Bunsen Burner: Scratch-built 3" minimum diameter rocket to 21,000 ft

[eggplant]

I recently had the opportunity to bring a project with me to the Friends of Amateur Rocketry launch site near Los Angeles. Both because FAR is great for high-performance projects, and because the rocket had to be shipped across the country, I chose to do a compact, high performance build. I had no way to transport a custom motor to the launch, so I decided to get a second use on the AT 75/5120 case I originally used for my L3. Using this hardware also put the rocket into a performance envelope that I have not explored outside of a team setting and I hoped to use this flight to prove out ideas about high altitude recovery, fin can construction, and tracking.

All of the subsystems worked, and the rocket reached 21,000 ft and Mach 1.9 and recovered successfully. This was my personal record for altitude and velocity, which I hope will serve as a proof of concept and stepping stone towards higher performance projects in the future. This video includes both flight footage and pictures from construction. I might type up a couple of more detailed posts about what I learned along the way. Alternatively, if you are curious about the build, feel free to ask for more details on how/why I did something in this thread.

 

[SkyFire]

Congratulations! Cool video!

 

[HyperSonic]

Great job and great flight!! What did you think of F.A.R. and their people who run things?

 

[eggplant]

Great job and great flight!! What did you think of F.A.R. and their people who run things?

FAR is probably my favorite launch site out of the dozen or so that I've been to. Their permanently installed equipment means much less setup and teardown, and they also have things that most sites do not, like the 20' adjustable tower that I flew this out of, a 60' long rail pad for low TWR flights, and a range of horizontal test stands. I also appreciate that the launch site usually has a relatively small number of interesting flights in a day rather than dozens upon dozens of commercial motors in simple 3FNC builds. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled by really any launch I get to watch, from Estes kits up through Tom Cohen's crazy builds at MDRA. That said, there's something special about showing up to an event where there isn't a line for your pad and the other projects flying include a liquid propellant rocket! There's a significant DIY spirit at FAR that leads to lots of great conversation during gaps between flights, which are often lengthy because of the small number of projects on a given day.

 

[HyperSonic]

FAR is probably my favorite launch site out of the dozen or so that I've been to. Their permanently installed equipment means much less setup and teardown, and they also have things that most sites do not, like the 20' adjustable tower that I flew this out of, a 60' long rail pad for low TWR flights, and a range of horizontal test stands. I also appreciate that the launch site usually has a relatively small number of interesting flights in a day rather than dozens upon dozens of commercial motors in simple 3FNC builds. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled by really any launch I get to watch, from Estes kits up through Tom Cohen's crazy builds at MDRA. That said, there's something special about showing up to an event where there isn't a line for your pad and the other projects flying include a liquid propellant rocket! There's a significant DIY spirit at FAR that leads to lots of great conversation during gaps between flights, which are often lengthy because of the small number of projects on a given day.

Sounds like my kind of place, even if I have to travel cross country. We should get a bunch of high flying projects together and all meet on the same weekend. I'm making plans to take my rocket to F.A.R. I wonder if they would allow a drag race at over Mach 3!!

 

[Neutronium95]

FAR is probably my favorite launch site out of the dozen or so that I've been to. Their permanently installed equipment means much less setup and teardown, and they also have things that most sites do not, like the 20' adjustable tower that I flew this out of, a 60' long rail pad for low TWR flights, and a range of horizontal test stands. I also appreciate that the launch site usually has a relatively small number of interesting flights in a day rather than dozens upon dozens of commercial motors in simple 3FNC builds. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled by really any launch I get to watch, from Estes kits up through Tom Cohen's crazy builds at MDRA. That said, there's something special about showing up to an event where there isn't a line for your pad and the other projects flying include a liquid propellant rocket! There's a significant DIY spirit at FAR that leads to lots of great conversation during gaps between flights, which are often lengthy because of the small number of projects on a given day.

I love the FAR launch site. My favorite thing is the Quonset hut. You can stay out of the desert sun and wind, have lights to work into the night, and don't have to worry about keeping chips and dust out of hotel carpet. It is so convenient for prepping rockets and for hanging out between flights.