AlnessW
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2013
- Messages
- 1,221
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Hi all usually, I do detailed, step-by-step build threads (and construction pages on my website) for each of my projects, but this time Im going with the Steve Heller-esque stream of consciousness / runaway train-style approach as it fits the demographics of this project a bit better. I may add a more detailed build page to my website at a later date, but well see what happens
Background
This year has not been the most successful of rocketry seasons for me. So far, Ive had absolutely zero luck getting a new project in the air (for numerous reasons), and what little I have been able to fly has not fared the best. This year Ive experienced landing in high-voltage power lines, damaging a rocket on landing, a shred, and a ballistic recovery (where said vehicle was never found) to name a few.
We have a club launch next weekend, and this launch is to be my grand attempt at turning things around. I have another new bird all ready to go, and am now adding this project to my agenda. The name comes from an earlier iteration of this bird that flew to 25K last March, landed in a power line, and took 3 months to return home to me involving numerous SNAFUs with the power company. If you want the whole story, just ask me about it in person sometime
Design
These days, I mostly find myself conceptualizing a motor first, and then building a rocket around it. This project will be no different. I have an AMW 75/7600 hardware set thats been sitting around here and I really want to fly it already have the motor design all planned out and ready to be executed. This project will also serve as my personal goal of trying to break 30,000 by the end of this year, now to just build a vehicle that will fit the bill.
The concept is fairly simple take a 60 x 3 Performance Rocketry fiberglass airframe, add a nosecone, fins, and av-bay, then see what happens. FedEx delivered my Rocketry Warehouse order on Friday, so were in business.
Recovery
For recovery, Im still trying to master the art of dual deployment out of a single airframe. My last attempt had a major design flaw that involved my main shear pins having to withstand about 160 lbs. of force during drogue deployment. They failed on at least one occasion that I know of.
This time, Im using a design I learned from some AeroPac guys who came up to one of our launches earlier this spring. It involves a single separation point with a Y-harness. Basically, av-bay goes at the forward end of the motor, the nosecone and drogue are deployed at apogee, and then the main gets shot out of the airframe like a cannon. There is a more detailed description on the AeroPac 100K project page, and should make more sense once I have some visuals. Chutes will be a 2 drogue and 5 main from Rocketman. Power Line Seeker version 1 used a 6 main which was a little generous, and challenging to pack in a short 3 diameter compartment.
Altimeters are a Featherweight Raven3 (might be my favorite altimeter right now?) and a StratoLogger SL100.
Thats all for now folks stay tuned for more. Only 1 week until launch
Background
This year has not been the most successful of rocketry seasons for me. So far, Ive had absolutely zero luck getting a new project in the air (for numerous reasons), and what little I have been able to fly has not fared the best. This year Ive experienced landing in high-voltage power lines, damaging a rocket on landing, a shred, and a ballistic recovery (where said vehicle was never found) to name a few.
We have a club launch next weekend, and this launch is to be my grand attempt at turning things around. I have another new bird all ready to go, and am now adding this project to my agenda. The name comes from an earlier iteration of this bird that flew to 25K last March, landed in a power line, and took 3 months to return home to me involving numerous SNAFUs with the power company. If you want the whole story, just ask me about it in person sometime
Design
These days, I mostly find myself conceptualizing a motor first, and then building a rocket around it. This project will be no different. I have an AMW 75/7600 hardware set thats been sitting around here and I really want to fly it already have the motor design all planned out and ready to be executed. This project will also serve as my personal goal of trying to break 30,000 by the end of this year, now to just build a vehicle that will fit the bill.
The concept is fairly simple take a 60 x 3 Performance Rocketry fiberglass airframe, add a nosecone, fins, and av-bay, then see what happens. FedEx delivered my Rocketry Warehouse order on Friday, so were in business.
Recovery
For recovery, Im still trying to master the art of dual deployment out of a single airframe. My last attempt had a major design flaw that involved my main shear pins having to withstand about 160 lbs. of force during drogue deployment. They failed on at least one occasion that I know of.
This time, Im using a design I learned from some AeroPac guys who came up to one of our launches earlier this spring. It involves a single separation point with a Y-harness. Basically, av-bay goes at the forward end of the motor, the nosecone and drogue are deployed at apogee, and then the main gets shot out of the airframe like a cannon. There is a more detailed description on the AeroPac 100K project page, and should make more sense once I have some visuals. Chutes will be a 2 drogue and 5 main from Rocketman. Power Line Seeker version 1 used a 6 main which was a little generous, and challenging to pack in a short 3 diameter compartment.
Altimeters are a Featherweight Raven3 (might be my favorite altimeter right now?) and a StratoLogger SL100.
Thats all for now folks stay tuned for more. Only 1 week until launch