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The Northeast Florida Association of Rocketry's annual Bunnell Blast launch is coming up. It will be November 12 and 13 in Bunnell near Daytona Beach in Florida. Details are on the NEFAR web site at:
A map to the launch site is at:
I'm trying to get ready for "Bunnell Blast" but time is running too fast. I need a leap week added to the calendar before now and the 12th of November!
My parents may be coming out to watch. They haven't been to a launch yet, so I'd like to show off a little. I have a couple of Aerotech White Lighting K reloads I've been saving for Bunnell Blast and I want to use them in our Big Daddy Akavish and my YouBee.
The "Big Daddy Akavish" has been flying a little wonky since we started using more powerful motors in it. Part of the reason, I think, is that the motors are longer. Since the motor sticks down out of the top of the rocket, the longer motor is moving the CG back making the rocket less stable.
To remedy this, I've removed the coupler that was in the motor tube. It connected the top of the spider's head to the bottom half of the head. It also acted as a thrust block for the motor. Now, I can stick the motor in another six or eight inches and the motor itself acts as the coupler. A ring of tape around the motor and end of the motor tube will act as the thrust ring.
I'm also working on a way to make the ejection of the parachute a little more reliable. In the past, if the rocket arced during flight and was moving too quickly at apogee, the ejection charge would fire to separate the head of the rocket, but drag would push the head right back into place. So, the parachute wouldn't deploy and the Akavish would default to bounce recovery mode.
I'm not going to describe the fix since I think it'll look cool and I don't want to spoil the surprise.
I also have to remount the altimeter in the Akavish. I took it out to test it after it didn't fire the ejection event on the last flight. It tested fine, though, so I'm not sure why it didn't fire on the last flight. I may use a different altimeter just to be safe.
I've been doing a lot of work on my YouBee (Upscale Break Away) since it decided to try to destroy a pickup truck the last time I flew it in Tampa. But there are a few things left to do. Mostly it's little things like drilling holes for the screws to attach the electronics bay.
If I have time, I'd like to also like to get a small rocket available for the dusk/night launch. I have a collection of little LED lights we've bought over the years to put in a rocket.
Please let us know if you're coming the the Blast and what you plan to fly.
-- Roger
A map to the launch site is at:
I'm trying to get ready for "Bunnell Blast" but time is running too fast. I need a leap week added to the calendar before now and the 12th of November!
My parents may be coming out to watch. They haven't been to a launch yet, so I'd like to show off a little. I have a couple of Aerotech White Lighting K reloads I've been saving for Bunnell Blast and I want to use them in our Big Daddy Akavish and my YouBee.
The "Big Daddy Akavish" has been flying a little wonky since we started using more powerful motors in it. Part of the reason, I think, is that the motors are longer. Since the motor sticks down out of the top of the rocket, the longer motor is moving the CG back making the rocket less stable.
To remedy this, I've removed the coupler that was in the motor tube. It connected the top of the spider's head to the bottom half of the head. It also acted as a thrust block for the motor. Now, I can stick the motor in another six or eight inches and the motor itself acts as the coupler. A ring of tape around the motor and end of the motor tube will act as the thrust ring.
I'm also working on a way to make the ejection of the parachute a little more reliable. In the past, if the rocket arced during flight and was moving too quickly at apogee, the ejection charge would fire to separate the head of the rocket, but drag would push the head right back into place. So, the parachute wouldn't deploy and the Akavish would default to bounce recovery mode.
I'm not going to describe the fix since I think it'll look cool and I don't want to spoil the surprise.
I also have to remount the altimeter in the Akavish. I took it out to test it after it didn't fire the ejection event on the last flight. It tested fine, though, so I'm not sure why it didn't fire on the last flight. I may use a different altimeter just to be safe.
I've been doing a lot of work on my YouBee (Upscale Break Away) since it decided to try to destroy a pickup truck the last time I flew it in Tampa. But there are a few things left to do. Mostly it's little things like drilling holes for the screws to attach the electronics bay.
If I have time, I'd like to also like to get a small rocket available for the dusk/night launch. I have a collection of little LED lights we've bought over the years to put in a rocket.
Please let us know if you're coming the the Blast and what you plan to fly.
-- Roger
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