Poked myself at LDRS33

[rocketfarmer]

I will post up some photos soon... Well, Lets start with the rebuilt Breaking Bad. I prepared a 4 grain Aerotech 38mm for the maiden rebuilt flight. The rocket ripped off the pad and then at 100-150 ft she blew apart, the FC landing on the forward end smashing the body tube again. the Electronic bay, payload section, and nose came down onto the LSO trailer smashing the Elec Bay and both of the aft aluminum Blast containers narrowly missing the who ever was announcing at the time. will I rebuild it again??? probably because I cant stand to be beat by this!!! Tore the motor apart and it was assembled 100% correct so I have no reason yet as why it blew out forward ruining the rocket and melting down the Awesome color matched Binder Design Chute built specifically for the Breaking Bad rebuild. So... I was also preparing the Brand New never flown LOC BRUISER EXP3 with a Large Cesaroni K Vmax to rip it into the sky but got cold feet after the Breaking Bad fiasco. I decided to first launch it with a large I Vmax with just the Fincan and Nose cone more like a basic bruiser with single deploy. I prepared the motor and headed to the RSO table where I realized I had prepared the delay as if running the K motor, so out came the motor I ran the near mile back to my pit tables and plopped the I motor down next to where I was previously building the K. I removed the forward end and drilled the delay out from 13 to 7 seconds. now back to the line and to the rail she went...... It lit and then......HOLY SLOW..... In my head I said That is not a Vmax as I heard the same words over the PA. 50-60 feet in 1-2-3 seconds of burn..... AHHH WTF........... now the 7 sec delay seams reallllllllyyyyy long itsef... LOL I had just enough time for the previous thoughts before the rocket hit the ground completely sideways. Not bad damage for a big rocket with no chute. I will trim less than 6 inches from the Fincan bodytube and be back sunday. I was in a hurry to leave as I was already late for another commitment so I didn't even look at the thing till this morning. I opened the Tinted topper hatch and there it was.... THE ANSWER..... in my rush back from the RSO to drill the delay I mistakenly picked up the K motors nozzle and installed it on the I motor.. Too much nozzle means too little thrust.... I screwed myself by rushing again!!!! I hate me today:cry: Lesson Learndededed..... SLOW DOWN..... DONT RUSH..... if I don't have the time I wont make the flight..

 

[aerostadt]

This is true! Many rocketeers have found that it is does not pay to rush at a HPR meet.

 

[Salvage-1]

Yup, it is one of my rules to ONLY ever have ONE motor open when prepping. There may be another rocket that is pre-prepped, without ignitor, but with motor in it, waiting to fly, but, I ONLY have one motor opened at any one time unless it is already INSIDE a rocket. That means taht I cannot foul up the delays, nozzles, etc.

Yup.. done that.

Sorry about the BreakinG Bad Rebuild.

 

[Txnrcr]

Ouch, saw the video of the Bruiser flight on YouTube.
Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

On another note, looking at the videos from Friday, there seems to be a lot of people really close to the high power pads during launching. Is this the case, or just an optical illusion fron the vid camera?
I'm use to seeing LDRS vids from the desert, where no one is close to the pads at launch.

 

[scoot714]

I feel your pain, believe me. After bringing out my PML 1/4 scale patriot after years of sitting in the garage collecting dust, bugs, etc., I flew it on an AT I211. It was a beautiful flight, but the winds had picked up Friday afternoon, and the 48" 'chute I thought would be no problem turned out to be waaay too large. She drifted to the other side of the far entrance road into the marsh and tall grass - goodbye Patriot, we knew ye well

Today I flew the yellow jacket on a Cesaroni J381 skid. At launch something sounded wrong. The motor was sputtering and the rocket clearly did not get anywhere near expected altitude. It arced over, then came in ballastic. The main opened at 500', shredding the chute and zippering the hell out of the quantum tube payload bay (see below). I thought I lost the motor casing, but upon further inspection, it was up inside the booster. There was a huge hole in the reload sleeve, apparently allowing gas to escape causing the aft closure/nozzle assembly to be ejected out. With a nice 38mm hole present where the motor should be, all apogee charge pressure escaped through the motor mount, so no separation. Thankfully, a new payload bay will return her to flying status - no other significant damage. Take it how you will, but I have been cursed by The Bong. It hates me and I it

 

[DizWolf]

Ouch, saw the video of the Bruiser flight on YouTube.
Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

On another note, looking at the videos from Friday, there seems to be a lot of people really close to the high power pads during launching. Is this the case, or just an optical illusion fron the vid camera?
I'm use to seeing LDRS vids from the desert, where no one is close to the pads at launch.

It's an illusion created by the lens of the camera and angles and*stuff (I might be drinking). I get it all the time with stills. "those guys are right on the pads!!!!!!" when they're really hundreds of feet away.

 

[markkoelsch]

Gents , I am a resident of Wisconsin and frequent and long time flyer at Bong Recreational Area. It is a challenging place to fly, or more accurately, to recover rockets. The water hazards- there are big ponds/ small lakes. There is bog/ swamp type areas. There are large areas of trees. There are Mosquitos the size of small birds.

I call it Vietbong.


Mark Koelsch
Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

 

[AlnessW]

Ouch! A real bummer, indeed...

Not rushing is really important for sure. At our last launch I was prepping a K185W to fly in a 3" rocket, but it was getting late in the afternoon and I was going to try and get the flight up that same day. As prep went on I really wasn't liking how everything was coming together, mostly the kluged motor retention system I was using. So I scrubbed the flight and took the motor apart later that evening (as I needed the closures for another flight)...at which point I discovered I had it put together wrong.

 

[rocketfarmer]

I hear you. I am making a point to either be at the launch or be someplace else from now on. I have battled time the last couple years with being so pressed and trying to fit rocketry into little slots of time I can find here and there but that has to end. So far the last three failures, I can attribute to ME, and trying to rush things to fit more in. One electronics oversight a and two wildly simple motor assembly mistakes.... at least a stupid slow rise should yield some good photos!! LOL Thanks to whoever got the YOUTUBE video, it was nice to see it when I wasn't freaking out...

 

[pnobile]

As others mentioned in other threads, it's an optical illusion......All pad banks were set up in coordination with the Tripoli Safety Code for Research launches. As our field is small, we have to do a staggered pad bank set-up, which makes it seem closer.

Preston

Ouch, saw the video of the Bruiser flight on YouTube.
Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

On another note, looking at the videos from Friday, there seems to be a lot of people really close to the high power pads during launching. Is this the case, or just an optical illusion fron the vid camera?
I'm use to seeing LDRS vids from the desert, where no one is close to the pads at launch.