jetra2
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- Jan 25, 2009
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Hi all,
Just wanted to write a brief launch report for my first launch under my L1 cert, and the other cool stuff that I saw.
My Launches
My first launch that day, was, technically, a F22J I've had loaded for quite a while in Eugene's A.A. 29mm Cone saucer. Really cool flight, about 200 feet up and with a huge, consistent wobble all the way up because of the turbulence under saucer. Landed about 20 feet away from the LCO tent. Great flight, and those casings are HOT for a while. Ouchy!
My second flight was my Thor (first flight) on a I195J-7. This was a motor deploy flight. As some of you are aware, the I195J is the largest BlackJack currently produced by AT. I was excited to see this flight! I prepped the motor, which felt really cool, because I now am prepping the big motors that I drooled over not a year ago. I used a Covert Recovery chute for 5-8 pound rockets (my Thor weighed in at about 6 pounds.) I took it out to the pad, hooked up the Firstfire, then stood back with Eugene and admired it. We were quite amazed that even with the rocket at the 200-ish foot pads, it still retained it's impressive size. I played the waiting game at the LCO tent, then here came the launch. The big BlackJack, well, not quite roared to life like a WL, but did produce an impressive sound compared to the smaller, sputtering BJ's. The 2.5 sec burn ended around 500-700 feet, and then for the next 1000 feet, until apogee, the sucker WHISTLED like a madman! It was absolutely stunning how much it whistled! I had trimmed the delay from a -10 to a -7, and that worked out perfectly. Ejection was at apogee, rocket horizontal. The 16 foot long shockcord took it's time to unravel, as did the chute. It probably fell about 100 feet befor everything opened. The chute looked absolutely beautiful up there. Perfect landing about 600-800 feet from the pad.
I then headed back to camp and started prepping my Thumper Jr., my beast rocket. This thing weighs in at about 7 pounds unloaded, and about 9.5 ready. It's quite the short and fat rocket! With the possibility for a 5-motor cluster, I decided about a month prior that I would use the I357T, a motor that I've wanted to fly for about ever, and 2 G64's in the 29mm outboards. I prepped all the motors and the rocket for flight, which took about a half-hour. I took it to the pad and got it all hooked up. I used all AT FirstFire's for the flight, Jr.'s in the G64's. Twisted them together and ensured they'd all stay on by twisting them around my motor retention screws for the G's. Then I played the waiting game again. This flight, I think I was a bit more nervous than on the Thor's flight. This was my first HPR cluster, with a total combined impulse of 590n-s and an at-ignition, if everything were to light together, thrust ratio of about 14:1, or about 140 pounds of thrust. The thing I was really worried about though was the issue of if only one of the G's lit and the rocket canted over like crazy, either towards the crowd or out over the open field. Needless to say, this was a Heads Up launch. A 5-count was given, and the I357T lit instantaneously, giving a BEAUTIFUL blue flame, then at about 200 feet, then right G lit, then a split second later, the left. It gave the rocket a beautiful wobble, then it coasted to a 1500 foot apogee. The dual chute recovery system worked nicely, the 3.5 pound cone under a 45" chute and the 5-6 pound body under a 60" military flare chute. The body landed close, and we noticed something trailing it as it reached about 150 feet, and those were the igniters that I had twisted around the screw! Sweet! Beautiful flight on a HOT day.
I'll let Eugene post pics, since he had the camera! He captured some beauties this time around!
Jason
Just wanted to write a brief launch report for my first launch under my L1 cert, and the other cool stuff that I saw.
My Launches
My first launch that day, was, technically, a F22J I've had loaded for quite a while in Eugene's A.A. 29mm Cone saucer. Really cool flight, about 200 feet up and with a huge, consistent wobble all the way up because of the turbulence under saucer. Landed about 20 feet away from the LCO tent. Great flight, and those casings are HOT for a while. Ouchy!
My second flight was my Thor (first flight) on a I195J-7. This was a motor deploy flight. As some of you are aware, the I195J is the largest BlackJack currently produced by AT. I was excited to see this flight! I prepped the motor, which felt really cool, because I now am prepping the big motors that I drooled over not a year ago. I used a Covert Recovery chute for 5-8 pound rockets (my Thor weighed in at about 6 pounds.) I took it out to the pad, hooked up the Firstfire, then stood back with Eugene and admired it. We were quite amazed that even with the rocket at the 200-ish foot pads, it still retained it's impressive size. I played the waiting game at the LCO tent, then here came the launch. The big BlackJack, well, not quite roared to life like a WL, but did produce an impressive sound compared to the smaller, sputtering BJ's. The 2.5 sec burn ended around 500-700 feet, and then for the next 1000 feet, until apogee, the sucker WHISTLED like a madman! It was absolutely stunning how much it whistled! I had trimmed the delay from a -10 to a -7, and that worked out perfectly. Ejection was at apogee, rocket horizontal. The 16 foot long shockcord took it's time to unravel, as did the chute. It probably fell about 100 feet befor everything opened. The chute looked absolutely beautiful up there. Perfect landing about 600-800 feet from the pad.
I then headed back to camp and started prepping my Thumper Jr., my beast rocket. This thing weighs in at about 7 pounds unloaded, and about 9.5 ready. It's quite the short and fat rocket! With the possibility for a 5-motor cluster, I decided about a month prior that I would use the I357T, a motor that I've wanted to fly for about ever, and 2 G64's in the 29mm outboards. I prepped all the motors and the rocket for flight, which took about a half-hour. I took it to the pad and got it all hooked up. I used all AT FirstFire's for the flight, Jr.'s in the G64's. Twisted them together and ensured they'd all stay on by twisting them around my motor retention screws for the G's. Then I played the waiting game again. This flight, I think I was a bit more nervous than on the Thor's flight. This was my first HPR cluster, with a total combined impulse of 590n-s and an at-ignition, if everything were to light together, thrust ratio of about 14:1, or about 140 pounds of thrust. The thing I was really worried about though was the issue of if only one of the G's lit and the rocket canted over like crazy, either towards the crowd or out over the open field. Needless to say, this was a Heads Up launch. A 5-count was given, and the I357T lit instantaneously, giving a BEAUTIFUL blue flame, then at about 200 feet, then right G lit, then a split second later, the left. It gave the rocket a beautiful wobble, then it coasted to a 1500 foot apogee. The dual chute recovery system worked nicely, the 3.5 pound cone under a 45" chute and the 5-6 pound body under a 60" military flare chute. The body landed close, and we noticed something trailing it as it reached about 150 feet, and those were the igniters that I had twisted around the screw! Sweet! Beautiful flight on a HOT day.
I'll let Eugene post pics, since he had the camera! He captured some beauties this time around!
Jason
