"Light Show" night launch rocket

I posted an update including some fantastic pictures by Peter Thoeny on my Light Show page. Those interested in night launch rockets or Arduino-control might enjoy it.

Thank you, John, that was very interesting and educational.

John, I cannot tell you how much we anticipated the flight; were standing in front of our camp cheering on the launch; how beautiful the flight was.

Watching it come in ballistic, right in front of our camp, was sad beyond words. Our hearts went out to you.


All the best, James

Fdog said:

John, I cannot tell you how much we anticipated the flight; were standing in front of our camp cheering on the launch; how beautiful the flight was.

Watching it come in ballistic, right in front of our camp, was sad beyond words. Our hearts went out to you.


All the best, James

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We were there too. The rocket looked amazing sitting out on the pad, biding time and just being so regally cool, while all of the lesser rockets launched. And watching it end like that was a major bummer for all of us. I second James' sentiments.

At least I can say I was witness to one of the most original and spectacular ballistic crashes ever. I hope that you hop back on the horse and come back with something even more amazing, and I hope I'm around to watch.

A very cool design! Night launches are by far my favorite rocketry events. Looking at the design it is not entirely obvious to me how the recovery system was designed to work. Were the deployment charges placed at the ebay? Was there a deployment bag involved in the recovery system? I always get nervous when the charges blow the chute into the tube and you have to rely on the nose cone to pull the chute out. Looking forward to seeing version 2. Light up the Night!!!

terryg said:

Looking at the design it is not entirely obvious to me how the recovery system was designed to work.

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The charge was placed aft of the laundry, but in my case the electric match didn't pop, so the failure was elsewhere.

What a fantastic rocket, sorry to hear it didn't deploy. is it in any way rebuild able?
I can't help but wonder how much did it weigh ?
Loved the video, your rockets are so interesting, thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!

Boy, that was a spectacular display. I don't know what it is about night flights. Prefect of my group had an LED covered rocket (though not as extensive) and a flashing beacon in an unpainted nosecone. K motor. Launched it and had a deployment failure. The distance between the flashes of the beacon became longer and longer as it accelerated down. Then came the horrible splat. Found the rocket and forgot to put powder in the charge well! Kurt

JJSR said:

I can't help but wonder how much did it weigh ?

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19# (8.6kg); batteries and Acrylic tubing mostly.

I'll try to get pics of my 4" with 3200+ leds launched 3 times with I -300 and 2 I -435

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