 feet south of the pads, I did a short countdown for the spectators and hit the switch on the TX. Instant chute deployment in less than a second at around 100-150 AGL.

Without the RC chute deploy, it would have been a two mile walk....or a much smaller chute...

Picture of basic unit attached. Chute is wadded on for picture only, not for flight.
Servo arm traps elastic via the narrow metal ring. When I hit the switch, the servo rotates about 110 degrees and the metal ring and elastic releases with a bit of a snap.

Full thread over in the electronics section soon. Ought to have a much smaller version soon, hopefully that will fit a BT50.

This one uses a $6 RX, a $3 9 gram servo and a $4 1S lipo battery and a little scrap basswood and plywood. suitable RC TX required, of course.

 

[Cl(VII)]

Well, color me a happy camper!

Tested the RC chute deploy and it worked as expected. I have witnesses, but no action photos, darn it.

The RC parachute "sled" was installed in my venerable NCR Eliminator. Chute was a stock AT yellow 24" light weight nylon. First launch was on an AT G40-7. A pretty breezy day, with winds 10-14 or so.

Nice boost in a clear blue sky. Motor ejection was on time a bit after apogee. Sled and shock cord deployed nicely. Due to the light weight of the rocket and the generous size of the fin can, I got a long floating decent with the Fin can flying happily above the payload bay part of the time, with the chute strapped in place on the sled. At about 200 AGL, about 800 feet south of the pads, I did a short countdown for the spectators and hit the switch on the TX. Instant chute deployment in less than a second at around 100-150 AGL.

Without the RC chute deploy, it would have been a two mile walk....or a much smaller chute...

Picture of basic unit attached. Chute is wadded on for picture only, not for flight.
Servo arm traps elastic via the narrow metal ring. When I hit the switch, the servo rotates about 110 degrees and the metal ring and elastic releases with a bit of a snap.

Full thread over in the electronics section soon. Ought to have a much smaller version soon, hopefully that will fit a BT50.

This one uses a $6 RX, a $3 9 gram servo and a $4 1S lipo battery and a little scrap basswood and plywood. suitable RC TX required, of course.

View attachment 278139

Very cool. What would an entry level RC TX cost that would be suitable for opperating this kind of thing at a distance up to about a half mile?

 

[tab28682]

Very cool. What would an entry level RC TX cost that would be suitable for opperating this kind of thing at a distance up to about a half mile?

Used, as little as 60 bucks or so.

I just flew the second flight on the RC Chute sled, using it for the maiden launch of my AT Strong Arm on a G40. Worked great. The chute release is now 2 for 2.... More details later!

 

[Cl(VII)]

Used, as little as 60 bucks or so.

I just flew the second flight on the RC Chute sled, using it for the maiden launch of my AT Strong Arm on a G40. Worked great. The chute release is now 2 for 2.... More details later!

I like the idea of only boosting $12-15 worth of the system. You would have to be able to see the rocket to use this, so no MD teleportation flights, but it would be cool in PSII and AT style kits where even getting stupid with them still leaves a completely visible flight.

 

[pyrobob]

Well, color me a happy camper!

Tested the RC chute deploy and it worked as expected. I have witnesses, but no action photos, darn it.

The RC parachute "sled" was installed in my venerable NCR Eliminator. Chute was a stock AT yellow 24" light weight nylon. First launch was on an AT G40-7. A pretty breezy day, with winds 10-14 or so.

Nice boost in a clear blue sky. Motor ejection was on time a bit after apogee. Sled and shock cord deployed nicely. Due to the light weight of the rocket and the generous size of the fin can, I got a long floating decent with the Fin can flying happily above the payload bay part of the time, with the chute strapped in place on the sled. At about 200 AGL, about 800 feet south of the pads, I did a short countdown for the spectators and hit the switch on the TX. Instant chute deployment in less than a second at around 100-150 AGL.

Without the RC chute deploy, it would have been a two mile walk....or a much smaller chute...

Picture of basic unit attached. Chute is wadded on for picture only, not for flight.
Servo arm traps elastic via the narrow metal ring. When I hit the switch, the servo rotates about 110 degrees and the metal ring and elastic releases with a bit of a snap.

Full thread over in the electronics section soon. Ought to have a much smaller version soon, hopefully that will fit a BT50.

This one uses a $6 RX, a $3 9 gram servo and a $4 1S lipo battery and a little scrap basswood and plywood. suitable RC TX required, of course.

View attachment 278139

Really cool. Nice work Tom.

 

[tab28682]

I like the idea of only boosting $12-15 worth of the system. You would have to be able to see the rocket to use this, so no MD teleportation flights, but it would be cool in PSII and AT style kits where even getting stupid with them still leaves a completely visible flight.

Yep, need to see it. Although you would be likely to see the ejection event at altitude, as with most teleported flights.

Right now I am not using a streamer at ejection on mid power flights like yesterday's, but would use a Mylar streamer on light rockets to a higher altitude for visibility and a drogue on larger heavier models, to increase visibility.

I do like being in real time control of the main chute event.

My Spektrum RC system has built-in 2.4Ghz telemetry in the TX. Takes a small RX size unit to transmit the telemetry from the model back to the TX. I think I will add it to one of these flights with the altitude/variometer sensor. Numerous ways to get the data from the sensors, but the most fun way is to hit a button on the TX and have the English gals sexy voice speak the altitude directly to you on demand from the speaker on the TX.......

Telemetry unit gives system voltage and radio link performance (counts and records signal fades and dropped data frames) without any added sensors.

There are lots of modules available, including GPS. Their best G force sensor only does 40G, though.

 

[pyrobob]

There are lots of modules available, including GPS. Their best G force sensor only does 40G, though.

Does this just mean that it won't transmit or is unreliable when undergoing 40+ G's, or that it will be destroyed due to stresses on the internals?

 

[tab28682]

Does this just mean that it won't transmit or is unreliable when undergoing 40+ G's, or that it will be destroyed due to stresses on the internals?

Don't know for sure. My guess would be that it is not designed to sense more than 40g and it should simply read 40G as a max.

I don't do much teleporting, so it would likely work for my purposes.

 

[tab28682]

Had so much fun with the mid power chute sled that I built the smaller unit today that will fit just about any BT50 model. Very small servo on a thin sled by itself. Wire leads from servo sled to the RX and battery. Two options for installing the RX and battery. If the rocket has a nose cone, or plenty of body tube, the RX and the batt can be installed in a 2" long segment of BT20 with a screw eye or anchor at one end. Simply zip tie it to the screw eye on the nose cone or whatever. Can be swapped between rockets in seconds by clipping the zip tie.

If your 24mm model is short on recovery system space and has a payload bay that is at least 2.5" long, put the RX and batt in there. Run the servo lead with some slack, just like you would with a cable cutter and charge leads.

Not really needed for most BT50 size models, but fun to make work. And this one is small enough to fit in something like a Mega Mosquito as well.

 

[Cl(VII)]

Had so much fun with the mid power chute sled that I built the smaller unit today that will fit just about any BT50 model. Very small servo on a thin sled by itself. Wire leads from servo sled to the RX and battery. Two options for installing the RX and battery. If the rocket has a nose cone, or plenty of body tube, the RX and the batt can be installed in a 2" long segment of BT20 with a screw eye or anchor at one end. Simply zip tie it to the screw eye on the nose cone or whatever. Can be swapped between rockets in seconds by clipping the zip tie.

If your 24mm model is short on recovery system space and has a payload bay that is at least 2.5" long, put the RX and batt in there. Run the servo lead with some slack, just like you would with a cable cutter and charge leads.

Not really needed for most BT50 size models, but fun to make work. And this one is small enough to fit in something like a Mega Mosquito as well.

View attachment 278251
View attachment 278252

Very cool. If you want to try out the small one I'll volunteer my Mega Mosquito to fly it. Been wanting to fly a 24-60 motor in there without walking two miles to get it back anyway.

 

[samb]

Well I have a day off anyway. :blush:

IF we dodge the forecasted rain I will have the equipment out there around 10am. I was surprised how soft the field was this past Saturday and any more wetness up there will probably mean staying home and playing with your new toys.

 

[samb]

Early New Years resolution: Schedule all DARS launches on Mondays ! (as I stare out the office window at another beautiful day "wasted" at work. :cry

 

[tab28682]

Well I have a day off anyway. :blush:

IF we dodge the forecasted rain I will have the equipment out there around 10am. I was surprised how soft the field was this past Saturday and any more wetness up there will probably mean staying home and playing with your new toys.

I have already committed to do other stuff that Saturday, darn it......otherwise I would probably come over. I will have to see what I can rearrange or procrastinate or cancel.....I sure had fun there Saturday.

The field was a little soft last Saturday, for sure...my chair kept getting shorter...

 

[tmacklin]

Well I have a day off anyway. :blush:

IF we dodge the forecasted rain I will have the equipment out there around 10am. I was surprised how soft the field was this past Saturday and any more wetness up there will probably mean staying home and playing with your new toys.

I hope you fellas are able to work in another launch. I'll be cuddling up to a newly installed catheter after tomorrow's bladder surgery all the way through the Christmas weekend until next Monday when Santa Claus removes my comfy little companion. I like to think of this as my Annual Bloodletting, a new Christmas tradition for the entire family.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas to one and all and better times Next Year! :hohoho:

 

[samb]

I hope you fellas are able to work in another launch. I'll be cuddling up to a newly installed catheter after tomorrow's bladder surgery all the way through the Christmas weekend until next Monday when Santa Claus removes my comfy little companion. I like to think of this as my Annual Bloodletting, a new Christmas tradition for the entire family.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas to one and all and better times Next Year! :hohoho:

Hope all goes well and your Christmas is as Merry as it can be.

 

[tmacklin]

Thanks Sam. Charlie is coming up from Garland and Marilyn has prepared enough food to feed a battalion. This is one of those "been there and done that" things but the timing couldn't be much worse. I just hope everyone is happy with their gifts and this ordeal will soon be over. Besides, Marilyn's leftovers are terrific! :drool:

 

[samb]

Early New Years resolution: Schedule all DARS launches on Mondays ! (as I stare out the office window at another beautiful day "wasted" at work. :cry

I cancelled today's launch because the scattered showers started last night and will only get worse. The wind will be at our upper limit as well. Hope y'all got some new toys to play with .