Man that was close to someone's house. I can't say I'd be thrilled if I looked in my yard and found a monstrous rocket there. Glad you got it back, and will only need new recovery equipment...expensive, but better than roof damage.
FWIW, at 0:29 there’s a glimpse in the top left corner of the nose cone. If you pause it, you can clearly see the shoulder and harness. So whatever caused the nose to eject (and I’m assuming the main laundry to deploy) happened at or immediately after the first event. I agree the audio isn't very good, but the apogee charge sounded like a pretty good whallop.[video=youtube;eGvS7NrdA1o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGvS7NrdA1o[/video]A few notes:
My tentative observations:
- The first event occurs at 0:28
- The audio is not very good, but I cannot hear the various charges going off distinctly, although all four charges appear to have fired at some point. It could be that they all went off at once but it's just too hard to tell
Hmmm, A victim of a low camera angle. Always a good idea to have the camera angled out at 15 degrees or so for a better field of view. Seems to be a lesson here about expediently proceeding through the certification cycle. Nothing wrong with that per se but some time/years flying before an L3 attempt might allow the acquisition of skills to avoid the main at apogee, the low camera angle and the usage of the wrong battery in the tracker.
Bottom line though is the rocket is recovered and with some work could be re-prepped for another attempt. I doubt the same issues will crop up next time except fix that camera angle! :wink: Kurt
I mount my cameras in a 3d printed shroud from Additive Aerospace that is parallel to the rocket. However, I use a 120 degree lens, so I have a good view of the flight. But yes, a good view helps with diagnostics.
FWIW, at 0:29 theres a glimpse in the top left corner of the nose cone. If you pause it, you can clearly see the shoulder and harness. So whatever caused the nose to eject (and Im assuming the main laundry to deploy) happened at or immediately after the first event. I agree the audio isn't very good, but the apogee charge sounded like a pretty good whallop.
I had missed that, but yes it is absolutely clear that the initial charge popped the nosecone free
View attachment 320183
nose cone damage...I still think this is due to a likely arboreal recovery.
View attachment 320184
One thing I did notice was that the vent holes to the av-bay were partially misaligned. It is not clear whether that was caused by some slippage after the fact, as the mounting brackets inside the av-bay seem to have come loose. This rocket hasn't had much TLC post-recovery.
View attachment 320185View attachment 320186
Here are the remnants of the payload-bay shear pins. Matt, for future reference, I highly recommend using larger shear pins (#4) for the payload section. You need a bigger charge to blow the payload but it discourages premature separation.
View attachment 320187
4:33 there's a pretty clear pop that sounds like a main charge.
Pretty cool to get it back.
I concur with Dave, that pop at 4:33 sounds like the main charge. Shear pin failure seems to be the culprit at this point.
6. I'll also double check my wiring to make sure that the main was wired to the correct charge (99.99999999% sure that I wired it correctly).
On another note, I happened to notice the recommended videos from your screenshots of the youtube video... seems like someone has been catching up on their Moana showtunes.
Well, the theory I came up with is busted. Bill took apart my avionics bay, and figured out that the main and drogue on the RRC3 were reversed.
The ONE thing I did not redo on my checklist was the problem.
Oh well. Learning lesson. New thing on checklist: If ANYTHING on the checklist has to be redone, the entire checklist gets redone.
-insert lots of angry yelling-
On the bright side, the only damage is a bit of water damage to the tubes, a stuck avionics bay, and the dent in the nose cone coupler. All of which are easily fixable or replaceable.
Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But its worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.
- Steve Jobs
Recovery notes:
Yesterday I went to the farm to get Matt's rocket. The approach to the farm is a gravel drive lined with signs that say 'keep out', 'trespassers will be prosecuted', etc. The rocket was leaning up against some farm equipment and I am not sure whether it was placed there in anticipation of my arrival or whether it has been there for some time. As I began to examine the rocket I became aware that I was being approached by a very large creature that I am pretty sure was a warg but which the farmer's wife later claimed was was a dog. It approached, sniffed my leg, and tried to pee on it (I dodged, thankfully). After a couple of tense minutes the farmer's wife came out and said, "down boy," at which point the 'dog' decided I was his best friend. The farmer's wife then said, "get off him," and I was able to get up, dust myself off, ask a few questions, give her the small reward, and load the rocket into the truck. The farmer's wife did not appear to know much about where the rocket had been found and I was pretty busy with the 'dog', so I didn't get much info from her.
The rocket is in reasonable shape but not completely unscathed. The most obvious thing is that all of the laundry is missing. The harnesses have been cut and I am theorizing that it came down very close to a tree line and the parachute had to be cut free. There is damage to the shoulder of the nose cone which is consistent with being pulled over the branch of a tree and catching in a bough.
I was able to download the video from the 808 camera, which you can see below:
[video=youtube;eGvS7NrdA1o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGvS7NrdA1o[/video]
A few notes:
- Launch occurs at 0:07
- The first event occurs at 0:28
- The rocket touches down in grass, very close to the trees, at 4:51
- At 2:11 the intersection of Ell Downes and Goldsboro Rd is clearly visible
- At 2:29 you can pretty clearly see the house between Beaver Damn Farm Ln and Mason Branch
- At 2:54 you can see Diggins Rd and Goldsboro Rd. The rocket seems to come straight down toward this location for some time.
- At 4:38 you can clearly see the brownish-looking house with a roof line that matches 24592 Goldsboro Rd.
- At 4:44 the rocket is quite low and right over the farmer's house.
- You then see a lot of trees from the side and the the rocket pitches back down and lands in the grass
My tentative observations:
- The audio is not very good, but I cannot hear the various charges going off distinctly, although all four charges appear to have fired at some point. It could be that they all went off at once but it's just too hard to tell
- I think it likely that the laundry got caught up in the trees
- I cannot get the av-bay out of the payload section (at least not easily) and the all-thread is a bit rusted, leading me to speculate that the rocket has seen some rain.
- I was able to unscrew the av-bay from the wrong end (actually it twisted off the wing-nuts that were inside the payload section). Everything in there appears intact and I see no signs of corrosion.
- The motor casing appears to be in good shape, although I have not removed it as I can't think of a better place to keep it safe than right where it is. Have fun cleaning that one, Matt.
- As I reported, the nose cone suffered some damage.
so back to the GPS unit , was it missing ? if so any chance NC damage puked it out at apogee wild events thus destroyed , signal lost ?
just wondering , thinking
glad you got back rocket
so back to the GPS unit , was it missing ? if so any chance NC damage puked it out at apogee wild events thus destroyed , signal lost ?
just wondering , thinking
glad you got back rocket
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