Mile High build thread

[qquake2k]

I used the new soldering iron to repair it, just to make sure it would work should I ever need it in the field. It worked very well.

 

[patelldp]

I really recommend a little more robust method of attaching those points. Poke the wire lead through the battery connector hole and then fold in back on itself. Solder the whole mess together, then put some shrink tubing over the connection. I deem that point as an "important connection" and great care should be taken to make sure it doesn't separate.

I can post a picture later of what I mean. Seeing as you've already had that connection break, you may really want to consider what I am talking about.

 

[qquake2k]

Got the recovery harnesses put together. I decided to go with an 18" neon green drogue, and a 42" neon pink main, both from Rocketchutes.com. This has got to be my longest recovery train yet, by far. This is also my first build with over 500 photos. Sure glad I don't have to buy film!

I'm planning on launching Milestone tomorrow at the SARG launch, on an I212. If the weather is perfect, I might go ahead with the mile high attempt, on a J350. We'll see what happens. Wish me luck!

 

[rbelknap]

I'm planning on launching Milestone tomorrow at the SARG launch, on an I212. If the weather is perfect, I might go ahead with the mile high attempt, on a J350. We'll see what happens. Wish me luck!

Good Luck Jim!

I'll be at the LUNAR launch helping kids (and the kids at heart) get thier rockets saftey checked and on the pads*. I might bring my crayon since I got rail buttons in the mail today to replace the launch lugs (one came off and was lost at the last snow ranch launch.)

I'll be crossing whatever I can cross that you have favorable launch conditions and a successful Mile High blight.

-RB






* (Assuming I don't have to come into work instead... )

 

[bill2654]

Good luck Jim! Cant wait to hear and see how it goes.

 

[iter]

Wishing you success Jim. Sad to miss it. Leah and I are launching at Moffett tomorrow.

Looking forward to repeat performance at the next Snow Ranch!

Ari.

 

[gdjsky01]

And?
Jeff

 

[rocketgeek101]

How'd it go??? Inquiring minds want to know:drool:

 

[o1d_dude]

He'll be around shortly.

Probably editing video and pictures of all his flights yesterday.

It was a nice day for rockets.

 

[gdjsky01]

Oooohhh... great! Flights... mmmm.... goood....

 

[qquake2k]

Epic failure. Not total failure, but definitely epic. Due to sheer laziness on my part, I didn't connect either parachute to the harnesses. I had laid out and adjusted the harnesses the day before, so I thought I didn't need to double check them. Stupid, stupid mistake. The good news is, the Adept22 altimeter worked flawlessly. The other good news is there was no strutural damage, just some cracks in the paint. Could have been a lot worse, I suppose. Ignore any wheezing you hear in the videos, I was a little congested.

[YOUTUBE]S14weoaDFtY[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]WlWc4r78zcU[/YOUTUBE]

 

[qquake2k]

Apparently the drogue chute hooked itself to the harness initially, but eventually pulled free. If you look closely at the third and fourth photos, you can see the pink main chute still rolled up and falling free.

 

[qquake2k]

More recovery photos. The swivel and quick link were just heavy enough to cause the 18" drogue chute to drift quite a ways away from the rocket.

 

[qquake2k]

The damage. Just cracks in the thick paint.

 

[CarVac]

And there goes one reason NOT to prep everything (other than things like charge canisters, which you keep outside) beforehand.

If I consciously know that my rocket is far from flying-ready, I'll never accidentally do something like this.

But if it's mostly together, I would likely forget a step.

On the other hand, if it's completely ready to fly (scary! bp charges and all) then it would be alright... kinda...

 

[bill2654]

Love that Blue Tube though. I had a Blue Tube rocket come down in a flat spin and just bounced with NO damage. Neither charge ignited due to weak battery. You'll get it right next time.

 

[qquake2k]

Oh, by the way, the motor was a CTI I212 Smoky Sam.

 

[bill2654]

How close to the OR sim was your altitude?

 

[Rocketeer Gator]

Bummers there quake but on a good note I'm sure all quick links will be dbl and triple checked in the future.I've come very close to do the same thing and seen it happen many times.The excitement of the launch and the mind jumping all over the place gets the best of us at times!I'm sure you'll nail the mile high flight!!

 

[AHansom]

Good launch, the rocket looked like it was flying quick and straight. Glad to hear it was only some paint damage. Everyone forgets something at sometime and this was about the least amount of damage from a bad recovery. How high did it go and when is the mile high flight going to be?

 

[grouch]

Ouch. On the bright side, that thing flew straight and true!

 

[qquake2k]

Good launch, the rocket looked like it was flying quick and straight. Glad to hear it was only some paint damage. Everyone forgets something at sometime and this was about the least amount of damage from a bad recovery. How high did it go and when is the mile high flight going to be?

I had three altimeters on board. The Adept22 (dual deploy controller) beeped out 2293 ft. The Adept Altim1 beeped out 2307 ft. And the Altimeter One showed 2382 ft. The average was 2327 ft, about 400 ft shy of the sim. Don't know why there was such a difference. The mile high attempt will be on a cloudless and windless day. The next launch is March 2 at Snow Ranch.

 

[neond7]

Couple of reasons I chose to use centrifuge tubes. One, there's not much room left on the av-bay bulkheads. And two, I can make them up ahead of time.

I found a system that works good for me - I bought some test tubes with the plastic stoppers. The night before I launch, I measure out the 4F powder pour it into the tubes, then I add tape labels to the tubes so I know what rocket it goes on and if its for main or drogue. Then, I install the Q2 igniters into the av-bays, and bend them down into the charge wells. That gets my rockets 90% of the way ready to fly, but still keeps them safe for travel. The next day at the launch field, I just pull off the plastic stopper, pour the pre-measured powder into the blast cap, pack down some dog barf, and stick a piece of tape over it and I'm ready to go.
This way, I'm not travelling to the field with "live" charges in the rockets. Even though the altimeters are "off", you never can be too careful. One of those going off in the car is going to make someone's ears ring, or worse.
Everybody is going to have a different system.... I'll keep using this one until I find something better.
Great looking flight BTW, sorry about the landing, but the up part was a hot smokey mess!

 

[qquake2k]

I found a system that works good for me - I bought some test tubes with the plastic stoppers. The night before I launch, I measure out the 4F powder pour it into the tubes, then I add tape labels to the tubes so I know what rocket it goes on and if its for main or drogue. Then, I install the Q2 igniters into the av-bays, and bend them down into the charge wells. That gets my rockets 90% of the way ready to fly, but still keeps them safe for travel. The next day at the launch field, I just pull off the plastic stopper, pour the pre-measured powder into the blast cap, pack down some dog barf, and stick a piece of tape over it and I'm ready to go.
This way, I'm not travelling to the field with "live" charges in the rockets. Even though the altimeters are "off", you never can be too careful. One of those going off in the car is going to make someone's ears ring, or worse.
Everybody is going to have a different system.... I'll keep using this one until I find something better.
Great looking flight BTW, sorry about the landing, but the up part was a hot smokey mess!

Well, when I make up the charges ahead of time, I twist the leads of the Q2G2s together, and don't put them in the rocket until right before I launch it. I can't see how they could go off like that.

I still can't believe I forgot to check the parachutes. What a stupid mistake. But the second flight was successful.

 

[qquake2k]

You know, I totally forgot to post the photos and videos of Milestone's second successful flight. It was at the LUNAR Snow Ranch launch in March. I remembered to attach the parachutes that time! LOL

The motor was a CTI I175 white, and it flew to about 2700ft. Even at that low altitude, I still lost sight of it as you can tell in the video. But it was a good flight nonetheless, and the Adept22 altimeter worked flawlessly. The awesome photos were taken by my nephew, Wes.

[YOUTUBE]uC64csOQ3CA[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]5daHHMn3L1Q[/YOUTUBE]

 

[GDJ]

Great Flight Qquake2K! Looks like it flew smooth as silk from the video's and pictures!

 

[qquake2k]

More photos of the recovery. Needless to say, I was very happy with this flight!

 

[qquake2k]

Great Flight Qquake2K! Looks like it flew smooth as silk from the video's and pictures!

Why thank you! There were no problems this time.

 

[ksm2001]

Jim, seeing a DD flight like that is the full meal deal. Great job!

 

[qquake2k]

Jim, seeing a DD flight like that is the full meal deal. Great job!

Yeah, it was a hoot!