Nathan
☢
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2012
- Messages
- 2,230
- Reaction score
- 755
Yesterday at MDRA the wind was pretty strong, at least 20 mph at ground level. Rockets were all weathercocking a lot which causes high speed deployments at apogee. I flew my 75 lb Cowabunga Mammoth on a M1850. It only went 2700 ft, much lower than expected, and was still moving pretty fast horizontally at apogee. When the drogue deployed the force was so strong that it bent the 5/16" stainless U-bolt and ripped the 24" Rocketman Pro Experimental drogue chute wide open. The recovery harness also tore a 3" long zipper through the fiberglass shoulder of the nosecone. But the recovery harness was undamaged! When I bought that 7/16" tubular Kevlar harness for my Cowabunga from OneBadHawk I was skeptical that it would be strong enough for a 75 lb rocket but Teddy said that it would be plenty strong. He was right.
The drogue chute is trashed but I can easily repair the zipper in the nose shoulder, and the bent U-bolt is still functional. So the big Cowabunga will be flying again soon. Thanks Teddy!
The drogue chute is trashed but I can easily repair the zipper in the nose shoulder, and the bent U-bolt is still functional. So the big Cowabunga will be flying again soon. Thanks Teddy!