L3 Build: LOC 5.5" Sandhawk

Onebadhawk
Wildman Rocketry
SilicdyneTRF
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Im still alive and kicking, just haven't had time in my busy schedule to fly any rockets in the past three years! Rich is correct, in my current job, I am a flight mechanic for a major cargo airline, and am on the road for 20 days a month, and only home for 10, so that does not leave me much time at all for flying rockets. Especially since the air cargo industry has been going nonstop for the past 2 years!

Looking at the schedule for a few of the regional clubs for 2022, I think I might be able to make one or two launches this year, but I am not sure. the Sandhawk is sitting patiently in my garage at home waiting for its time to shine for its maiden flight, and I have either a L1000 or a L1390 for that honor... using this rocket for my L3 is indefinitely delayed, however. And at this point, I am contemplating the possibility of a new build for that honor since it has been nearly 3 years since I have built this one. I am strongly hoping that 2022 is the year that this rocket gets some thrust under it, though!
 
It has been three long years since I have done anything with this project other than shift its location around in my garage from time to time to get to other things. Since my work schedule is finally allowing me to attend a launch(!), I have pulled the Sandhawk out of its long slumber, and started working on getting it ready for Sod Blaster IV in a few weeks. I unpacked the massive 14ft Rocketman main chute and repacked it into its deployment bag, Repacked the drogue chute, and then I pulled the RTx tracker out of the nosecone and verified its settings and operation.

I also pulled the altimeter bay out and decided to modify it to hold two 800mah lipos in place of the originally planned 300mah ones I was originally going to use. Since the Liperior 800mah batteries are slightly larger in physical size than the Turnigy 300mah, the new batteries would not fit in the same location. I cut a few pieces of 1/4 ply and secured them with 5 min epoxy to create a new battery compartment. I also verified the settings on both altimeters and noted it on the sled for quick reference at the field.
IMG_9052.jpg

For the first flight of this beast, I am torn between two choices... I have both a L1000 and a L1390 available, and I am probably going to fly it on both at Sod Blaster... I am just not sure which one will be used for the maiden flight. As for attempting my L3, I have no clue yet if one of my TAPs will be at the launch, or if any other TAPs will be in attendance. I have also discovered that I need to renew my Tripoli membership(oops!!! At least my NAR is current!), but that will be taken care of this week.

I am looking forward to finally getting some fire under this bird! Its been too long of a wait!
 
The Sandhawk finally flew today, just over three years after I put the project on hold due to a career change, and not being able to make it to a high power launch in that time. It flew perfectly to 4670ft on a L1390 at the Sod Blaster launch in Pasco, WA.
96D8D56E-D7AC-4989-9A27-E359CBD64C99.jpeg
4C10F5FB-9C45-40AD-A239-621C139E9BBC.jpeg
B47BED53-42D4-4F5F-AC0A-5A3F0AFA3290.jpeg

Launch photos, as well as a full download of the data from the RRC3, Stratologger, and RTx GPS unit will be posted sometime next week.

Since one of my TAPs is in attendance at this launch, he and I reviewed my L3 packet, went over everything on the rocket, and I was given the go ahead to make a L3 attempt tomorrow morning.

At the hotel tonight, I built up the M1550 for tomorrow mornings flight. Twice now in three days, I have built my largest motor to date!
5057E4A9-0C3F-4CBB-A2B2-209C1D3EBBF1.jpeg
4FFEBC4C-E041-442E-B649-4AC79F8BF07F.jpeg
 
krislhull said:
The Sandhawk finally flew today, just over three years after I put the project on hold due to a career change, and not being able to make it to a high power launch in that time. It flew perfectly to 4670ft on a L1390 at the Sod Blaster launch in Pasco, WA.
View attachment 535653
View attachment 535652
View attachment 535651

Launch photos, as well as a full download of the data from the RRC3, Stratologger, and RTx GPS unit will be posted sometime next week.

Since one of my TAPs is in attendance at this launch, he and I reviewed my L3 packet, went over everything on the rocket, and I was given the go ahead to make a L3 attempt tomorrow morning.

At the hotel tonight, I built up the M1550 for tomorrow mornings flight. Twice now in three days, I have built my largest motor to date!
View attachment 535654
View attachment 535655
Click to expand...
Good luck for tomorrow’s flight!
 
I've been following your project from afar over the years. Looks great, fantastic that it finally flew. Wishing you the very best of luck with your L3 cert flight.
 
Jim Wilkerson posted a launch video in the comments to a post on the Tripoli facebook page. The video sure looks awesome, but it was so much better to see it in person!
 
ThePlmbr said:
Well done Kris! Congrats on flying the beast, twice in one weekend. Congrats on your Level 3. Nicely done sir! Greg Olson
Click to expand...
Thanks! I put it up on the L around 10am Friday, and then I spent a good chunk of the day doing prep work on the rocket for the cert flight. I was up bright and early, and back at the flying field just before 6am Saturday, and all I had to do was prep the charges, make all of the final harness connections, and then carry the 40lb beast to the pad. The cert flight was one of the first when the waiver opened at 9am.
 
I was finally able to do a full download of the altimeters and GPS unit once I got home this morning, and there are no surprises with the RRC3 or StratoLogger data. However, it would appear that I might have made a design flaw in my tracker bay that could have made my tracker unusable, and could explain an issue I had with the unit on my L3 cert flight.

When I downloaded the RTx data, I show GPS data for the trek out to the away cell for both the L1390 flight, and the Cert flight, but then the data just dies. It looks like I possibly could have inadvertently positioned the RTx unit in the nosecone at a proper orientation where the launch rail blocked the signal to the GPS antenna. I will assemble the rocket tomorrow and check to see if that is truly the cause. If it is, I might need to rebuild the nose bay, and that wont be easy with the way I built it. It might just be easier to get a whole new nosecone and start over on that aspect. Luckily a tracker failure doesn't affect the results of a Cert flight!

Now onto the altimeter data.RRC3 Flight 1.jpg
RRC3 plot from the L1390 test flight

SLCF Flight 1.jpg
SLCF plot from the L1390 test flight

RRC3 Flight 2 L3 Cer M1550.jpg
RRC3 plot from the L3 Cert fight

SLCF Flight 2 L3 Cert M1550.jpg
SLCF plot from the L3 Cert flight.

There are many people that I need to thank for their help in this amazing endeavour:

First, my wife, for graciously letting me use my limited vacation time so I could attend this past weekends launch and finally make an attempt at my L3 after a 3 year wait. And most importantly, she has put up with me through the whole process, and that is a lot to ask for!

Second, I need to thank my two TAPs, Jim Wilkerson and Steve Shannon (@Steve Shannon ). I could not have picked two better people to work with and advise me through this process. Jim had just the right amount of hard assness to keep me inline, and Steve was the level headed voice of reason. Thanks again to the two of you for taking your time to review my build and keep me on track, especially when I asked about the possibility of making this cert attempt only a week ago. It was almost like 0-100mph in no time flat when I found out that Jim was going to be in attendance this weekend, and Steve, Jim and I spent a couple of days of back and forth messaging to make sure everything was coordinated, and we were all on the same page. It is an attempt that almost didn't happen!

Third, I need to thank the amazing team at Tri Cities Rocketeers. Rich Harshberger (@rharshberger ) who was the weekend's RSO extraordinaire, Dave King, TCR's launch director, and acting LCO on both my flights of this bird, and finally, many thanks to Ryan W, aka @Flyfalcons , who served as an excellent pad rat, and helped me shoulder this 40lb beast out to the pad and set it up both times.

Teddy, @Onebadhawk , made a couple of his usual extremely high quality harnesses for this build. The Rocketman chute and deployment bag performed effortlessly as always.

I couldn't have done it without any of these guys!
 
Last edited:
krislhull said:
I was finally able to do a full download of the altimeters and GPS unit once I got home this morning, and there are no surprises with the RRC3 or StratoLogger data. However, it would appear that I might have made a design flaw in my tracker bay that could have made my tracker unusable, and could explain an issue I had with the unit on my L3 cert flight.

When I downloaded the RTx data, I show GPS data for the trek out to the away cell for both the L1390 flight, and the Cert flight, but then the data just dies. It looks like I possibly could have inadvertently positioned the RTx unit in the nosecone at a proper orientation where the launch rail blocked the signal to the GPS antenna. I will assemble the rocket tomorrow and check to see if that is truly the cause. If it is, I might need to rebuild the nose bay, and that wont be easy with the way I built it. It might just be easier to get a whole new nosecone and start over on that aspect. Luckily a tracker failure doesn't affect the results of a Cert flight!

Now onto the altimeter data.View attachment 536196
RRC3 plot from the L1390 test flight

View attachment 536197
SLCF plot from the L1390 test flight

View attachment 536200
RRC3 plot from the L3 Cert fight

View attachment 536201
SLCF plot from the L3 Cert flight.

There are many people that I need to thank for their help in this amazing endeavour:

First, my wife, for graciously letting me use my limited vacation time so I could attend this past weekends launch and finally make an attempt at my L3 after a 3 year wait. And most importantly, she has put up with me through the whole process, and that is a lot to ask for!

Second, I need to thank my two TAPs, Jim Wilkerson and Steve Shannon (@Steve Shannon ). I could not have picked two better people to work with and advise me through this process. Jim had just the right amount of hard assness to keep me inline, and Steve was the level headed voice of reason. Thanks again to the two of you for taking your time to review my build and keep me on track, especially when I asked about the possibility of making this cert attempt only a week ago. It was almost like 0-100mph in no time flat when I found out that Jim was going to be in attendance this weekend, and Steve, Jim and I spent a couple of days of back and forth messaging to make sure everything was coordinated, and we were all on the same page. It is an attempt that almost didn't happen!

Third, I need to thank the amazing team at Tri Cities Rocketeers. Rich Harshberger (@rharshberger ) who was the weekend's RSO extraordinaire, Dave King, TCR's launch director, and acting LCO on both my flights of this bird, and finally, many thanks to Ryan W, aka @Flyfalcons , who served as an excellent pad rat, and helped me shoulder this 40lb beast out to the pad and set it up both times.

Teddy, @Onebadhawk , made a couple of his usual extremely high quality harnesses for this build. The Rocketman chute and deployment bag performed effortlessly as always.

I couldn't have done it without any of these guys!
Click to expand...
It was a very well done project and it was impressive to watch you adapt and overcome challenges. Jim doesn’t give anything away, but I think you’ll agree that results in more confidence in the process. L3 certification means more as a result.
I’m really looking forward to Ryan Winslow’s journey as well. I know it’ll be well done like yours was, Kris.
 
Steve Shannon said:
It was a very well done project and it was impressive to watch you adapt and overcome challenges. Jim doesn’t give anything away, but I think you’ll agree that results in more confidence in the process. L3 certification means more as a result.
I’m really looking forward to Ryan Winslow’s journey as well. I know it’ll be well done like yours was, Kris.
Click to expand...
Oh, I could not agree more! Like I said, I don't think I could have had two better TAPs to work with! The only thing I would truly change is the 3 year delay between finishing the project and actually flying it!

As for Ryan's build, knowing him, it will be a thing of beauty!
 
This was an incredible buildup thread to read, and some amazing launch pictures! Congrats on the L3, that's quite an achievement. Just put my request in on the Tripoli rocket association FB page so I can look for your photos there.
 
novahobbies said:
This was an incredible buildup thread to read, and some amazing launch pictures! Congrats on the L3, that's quite an achievement. Just put my request in on the Tripoli rocket association FB page so I can look for your photos there.
Click to expand...
Jim, the photographer who took those photos, only posted a couple of photos on TRA FB page. One was a photo of me standing next to the rocket, and in the comments he included a short video of the launch, and then one or two other photos in batches of photos from the launch. Those are probably the only photos of this rocket flying that are online other than the ones I posted here, which I paid Jim for.

rfjustin said:
Killer pics from Jim! :)
Click to expand...
Jim does take some great photos! He also makes an excellent TAP!
 
krislhull said:
Jim, the photographer who took those photos, only posted a couple of photos on TRA FB page. One was a photo of me standing next to the rocket, and in the comments he included a short video of the launch, and then one or two other photos in batches of photos from the launch. Those are probably the only photos of this rocket flying that are online other than the ones I posted here, which I paid Jim for.


Jim does take some great photos! He also makes an excellent TAP!
Click to expand...
Yep! Found 'em. I don't think I REALLY appreciated that size until I saw you posing nexte it. And the launch video was great. Congrats again, hope you get plenty of fun launches out of it.
 
novahobbies said:
Yep! Found 'em. I don't think I REALLY appreciated that size until I saw you posing nexte it. And the launch video was great. Congrats again, hope you get plenty of fun launches out of it.
Click to expand...
It started out as the stock 5.5" LOC kit, and is 10.2ft tall. Im not sure when I will fly it again, maybe sometime next year at this point in time. The largest motor I can put in it at the moment is the offerings in the 75/6400 case range, as that is the largest case I own. I might try and put it up on a M1315, or get a DMS M1350. I would love to fly it on a L1040DM, but since AT discontinued that motor, I am not too sure if I could find one when I will be ready to fly it again.
 

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