Ever have one of THOSE flights?

[Pantherjon]

As in doing some bone headed mistake in prepping the reload that makes you look like a total buffoon? Well, I did one Saturday. I get to the launch site and have my 38mm 3" Thor all prepped and ready to go on a research load..I have my 4" Binder Design Excel Plus in the vehicle as my 2nd rocket to fly going up on a 54mm 'K400' research motor- thing is I can't prep it fully til I recover the Thor as I couldn't locate an eye bolt..Fly the Thor- beautiful flight to 3597' Recover the rocket and then take the needed eye bolt and start to prep the big boy...Well, so as this won't turn into a novel, as I inserted the nozzle and ring into the casing I am thinking that it is giving me a lot of grief going in..Then the forward closure wanted to be a bear to go in(this was a snap ring case- Gorilla 1400 to be precise)..I just thought that maybe the o-rings were a tad on the 'fat' side and that was what was causing them to go in with such a struggle..As soon as the motor lit thou, I knew that something was terribly wrong! Spectacular skywriting!:y: The centrifugal force was so great that the shock cord for my parachute snapped!

Ok, my blunder? I had installed the nozzle BACKWARDS!:blush::eyepop:
AND the nozzle thrust ring as well!..Sheesh, boy did I feel like a bumpkin! Lesson learned, DON'T GET IN A HURRY! And IF SOMETHING DON'T FEEL RIGHT, PROBABLY ISN'T RIGHT!...

So, has anyone else made dodo head mistakes like that in prepping a motor for flight?

Oh, and that missing eye bolt? It was in the Excel's coupler/avbay!

 

[bandman444]

My best friend failed his level one cert flight on Saturday because through his tinkering with nose weight and finally getting it right he forgot to retie the shock cord to the nosecone... He sure was awakened!

 

[judo]

I once flew an original X-Wing with a friend. It had an almost textbook flight; one of the laser tubes was knocked loose. Hurry up, turn it around, get it back on the pad for another go. Great boost! It tipped over right at apogee and blew the nose, barely, with just minimal seperation. It powered straight in to the asphalt parking lot.

The melted 'chute told the whole story. It my haste, I had not installed any wadding.

 

[Gillard]

I put a motor in upside down in the sustainer part of a two stage rocket.

 

[MrGneissGuy]

I didn't secure the controller wire on an Estes TransWing launch and before launch a breeze spun the glider around a little so that the wire got hooked at launch and went with it. It made a sharp right hand turn and ended up being more of a lawn dart than a boost glider.

 

[troj]

Best example of this that I've witnessed is someone not realizing that a Pro38 motor needs a case....

-Kevin

 

[roadkill]

One 24/40 reload for ~ $10.-

One rocket for ~ 30.-

Watching the rocket arc over at apogee and
realizing the little red cap with ejection charge
is sitting on the tailgate next to range box - priceless....

:bangpan:

 

[Bill P]

no comment

 

[n5wd]

Best example of this that I've witnessed is someone not realizing that a Pro38 motor needs a case....

Or, worse yet, watching someone who realizes they didn't put the load into the case before inserting everything into the rocket at the exact moment the countdown hits "zero", and it's too late to change destiny at that time.

 

[redsox15]

Two years ago at NERRF 5 I blew the dust off my two stage scratch build and prepped it for launch. Finally my turn...3...2...1....fizzle....nothing...blew an igniter. I changed the igniter....3...2...1...fizzle...nothing, another igniter gone. It wasn't until the 3rd spent igniter that I found out that I PUT A SPENT MOTOR IN THE ROCKET! I have no clue how I managed to do that. The sun must have gotten to me that day or something.

Matt

 

[bandman444]

now I'm curious what happens when you put a pro 38 in without a case? I never thought it was possible

 

[TZ250]

So, has anyone else made dodo head mistakes like that in prepping a motor for flight?

After completing and passing the L2 test,I took my 4" Talon to the range master for the pre-flight tech inspection. The RSO immediately asked me where my rail buttons were...:confused2:

Fortunately, I had charged my DeWalt cordless drill the night before and brought it with me. I also had a pack of drillbits. I quickly removed the rail buttons from my L1 rocket, drilled a larger pilot hole and installed the rail buttons! (I had drilled 1/16" pilot holes for the rail button screws into the 1/2" thick centering rings during the assembly, before paint. It's nice to see through fiberglass.)

 

[Dale Saukerson]

Ship two stage composite powered vehicle to Phoenix as checked luggage so I can fly with the Superstition Spacemodeling Society group.
Take an hour or so to prep the vehicle and hit the launch button.
Watch vehicle reach apogee and turn over having never lit the upper stage.
Have a few seconds while coming down to remember what I forgot.
Watch vehicle smash into desert floor.

The upper stage was remotely armed. I forgot to connect the arming controller.

Checklists are a good thing, yes ?

 

[bobkrech]

now I'm curious what happens when you put a pro 38 in without a case? I never thought it was possible

Shock and Awe.

It isn't pretty.

One cooked rocket.

 

[UPscaler]

Plugged the delay well on my 29/240 with grease because I got to use to really greasing up the Kosdon delay o rings. I didn't think about and I really greased up the delay grain on an H97 load.

 

[cwbullet]

Jon,

You know I have.

 

[jadebox]

now I'm curious what happens when you put a pro 38 in without a case? I never thought it was possible

View the series of photos beginning with the one at:

https://www.payloadbay.com/gallery/v/nefar-launches/2004-05-08Nefar/a0037.jpg.html

-- Roger

 

[MarkII]

• Stay up all night the night before a club launch finishing up a rocket.
• Pack up the car with rockets, motors and miscellany.
• Drive 3 hours to get to the launch.
• Discover that the rocket that I had spent so much time getting ready was still on my dining room table.
• Oh, but I did bring along some new MicroMaxx rockets to launch.
• But then realized that all of my MMX motors were also on said table.

 

[Donaldsrockets]

now I'm curious what happens when you put a pro 38 in without a case? I never thought it was possible

It ain't pretty!!!

I have personally seen it happen. Not once, not twice but FOUR times!!!:jaw:

And all four rockets were slowly but throughly roasted.

 

[cjl]

now I'm curious what happens when you put a pro 38 in without a case? I never thought it was possible

Basically, the propellant lights, and then your rocket looks like a really pretty flare. The motor never comes up to pressure, since there's nothing to hold in any kind of pressure. It just sits on the pad burning.

It melts/cooks it pretty thoroughly.

 

[MarkII]

If Pro38s could ever be considered to have a down side (and this is a bit of a stretch), it would be that their reloads can sometimes be mistaken for ready to go single use motors.

 

[troj]

It wasn't a flight, but in the process of arming electronics, I once had an ejection charge go off at the pad....slamming a section of phenolic tube into my finger.

So, in addition to having my ears ring for the next four hours or so, my finger hurt like, well, yeah....like that. For about 24 hours. For a while, I thought it might be broken.

And yes, for the record, I'm fairly certain it was my fault.

-Kevin

 

[cobra1336]

Years ago I epoxied the retaining ring on a single use motor for my Callitso. I think? Loaded on the pad 3...2...1... The motor shot straight thru the rocket and started chasing the crowd of people in every direction. Rocket never budged. To say the least I was the last to admit it was mine. Must say thu, that PML piston worked pretty good.

 

[GregGleason]

One 24/40 reload for ~ $10.-

One rocket for ~ 30.-

Watching the rocket arc over at apogee and
realizing the little red cap with ejection charge
is sitting on the tailgate next to range box - priceless....

:bangpan:

I have a great fear that I am going to do the same thing some day. I feel it out there waiting for me.

:blush:

Greg

 

[GregGleason]

I forgot to quick-link the airframe recovery line to the chute. Needless to say the nose cone landed very gently.

Greg

 

[Pem Tech]

Number one problem - Forgetting to put launch lugs on my #&!*^ rockets until after they are painted.

Number two problem - Forgetting to tie the shock cord to the nosecone.

Number three - Forgetting to adjust the time delay

DOH!

 

[rocket999]

Number three - Forgetting to adjust the time delay

DOH!

We have a guy at our club who likes long shock cords. He forgot to set the delay on a CTI motor, and the ejection charge went off maybe 25 feet above the ground, and by the time his parachute unfurled, the rocket had already hit the ground. He has been told many times since that "You can't use 35 feet of shock cord and deploy the parachute 20 feet above the ground!"

Sam

 

[The EGE]

There is a horrible point, when you see that parawad fail to unfurl, and you realize that it is never going to unfold, because you packed it too tight.

And that means that your brand new Fliskits Nell is about to take a dowel-splintering death dive.

Gentlemen (and ladies), we can rebuild her. We have the technology. And the wood glue.

 

[CF-105]

If Pro38s could ever be considered to have a down side (and this is a bit of a stretch), it would be that their reloads can sometimes be mistaken for ready to go single use motors.

Yep, and because the aft closure is part of the reload, once it's in the rocket, there's no quick way to verify the casing is there.

For those that haven't seen the resulting Roman Candle, it's pretty cool (if you're not the rocket owner). The effects on Quantum Tube results in an interesting "conversation piece"

Over the years, I've arrivd at launches only to discover I've forgotten launch gear (controllers, pads, rails/rods, batteries). Before GPS trackers were available, I used noisemakers a fair bit for recovery aids. Thing is, I'd usually forget to turn the darned things on before launch! Never lost a rocket with one onboard though... regardless of whether it was on or not!

 

[GRIFFIN]

One 24/40 reload for ~ $10.-

One rocket for ~ 30.-

Watching the rocket arc over at apogee and
realizing the little red cap with ejection charge
is sitting on the tailgate next to range box - priceless....

:bangpan:

BTDT