@Handeman, with all due respect, I hold a Level 2 certification I obtained with a 3D-printed rocket [Luna Mk III design] (video linked below). We are not engineering this rocket and 3D-printing it for the competition because of a lack of experience, and this was intentional. The entire concept behind Project Luna is to design and manufacture a 100% 3D-printed modular rocket. We have already learned from failures and improved our design, this time around, a larger parachute was put in too small of a body tube, and that was the failure point.
Luna Mk III Maiden Flight - ICBM Research and Sport Launch
I tend to look at rockets as a hobbyist looking for durability and longevity. I have a L1 rocket that is 20 years old and flown over 200 times. I have never seen a college rocketry program with those items as goals for what they build. I understand you wanted a 100% 3D printed rocket. What I am asking is, why? What were the original goals? Did you expect to prove or disprove the reliability of 3D printing rockets? You have improved your designs, but to what goal? Do you expect to surpass what can be done with other materials? Have you tested your 3D printed rocket against rockets of other materials for durability, strength, effective altitudes, payloads, etc.? Have you determined under what conditions or circumstances 3D printing is superior to other methods of construction?
Project Luna sounds like an excellent program for an engineering training program to teach new engineers the processes of engineering. From a college point of view where teaching and education is the top priority, that seems to meet those goals. It does not sound like a good project for creating a better or more effective rocket which I suspect is not one of the project goals. It's all about the real project goals. If I were running a company that wanted to make money producing an efficient rocket, I doubt 3D printing would have been the engineering choice for most of it.
You seemed to prove my point about lack of practical experience with your statement "
this time around, a larger parachute was put in too small of a body tube, and that was the failure point." This is something that an experience rocketeer would have known. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with learning this through your own failures. We all do that, and for many college programs, it's an important part of the engineering training.
As for you being L2, with all due respect, that still doesn't say much about practical experience. I've met several college team members that have their L2 certs and have 0 LPR/MPR flights, one or two L1 flights and only their L2 cert flight outside of what their team has flown. In my experience, there are practical rocketry things that people flying A, B, & C motors in small rockets have learned that just isn't known by some of the college rocketry program members because they don't have the long term experience and haven't come up through the levels.
With all that said, I really do encourage the college programs to keep flying rockets and learning. They really are the future of professional rocketry which will trickle down to the hobby level, which is a great thing. I'm just saying that you don't know what you don't know and learning some of that is just reinventing the wheel because most of the mistakes you make have already been made by most of us.
Good Luck and high flights.
