A8-5 Cato!

[MetMan]

Polish Meteor-2K Flight Ends in Disaster!

It was a beautiful day so I thought I'd pack up and finally fly my Meteor-2K. I'd submitted a review to EMRR which Nick was holding for the first flight. Beautiful day--sunny, 40F, winds SW at 5-10 mph.

Here she is on the pad loaded with a central A8-5 and twin A10-3s in the boosters.

 

[MetMan]

I checked and rechecked continuity, readied the camera, and had my large main boy do a good countdown.

5-4-3-2-1 *snap* BANG!

I looked up and saw pieces everywhere! The rocket was in the air with the launch rod still attached, the nose had blow, dogs were barking in the distance...

I checked the photo and this is what I saw...

 

[rabidsheeep]

woah!

perfect shot though

have any idea what went wrong?

 

[MetMan]

From the evidence, this is what seems to have happened. The A8-5 blew out the front, sending the motor out the rear of the rocket and into the blast deflector, seriously denting it (see picture) and breaking up the launch pad. The tripod is actually in the air in the CATO picture.

At the same time, the nose has blown (the vertical line in the CATO photograph is the shock cord) and one (!!) of the parallel stages has fired, sending the rocket body and the launch rod up about four feet.

Disappointing day, but very cool picture...

 

[MetMan]

Other than some cosmetic damage to the paint job and my Tango Papa custom decals, everyhting held together just fine. This bird should fly again some day...

 

[Aerobee300]

WOW .... great pic !!!!! Too bad about your rocket though :-(

 

[powderburner]

Metman, very nice model, but it hurts just to look at that second picture. You even had a flying launch pad!
Can any part of the rocket be salvaged?

(New theme song for this rocket: She Bang)

 

[flying_silverad]

Wow. Good shot of the Cato, shock cord looks like it was extending right to the max as well. Looks like it's time ot give Christine a call...maybe she could get you some parts and a pack of motors.

 

[PWALPOCO]

< Rocks back n forth in straightjacket in rubber room >

The CATO is coming , the CATO is coming , the CATO is coming , the CATO is coming .....

Please dont let that happen to me !!

Paul

 

[MetMan]

Originally posted by PWALPOCO
The CATO is coming , the CATO is coming , the CATO is coming , the CATO is coming .....

Think of it as a von Braun moment. It builds character!

 

[Ryan S.]

that really stinks but that shot is pretty amazing. Good luck getting her in the air agian

 

[WiK]

Just to put it in perspective. How would you feel if you *didnt* have a pic of it?

 

[MetMan]

Just showed up in the mail today--a brand new Black Brant and a Patriot Starter set!!!

 

[hokkyokusei]

Originally posted by MetMan
Other than some cosmetic damage to the paint job and my Tango Papa custom decals, everyhting held together just fine. This bird should fly again some day...

Is that twin lugs on there?

 

[MetMan]

Right--twin lugs for the parallel stages.

 

[hokkyokusei]

Ah yeah, I see.

 

[BlueNinja]

Uh... oh. And to think I got a pack of A8-5s yesterday.

 

[Max_Power004]

A few dumb questions: (I'm new to rocketry)Parallel stages? What do you mean by that? Are you talking about the A10's in the boosters? Did you light three motors at once? Why did you need twin lugs? Basically, what did you do with that rocket? Is it a brand name rocket or your own creation?

Originally posted by PWALPOCO
< Rocks back n forth in straightjacket in rubber room >

The CATO is coming , the CATO is coming , the CATO is coming , the CATO is coming .....

Please dont let that happen to me !!

Paul

Call me sadistic, but I'm actually looking forward to my first CATO. As long as I get a picture HALF as cool as that one, WOW!!

 

[MetMan]

Parallel stages? What do you mean by that? Are you talking about the A10's in the boosters? Did you light three motors at once? Why did you need twin lugs? Basically, what did you do with that rocket? Is it a brand name rocket or your own creation?

Max,

A quick search on parallel staging should answer most of your questions. But quickly, I did light three motors at once. The two boosters (the parallel stages) are designed to split in half on ejection and fall away. They are held in place with dowels in the twin lugs on the sustainer during boost. See picture.

The rocket is the Polish Meteor 2K sounding rocket. I got the plans from Peter Alway's Rockets of the World, 3ed.

Hope this helps!

MetMan

 

[tbzep]

Oh, s@HT!!!!!

I just bought 30 packs of A8-5's for a school launch.

Please post the batch number of your motors. I might need to test fire a few before doing the school launch if they match yours.

tim

 

[powderburner]

Originally posted by tbzep
I just bought 30 packs of A8-5's for a school launch.

Hey, the kids will love it, one way or the other.

 

[shreadvector]

Originally posted by rabidsheeep
woah!

perfect shot though

have any idea what went wrong?