GL-P
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- Jul 14, 2004
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Share your stories of CATOs and all thing not too pleasant in rocketry. Pictures would be cool!
I'll start with one: One rocket I saw that was about 4 inches and was pure carbon fibre. Beautiful piece of work with a solid tip metal nosecone for trim. The guy racked it up.
I was the pad manger and would be out between the two pods to recycle the lauch boxes and help racking up rockets. Both pods ended up being fully racked. I usually stand at the one that is being racked but now I couldn't. Had to stand in between the 2 pods.
The carbon fibre rocket ignited but the engine quit 40 feet up. The rocket had enough time to tilt just above the horizon and then the motor reignited. The rocket drove itself into the ground 100-200 yards away from crowd. The first bounce sheared off a fin and then it came to a stop.
That incident was as close as I'd ever like to get to a ballistic rocket (even though in Canada the safe distances are a lot longer). I was the closest to where it landed so I was the one to call on the radio for the "fire truck"
Share your stories and include pics whenever possible...
I'll start with one: One rocket I saw that was about 4 inches and was pure carbon fibre. Beautiful piece of work with a solid tip metal nosecone for trim. The guy racked it up.
I was the pad manger and would be out between the two pods to recycle the lauch boxes and help racking up rockets. Both pods ended up being fully racked. I usually stand at the one that is being racked but now I couldn't. Had to stand in between the 2 pods.
The carbon fibre rocket ignited but the engine quit 40 feet up. The rocket had enough time to tilt just above the horizon and then the motor reignited. The rocket drove itself into the ground 100-200 yards away from crowd. The first bounce sheared off a fin and then it came to a stop.
That incident was as close as I'd ever like to get to a ballistic rocket (even though in Canada the safe distances are a lot longer). I was the closest to where it landed so I was the one to call on the radio for the "fire truck"
Share your stories and include pics whenever possible...