MAC 4" ARCAS Build for L2

[krislhull]

Success!

The ARCAS flew twice today! First flight was my L2 cert on a CTI J400, and it was a flawless flight, with a near perfectly straight boost, and a recovery of about 100 yards. I then flew it again at the end of the day as my final flight on a I600, for another perfect flight.

I will post the altimeter plots tomorrow once i get home and have a chance to download them. I didn't catch the altitude on the cert flight, but I turned on my RTx for the second flight, and got a altitude of 1,850ft, about 200ft higher than Rocksim or ThrustCurve predicted, so I think I can tweak the sims a little to get accurate simulations now!

 

[Nick@JET]

Congrats on your L2 Kris - cool u flew it twice!


Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

 

[ksaves2]

That's nice. Now stick larger J's in it and turn on the tracker Kurt

 

[krislhull]

That's nice. Now stick larger J's in it and turn on the tracker Kurt

I was going to test the tracker on the cert flight, but I forgot to change one of the dip switched on the rocket unit, and I didn't want to disassemble the bay to do that, so I left it as is, and made sure it was set for the second flight. Next flight will be next year on a 54mm J, then probably a K!

 

[krislhull]

Congrats on your L2 Kris - cool u flew it twice!


Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

Thanks! I already had the I600 built from a launch earlier this summer, and I wanted to burn it, so it was an easy choice to prep it for a second flight!

 

[krislhull]

For my L2 cert flight, on a CTI J400SS, the primary altimeter, a RRC3, recorded apogee at 1,888ft. The backup altimeter, a Stratologger, had apogee at 1,914ft



For the second flight, on a I600R, the RRC3 recorded apogee at 1,754ft, and the SL recorded apogee at 1,759ft.



And I also had the RTx turned on and tracking for the second flight, mainly to serve as a test of the unit, since it was not needed for the flight (it landed 900ft away). I think that I will love the RT system when I start going higher! I need to buy a couple more rocket units!



Next flight on this rocket will most definitely be a 54mm J, probably a J401FJ next year. I am thinking that it will see very few 38mm motors in the future.

 

[mike2wander]

Congrats on your L2, and thanks for doing it with Canvas.

 

[krislhull]

Congrats on your L2, and thanks for doing it with Canvas.

Thanks, Mike! You have a great product! In fact, I was so impressed with the canvas, that I ordered some from you a couple of months ago for my scratch Aerobee 150!

 

[krislhull]

I was able to attend my first launch of the year over the weekend, and I decided to stretch the legs of the ARCAS.

On friday, I put it up on a CTI K454 Skidmark to 4,446ft, my highest flight to that point, my second 54mm motor, and my second K flight. This flight was also the first time I have used a deployment bag for my main parachute.






On Saturday, I prepped the ARCAS again, and this time went all out: I purchased a K270W from Bob at Sunriver Nature Center and decided that the ARCAS was the right rocket for this motor.

The 8.5 second burn really was impressive, and it powered the ARCAS to 6,793ft.




Sadly, when I went to download the RRC3 data, I discovered that I had incorrectly programmed the altimeter, and it did not log the data in its memory. I had no issue with the Sratologger, however.

The RTx tracker wasnt needed on both these flights, as it landed roughly 1200ft away at its furthest. However, the Google Earth plots are impressive!

Below are the three flights I have been able to record with the tracker. The difference from the second flight through to the fourth is impressive!



Now I am tempted to stick a L1000 in this bird and see what she really does!

 

[mike2wander]

Don't be bashful!!

 

[krislhull]

Don't be bashful!!

Oh, it will see an L1000! Next year for sure!