Yo!

[kola]

Hello! I'll keep it brief.
My name is Kenneth (Kenny) and I am an aerospace engineering student in Boulder, CO. I've been in the hobby for a few years now. I'm also an active member of the CU Sounding Rocket Lab.
Certified TRA L1 and L2 with TRA in the fall of 2019. Have a few J-K-L flights under my belt currently looking to certify L3.

My most recent project was CU SRL's minimum diameter vehicle, Obsidian (bottom video), which took to the skies (and was successfully recovered) on April 2 of this year. Obsidian was a scratch-built design, and used custom wound carbon fiber airframes and a custom wound fiberglass nosecone. We made our own fancy 4-axis filament winder for such things.
Apogee was 33,000ft and max velocity of Mach 2.1 on a CTI O3400. I jointly led the project and managed to get it off the pad thanks to some previous experience from my (failed) L3 attempt vehicle, Solace (top video).

That is all!

Thank you, and happy to be here!


View attachment SolaceIV_Onboardcam_Trim_Trim.mp4
View attachment Obsidian_Onboard_Trimmed_Trim.mp4

 

[smstachwick]

Hello! Welcome aboard, and thanks for the the videos.

What went wrong with Solace? Recovery snafu?

 

[Hobie1dog]

You sure have accomplished a lot for being so young. Welcome to the forum.

 

[kola]

Hello! Welcome aboard, and thanks for the the videos.

What went wrong with Solace? Recovery snafu?

Thank you!

Funny story, haha. This was the fourth flight of the vehicle.
This time, the rocket flew perfectly - successful apogee and main deployments. However, high winds caused the rocket to sail up a hill under its main chute! Solace was absolutely wrecked - it hit several rocks and boulders on the way up. There were parts scattered all the way to the top of the hill. Here is a video of the apogee deployment, and pictures of what I found.

I think she's repairable - Jesse U, the ModelRocketGuy, has offered to fix it for me. I should take him up on that...

What did I learn? Just because the safety code says its "ok" to fly, doesn't mean one should actually fly.





View attachment SolaceOnboardApogee.mp4

 

[kola]

You sure have accomplished a lot for being so young. Welcome to the forum.

Thank you! I sometimes forget to look back and realize all that I've accomplished so far - I just absolutely love this hobby. Heck, it's more than a hobby - it's a passion.

 

[messedupryan]

Welcome Kenny!

 

[CLolkema]

Kenny Rocketry Moment

 

[smstachwick]

Thank you!

Funny story, haha. This was the fourth flight of the vehicle.
This time, the rocket flew perfectly - successful apogee and main deployments. However, high winds caused the rocket to sail up a hill under its main chute! Solace was absolutely wrecked - it hit several rocks and boulders on the way up. There were parts scattered all the way to the top of the hill. Here is a video of the apogee deployment, and pictures of what I found.

I think she's repairable - Jesse U, the ModelRocketGuy, has offered to fix it for me. I should take him up on that...

What did I learn? Just because the safety code says its "ok" to fly, doesn't mean one should actually fly.

View attachment 514880View attachment 514882View attachment 514881



View attachment 514879

That’s a good lesson.

The Safety Codes are there to ensure safety. Success is another matter.