NEFAR Bunnell Blast 2012 - November 10 & 11

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My email inbox has been unusually quiet on the subject of this weekend's Bunnell Blast hosted by NEFAR and I didn't see anything posted in any of the forums. Maybe this year's event is supposed to a more, quiet, subdued affair? In the past, though, it's been the time when members of NEFAR, and rocketry people from all over the southeast, present some of their most interesting projects.

The weather is looking really nice for the two-day launch - cool temps, not chance of rain, partly cloudy, and, at least on Saturday, light winds.

I've got my YouBee ready for the launch. I worked hard last weekend to finsh up the repairs and begin prepping it for flight. I've assembled an Aerotech K480 motor for the flight. It should push to rocket to about 3000 feet.

I've also got our Big Daddy Akavish ready to fly. But, I'm not sure what motor I'll use. I have some CTI 4G Green motors that would be nice in it, but I only have a 6GXL case. I have the spaces for the longer case, but the way the motor installs in the top of the rocket, using the spaces would push the CG back. It would probably be okay, but I don't want to chance it. I also have an Aerotech K550, I think, and the case for it. But, I used my enclosures when assembling the motor for the YouBee. I thought I had another set of enclosures. But, I guess not, since I can't find them! I'll probably go ahead and assemble the motor on-site after the YouBee flies.

I'll try to fly the YouBee on Saturday since the forecast calls for lower winds.

-- Roger

 

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Day One of Bunnell Blast 2012 ....

We launched Bracha's Crayon twice. The first flight was early in the day on a G38. The up part was nice. But, I had forgotten to hook up the recovery system to anchor on the motor mount. So, the nose cone floated off under the parachute while the rest of the rocket fell to the ground. There was, however, no damage and the nose cone didn't drift far.

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Later we flew the Big Daddy Akavish on an Aerotech K550.

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Yeah ... that wasn't quite right.

 

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The motor came apart just above the rear enclosure.

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Durn it ... it was a brand new motor case!

Fortunately, though, the Akavish wasn't damaged.

 

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After dusk, we flew the Crayon on a G75M. We attached glow sticks to the fins and a flashlight to the shock cord. It was really pretty, filling the sky with sparks on the way up and flashing on the way down. I was able to easily recover it since the glow sticks made it easy to find on the ground.

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We didn't fly the YouBee today. First, I discovered that I had brought an incorrect section of the rocket. The yellow section below the electronics bay has no couplers unlike all the other sections which have a couple at the top. But, when repairing the rocket a while back I accidently created a yellow secton with a coupler. After I realized the mistake, I stuck the malformed yellow section on a shelf for future use.

Somehow I packed that yellow section instead of the correct one when I prepared for Bunnell Blast. So, as I assembled the rocket onsite, I discovered that trying to connect two couplers doesn't work. I thought I wouldn't be able to fly the rocket. But, then I decided to try to remove the coupler from the yellow section. I pulled out my rotary tool and installed a cutting disc. I used it to cut out the coupler. It took a while to cut and peel out the coupler. Then I used a sanding flap wheel to clean up the glue inside the tube. It worked!

Second, my parents called to say that my dad wasn't feeling well and they weren't going to make it to the launch on Saturday. So, I decided to put off flying the YouBee until tomorrow.

 

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It was very windy today. Early on I decided not to launch the YouBee. But, as the day went on and I say some other daring fliers laumching their rockets, I gave in. Bracha helped me set up the YouBee on the launch pad. Then I set up my camera on a tripod so that I could take photos of the lift-off while watching the launch with my own two eyes.

3 ... 2 ... 1 ... a little puff ... then ....

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The rocket soared into the sky atop a brilliant white flame which was almost as long as the rocket itself. It arched away from us and seemed to be heading back down to earth when ... boom ... it broke into multiple pieces and began its "wacky wiggler" descent. As it got closer to the ground I could see the orange of the main parachute, but the 'chute wouldn't fully open. The rocket fell horizontally into the soft dirt at the far end of the field.

The main video camera at the top of the rocket failed, but I did get video from a Boostercam camera mounted on the bottom looking up. It appears that the nose cone came off at apogee and the parachute became tangled in its shock cord. But, the rocket landed without any damage - though it's really dirty! The 'chute finally inflated on the ground and dragged the rocket through the dirt.


For the next flight I'm going to change the way the 'chute is attached and increase the number of shear pins from two to four.

Not a perfect flight, but still nice. And I like the lift-off photo I captured!

-- Roger

 

[JStitz]

Very cool Roger...I was the guy several month's ago that asked who has upscaled this rocket...and he was in my own back yard.
Hope to get back to Orangeburg early next year.