te_groen31
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 21, 2003
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HELLO !!
YES ! Finally.... Friday afternoon I finally had a chance to launch my
rockets.
Including my first built, the Lansbergen-1.
Beautiful day, very sunny, no clouds and hardly any wind.
Perfect day for a launch.
First I wanted to try the small rockets, mainly to test the winds
at higher altitude. If the big one would fly high indeed, knowing
the exact speed and direction of the wind might be nice to know
before I sent it up....! ;-) Afterall, it has a fairly big chute.
The smallest rocket went first. I used a 13 mm A3-4T engine.
Since a small paper model I had launched before only went
40 or 45 feet high, I thought this, much heavier rocket, would
no go much higher..........
How wrong could I be. This little rocket, Estes' Eclipse, was a
proven rocket, and very aerodynamic. Also, these little engines
are VERY powerful !! A big hissss and up it went........
At least.... I think it did.... Now you see it..... now you don't....
It just.....well.....disappeared. And way ( waaaayyyyy ) up there,
suddenly, I saw it coming down on the yeallow and black
Estes chute !
WOW. It works. And what a speed. What an altitude !!
Who would have expected that such a small rocket would make
so much noise and push that rocket so very high...!!??
I shall DEFINITELY buy more of these engines. Their performance
is impressive.
Then it was time for the bigger rocket. I used several engines.
A, B and C engines. I never test the rocket and I never used any
software program. I built and balanced the rocket purely by
"feel" and "the force", hoping that everything I have read on
internet before, would help me make a good rocket.
With all engines it flew perfecty straight. The A engines were
not strong enough. On one occasion the chute came out when
the rocket was pointing nose down !! 15 feet before touch-down
it popped, but it was too late. The chute never deployed.
I rolled too much wires around the chute.
Damage ???? Almost nothing !!!! The top of the cylinder had a
small dent !!!! That's it !!! How is this possible ?? Even the
nose cone litterally didn't even had a scratch !! Incredible...
I have video evidence of these launches. Filmed with a
Nikon Coolpix 4500. about 9 Mb. If you want to see it, I'll
mail it to you.
The most impressive was the C6-5. Geeeezzz .... it just
kept going up and up.... Even though there was little wind, I
had to walk quite a distance to pick up the rocket.
And then it was time for the big one. Finally. Launchpad, igniters,
everything worked. Wind was okay...let's do it.
First I tried the C11-3. Slow ascent but it went pretty high.
If only the chute would deploy...... The chute I made was made
of a material used for kites. When it deployes it makes a
particular FFLLOOPPbbbb sound. Even at that height you can
hear the ejection charge go off and the chute deploy.
Then it was time for the biggest one I had.... The D12-5 ( special
thanks to Mike, Bar.... ;-))
For a minute I thought I really had to go climb a tree. When would
this rocket slow down ?? A huge, slightly curved smoke trail showed
the way it flew. Then suddenly, a thin white smopke trail showed
the delay was functioning. Then.... first I saw the chute deploy,
then, a second later, I heard the sounds..... WOW !! Yes.
It worked.
I'd better start running. This one is gonna land far away...... ;-)
Impressive.
Can't wait 'till next launch day !!!
I love rocketry !!!!!
The small rockets flew perfectly. The Lansbergen had a steady
nose cone, but the bottom was wagging like a dog's tail. I think I know
why. Time to build Lansbergen-2.
And make it fly steady.
Erik. ( that's me, in the red T-shirt, running towards the rocket. )
YES ! Finally.... Friday afternoon I finally had a chance to launch my
rockets.
Including my first built, the Lansbergen-1.
Beautiful day, very sunny, no clouds and hardly any wind.
Perfect day for a launch.
First I wanted to try the small rockets, mainly to test the winds
at higher altitude. If the big one would fly high indeed, knowing
the exact speed and direction of the wind might be nice to know
before I sent it up....! ;-) Afterall, it has a fairly big chute.
The smallest rocket went first. I used a 13 mm A3-4T engine.
Since a small paper model I had launched before only went
40 or 45 feet high, I thought this, much heavier rocket, would
no go much higher..........
How wrong could I be. This little rocket, Estes' Eclipse, was a
proven rocket, and very aerodynamic. Also, these little engines
are VERY powerful !! A big hissss and up it went........
At least.... I think it did.... Now you see it..... now you don't....
It just.....well.....disappeared. And way ( waaaayyyyy ) up there,
suddenly, I saw it coming down on the yeallow and black
Estes chute !
WOW. It works. And what a speed. What an altitude !!
Who would have expected that such a small rocket would make
so much noise and push that rocket so very high...!!??
I shall DEFINITELY buy more of these engines. Their performance
is impressive.
Then it was time for the bigger rocket. I used several engines.
A, B and C engines. I never test the rocket and I never used any
software program. I built and balanced the rocket purely by
"feel" and "the force", hoping that everything I have read on
internet before, would help me make a good rocket.
With all engines it flew perfecty straight. The A engines were
not strong enough. On one occasion the chute came out when
the rocket was pointing nose down !! 15 feet before touch-down
it popped, but it was too late. The chute never deployed.
I rolled too much wires around the chute.
Damage ???? Almost nothing !!!! The top of the cylinder had a
small dent !!!! That's it !!! How is this possible ?? Even the
nose cone litterally didn't even had a scratch !! Incredible...
I have video evidence of these launches. Filmed with a
Nikon Coolpix 4500. about 9 Mb. If you want to see it, I'll
mail it to you.
The most impressive was the C6-5. Geeeezzz .... it just
kept going up and up.... Even though there was little wind, I
had to walk quite a distance to pick up the rocket.
And then it was time for the big one. Finally. Launchpad, igniters,
everything worked. Wind was okay...let's do it.
First I tried the C11-3. Slow ascent but it went pretty high.
If only the chute would deploy...... The chute I made was made
of a material used for kites. When it deployes it makes a
particular FFLLOOPPbbbb sound. Even at that height you can
hear the ejection charge go off and the chute deploy.
Then it was time for the biggest one I had.... The D12-5 ( special
thanks to Mike, Bar.... ;-))
For a minute I thought I really had to go climb a tree. When would
this rocket slow down ?? A huge, slightly curved smoke trail showed
the way it flew. Then suddenly, a thin white smopke trail showed
the delay was functioning. Then.... first I saw the chute deploy,
then, a second later, I heard the sounds..... WOW !! Yes.
It worked.
I'd better start running. This one is gonna land far away...... ;-)
Impressive.
Can't wait 'till next launch day !!!
I love rocketry !!!!!
The small rockets flew perfectly. The Lansbergen had a steady
nose cone, but the bottom was wagging like a dog's tail. I think I know
why. Time to build Lansbergen-2.
And make it fly steady.
Erik. ( that's me, in the red T-shirt, running towards the rocket. )