Aquarius flies on a P

[DeeRoc29]

I haven't posted much about this project on the forum. This past weekend, I flew my Aquarius project at XPRS. It was something I started during the early stages of quarantine. It's really a nod to the Down Right Ignorant rocket which flew at Black Rock exactly 30 years ago, inspiring me to want to do something similar someday. I want to give a huge thanks to the ROC team and the XPRS crew for making this flight possible.



The rocket is built from glassed 14" and 10" Sonotube and a lot of 1/2" ply. My router with Jasper circle jig and I became one. The motor is my own, a 6" x 60" x 52K Ns P with 51" of propellant. The flight was a mixed success. As you'll see in the video, the booster came in hot after the shock cord broke. The upper section was recovered intact and everything else worked as designed.

How can I ever top this? I'm done! (Not really...I'm a rocketry lifer).

 

[Hobie1dog]

what a rocket

 

[David_Stack]

Too bad about the recovery hardware failure, but quite the inspirational project/effort!

 

[tsmith1315]

Great boost!

 

[DabCat]

I haven't posted much about this project on the forum. This past weekend, I flew my Aquarius project at XPRS. It was something I started during the early stages of quarantine. It's really a nod to the Down Right Ignorant rocket which flew at Black Rock exactly 30 years ago, inspiring me to want to do something similar someday. I want to give a huge thanks to the ROC team and the XPRS crew for making this flight possible.



The rocket is built from glassed 14" and 10" Sonotube and a lot of 1/2" ply. My router with Jasper circle jig and I became one. The motor is my own, a 6" x 60" x 52K Ns P with 51" of propellant. The flight was a mixed success. As you'll see in the video, the booster came in hot after the shock cord broke. The upper section was recovered intact and everything else worked as designed.

How can I ever top this? I'm done! (Not really...I'm a rocketry lifer).

View attachment 538166

Beautiful rocket and beautiful launch (except maybe not the down part...). Such an impressive rocket, thanks for bringing it to ROCstock to show it off. Any pictures of the landing? How bad was the damage?

 

[waltr]

WOW

 

[novahobbies]

Oh WOW that was a beautiful video! I'm so sorry about the booster.

 

[DMehalko]

Super cool! I dont know why but building a huge rocket from home depot parts is just awesome haha

 

[FredA]

Nice rocket - shame about the recovery.
Great video - What did you use for a camera?
What are the three [assumed] pieces of recovery harness that float out before the chute protector? What were they for?

 

[StreuB1]

Great flight overall and great motor. Is this the 'same' motor that was static tested a few months ago that had the forward burn through?

 

[Burner]

Awesome project Derek! Motor burned great.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Can you share pictures of your motor with us?

 

[rfjustin]

I haven't posted much about this project on the forum. This past weekend, I flew my Aquarius project at XPRS. It was something I started during the early stages of quarantine. It's really a nod to the Down Right Ignorant rocket which flew at Black Rock exactly 30 years ago, inspiring me to want to do something similar someday. I want to give a huge thanks to the ROC team and the XPRS crew for making this flight possible.



The rocket is built from glassed 14" and 10" Sonotube and a lot of 1/2" ply. My router with Jasper circle jig and I became one. The motor is my own, a 6" x 60" x 52K Ns P with 51" of propellant. The flight was a mixed success. As you'll see in the video, the booster came in hot after the shock cord broke. The upper section was recovered intact and everything else worked as designed.

How can I ever top this? I'm done! (Not really...I'm a rocketry lifer).

View attachment 538166

Beautiful project and flight!

 

[J Blatz]

Rock on my brother. Nicely done.

 

[DeeRoc29]

Beautiful rocket and beautiful launch (except maybe not the down part...). Such an impressive rocket, thanks for bringing it to ROCstock to show it off. Any pictures of the landing? How bad was the damage?

Thanks Dab. I didn't take any of the crash site, but we filled five large trash bags. The motor case was ok though, which I'm super happy about!

Super cool! I dont know why but building a huge rocket from home depot parts is just awesome haha

I agree! Actually, nothing came from HD (their plywood and concrete tubing are garbage imho). I bought my Sonotube from HD Supply and 1/2" Baltic birch ply on sale from Rockler.

Nice rocket - shame about the recovery.
Great video - What did you use for a camera?
What are the three [assumed] pieces of recovery harness that float out before the chute protector? What were they for?

Thanks Fred. The onboard camera was a RunCam2 4k. It worked great...until it didn't. I'm lucky the SD card was undamaged. In the video, the order of items on screen that were ejected were: 1) dog barf, 2) nomex sheet (unattached, used to wrap the booster chute), 3) C9 just beginning to unfurl lines, along with 80ft of seat belt shock cord, 4) nomex sheet (also unattached, used to wrap other chute, and 5) upper section with Skyangle Cert 3 XXL.

Great flight overall and great motor. Is this the 'same' motor that was static tested a few months ago that had the forward burn through?

No, different motor. Similar hardware. The motor you are referencing is for a 2024 Black Rock project.

Can you share pictures of your motor with us?

Rock on my brother. Nicely done.

Thanks for those other motors, Jason. I haven't burned any yet. Hope you can be there when I do!

 

[Hobie1dog]

Did you machine the casings and forward and rear closures?

 

[cls]

sorry to miss the flight, heard all about it on Saturday. good friends, good times.

 

[DabCat]

I bought my Sonotube from HD Supply

Could you link me to his? I'm looking to do more future concrete form tube builds. I currently got one going with home depot tube, but I would love a better source for future larger projects. I checked out a local store that had their own brand of long concrete tubes, but they seemed a little on the expensive side. I think it was around $40 per foot or something ridiculous like that for 24" tube.

 

[DeeRoc29]

Did you machine the casings and forward and rear closures?

My design. My machinist buddy cut all of it.

 

[THarrison]

Nice burn and boost! Bummer on the recovery, but at least the hardware survived. Going to rebuild the booster?

 

[DeeRoc29]

Nice burn and boost! Bummer on the recovery, but at least the hardware survived. Going to rebuild the booster?

The jury is still out on that. I'm going to wait six months before broaching that idea. It was so much work...

 

[DeeRoc29]

Crash site photos by Mike O.

 

[DeeRoc29]

Compilation of stills and video from start of build to crash.

 

[smstachwick]

Crash site photos by Mike O.

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View attachment 540141

I’ve seen photos of double homicide that look less violent.

 

[DeeRoc29]

The booster rebuild has begun...

 

[novahobbies]

The booster rebuild has begun...

You can't just drop a bomb like that without a photo! That's a chaotic evil move in every way.

 

[3stoogesrocketry]

The booster rebuild has begun...

8 inch motor this time?

 

[DeeRoc29]

You can't just drop a bomb like that without a photo! That's a chaotic evil move in every way.

Picked up the 14" sonotube and a bunch of half inch ply. Construction pics soon...

8 inch motor this time?

6" P again, but 6 grains instead of 5.