LDRS 29, June 2010

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"Delta 2 team had an unfortunate accident due to a chained reaction where the 2nd stage blew up while in prep mode. 2 people were hurt, causing the range to be shutdown and had to be air evac'd. Last I heard, they were ok and were due to be released today. I hope the Discovery Channel doesn't paint the hobby in a bad light..."

Actually, 3 people were injured. I was one of them... though I managed to get away with the least injuries. My girlfriend and another guy were airlifted to the hospital. More details will be emerging as we piece together what happened with Tripoli and ROC. Speaking for my girlfriend and myself, we are okay (though her injuries are much more substantial than mine) and honestly feel that we are lucky that there were not more injuries and we can "walk" away from this. The situation could have been much, much worse.

Rest assured that Tripoli/ROC is taking this quite seriously and is looking to make these types of launches more safe while minimally impacting the fun. I'll be working with them on the investigation and recommendations.

That is all I am going to publicly say for now.
 
Graham Orr said:
Rest assured that Tripoli/ROC is taking this quite seriously and is looking to make these types of launches more safe while minimally impacting the fun. I'll be working with them on the investigation and recommendations.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you folks are doing OK, Graham!

I'm very interested in hearing any "lessons learned" and/or a "best practices and recommendations in staging" summary.
 
Graham Orr said:
Actually, 3 people were injured. I was one of them... though I managed to get away with the least injuries. My girlfriend and another guy were airlifted to the hospital. More details will be emerging as we piece together what happened with Tripoli and ROC. Speaking for my girlfriend and myself, we are okay (though her injuries are much more substantial than mine) and honestly feel that we are lucky that there were not more injuries and we can "walk" away from this. The situation could have been much, much worse.
Click to expand...

+1 on good to hear that you guys are OK.
 
MaxQ said:
Kari Byron was there....?
That was worth the price of admission alone.....

karibyron.jpg
Click to expand...


Dude they brought her into my trailer, they filmed her there talking about my " workshop on wheels" then she sat on my crapper... I'm never washing it again.. LOL

Honestly we spent a lot of time with her.. shes a class act. and ever bettr looking in person than on film..
 
Last edited by a moderator:
troj said:
It didn't "blow up". The staging circuitry was somehow triggered while the rocket was horizontal, and the separation charge fired, as well as the upper stage motor being lit.

Both individuals received burns; reports I've heard (from a fairly reliable source) are that one has first degree, and the second has first and second degree burns.

Until more information is available, speculation on what happened, and how, is counter-productive.

-Kevin
Click to expand...


Not to make a bad thing worse. but the two that were injured I HEARD were SPECTATORS and should not have been there in the first place. Second they tilted the rocket down WITHOUT disarming electronics.. I hear the two stages separated and that cause the tripwire to break firing the upper stage..

This was BAD All around.. accidents happen, but try to do everything you can to be safe you never know what might happen.
Please, please think safety always.
 
Pantherjon said:
Yep, the CTI skids act just like the other CTI loads: Instant ON! :)
Click to expand...

I'll argue that point with anyone, any day. :D

Lee Scott flew his upscaled Thor on a central AT K1275 and 3 CTI J330 skidmarks. Since we expected the skids to be pretty quick ignition, we used thermite to light the K.

The skids lit- after the rocket was 100' or so in the air. All motors were lit from the pad using e-matches.

Not exactly instant. :)
 
SpartaChris said:
If you use proper, low current igniters you don't get cluster problems either. ;)
Click to expand...


Yeah I prooved that this weekend.. One cluster of 4 CTI "k's" Mercury little joe, and central "L" and 4 H skids airstarted in the Aries.. BOTH PERFECT FLIGHTS... Those CTI motors are so easy and work SOO WELL.

The better thing is Jeoren from CTI was out there this weekend and I watched him help out customers all weekend long. He got in there with the gloves on and steered guys in the right direction. he even came ove while I was prepping the little joe and offered his help.. THAT IS ONE CLASS ACT! Thanks CTI you guys ROCK!!! eh.. :cheers:
 
stickershock23 said:
Yeah I prooved that this weekend.. One cluster of 4 CTI "k's" Mercury little joe, and central "L" and 4 H skids airstarted in the Aries.. BOTH PERFECT FLIGHTS... Those CTI motors are so easy and work SOO WELL.
Click to expand...

My point was you can make any motor just as reliable to cluster/airstart as CTI motors if you use proper ignition methods. Using first fires or magnalite igniters on a cluster isn't necessarily the best idea as most launch systems don't meet the current requirements to handle too many at the same time. So for clustering/air starts, low current e-matches are the best bet.

The better thing is Jeoren from CTI was out there this weekend and I watched him help out customers all weekend long. He got in there with the gloves on and steered guys in the right direction. he even came ove while I was prepping the little joe and offered his help.. THAT IS ONE CLASS ACT! Thanks CTI you guys ROCK!!! eh.. :cheers:
Click to expand...

I think I talked to him briefly when I popped by Robert DeHate as he was loading his O8000. Seemed like a nice guy, but I left shortly after the motor was built.
 
4703401967_b89ab347d8_b.jpg

N10,000 drag race

That's the first flight I saw when we got out of the car. Welcome to LDRS.
 
Oh wow, great pic Charlie! And now I can tell what the "sooper secret non Thermite" drag race igniter is... look off to the left of the pack, just leaving the dust cloud, there's the bright green answer...
 
Wow there are a couple of them in the shot.. (Nice shot speedy)

Thats way cool. I was at the flight line for the drag race.. the rockets left the pad.. the motors burned out THEN WE HEARD THEM GO... thats FAST!! and way cool!
 
stickershock23 said:
Not to make a bad thing worse. but the two that were injured I HEARD were SPECTATORS and should not have been there in the first place. Second they tilted the rocket down WITHOUT disarming electronics.. I hear the two stages separated and that cause the tripwire to break firing the upper stage..

This was BAD All around.. accidents happen, but try to do everything you can to be safe you never know what might happen.
Please, please think safety always.
Click to expand...

I want to clarify something, what I wrote sounded different when I thought it in my head.

First I HOPE everyone that was hurt ends up OK. (Seeing a rocketeer hurt really sucks)

Second.. what I heard were rumors, and second hand so what really happened, only the people there know for sure.

Lastly, I really only said what I said about Unnecessary people being out there, because that is a GREAT rule to follow, and its one that does not get Mentioned as much as it should. Accidents happen, we can only do so much to prevent them. and so much to make sure if something goes wrong that nobody gets hurt. injuries are rare in our hobby, but the potential is really high. If someone does not need to be near where the potential is high try not to be there. (common sense) this is something we ALL are responsible for. Not everyone at a launch is a rocketeer, and may not know this. thats why I mentioned it. education is the best way to get the info out there.

Again I hope the 2 or 3 people that got hurt are going to be ok. and I hoped we all can learn from what happened. and make the best of it..

the biggest thing I think I learned is... Have a plan.. (write it down) if you have to disarm a rocket... what the procedure that is the safest way.. if it saves one injury (no matter how small) its worth it.

thanks and sorry if what I said the first time came across the wrong way.
 
MaxQ said:
Geeez...Dude......I hope it was just convenience seating.
Click to expand...


LOL they were filming inside my trailer.. she said "you can cook over here, build rockets over there. sleep over there. do you business over there (stickershock) and you other business right here" then she sat down... Classic LOL

Kari seems like a really nice girl.. and Max Q I think most of us wanted her to see our rockets... if you know what I mean LOL
 
troj said:
Dunlap is a little over an hour north-east of here. I've been there many times -- there's a place just west of town that's fantastic for buying wood for woodworking.


-Kevin
Click to expand...

Dunham woodmill? yeah my mom dated one of the sons that worked there "back in the day" your all of 5 miles from my grandparents farm.

Ben
 

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