Ever send a rocket you knew whouldn't make it? Model rockets only please

[Grog6]

I launched a Nike Herculese scratch-built from plans, and scaled to fit 4 d engines.
That rocket has way too much fin. If I find the camera, I'll post it. I forgot to take pix with a phone.
All I got back was confetti, the fin/engine mount, and some chunks of balsa nosecone.
I realize this is dangerous, but my launch site is remote.
I pretty much knew, before I hit the button.
Is that bad of me?

 

[georgegassaway]

Not really. I've test flown models to find out if they work.

But to purposely fly a model that I know won't work? Therefore go unstable and/or crash?

No,

That would be foolhardy. That is NOT what this hobby is about.

The ONE person killed in this hobby by a rocket, launched a rocket he knew would not work (nose purposely glued on, no recovery system, intended to crash nose-first, totally against the Safety Code). The Karmic thing is that he was the one killed (hit in head), and not anyone else (there were scouts present at that launch, apparently nobody in charge of safety).

.

.

 

[Sandy H.]

I ended up with a supply of BP E9 engines that were stored under questionable circumstances. Given that those motors, at the time, seemed a bit on the edge under normal circumstances and the unknown storage conditions, a buddy of mine and I decided to build minimum diameter rockets to fly them. We did recovery devices as expected, but each time the launch button was pressed, we expected either a CATO or to never see the rocket again. I think the pair flew a total of 15-16 times with zero motor failures. One got stuck in a tree and one simply disappeared, so maybe that one was a motor issue, but it wasn't near the ground when it happened.

Yep, its the same guy who lost the Lil Diter on an I435 last launch. That thing was a laser off the pad. Video in the ROSCO launch thread. That rocket flew a bunch of times on the mighty I435, but this time, it just disappeared. . .

Sandy.

 

[Grog6]

I sent mine with some old e-15's. I had one cato out of those, but it didn't explode. It just turned into plant food, pretty much. There was still 2" of streamer attached to the fins/ engines.

 

[Hobie1dog]

not yet

 

[Huxter]

When we were kids, We got tired of A and B engines in our Estes Streak, and put the mighty C engine in and kissed it goodbye - we knew we would not see that streak again!

 

[kuririn]

When we were kids, We got tired of A and B engines in our Estes Streak, and put the mighty C engine in and kissed it goodbye - we knew we would not see that streak again!

Did exactly the same thing. I think I was around 12 years old. Hollowed the nose cone and airfoiled the fins for maximum apogee. After launch briefly lost sight of it. Saw it coming down but it disappeared when the ejection charge went off. It was worth it!

 

[MidOH]

A kid at my junior high tech class, did the glued cone thing. We all knew it. Shop teacher was not amused. Stupid idea. Wasn't even fun.

We've launched just motors. The just spin around hopelessly. Then you go to pick it up, and the E charge poofs. Lol.

Put a b6-4 on a balsa glider. Fins couldn't overcome the direction the motor wanted to go. It should have looped over and hit us in the back of the head, but it did a perfect 20+ corkscrews instead at 20'.

 

[Grog6]

I layered the fins on it with cf; they were homemade plywood, with a couple of layers of cf thrown in for giggles.
It ripped it all apart. Hey, at least the fins didnt come off the tube; they just exploded, it looks like. Most fragments below 1/4 inch.

 

[Pappy]

13 years old, shot my first rocket, a goblin, at some turkey vultures sitting on power lines several hundred feet away. wasn't really concerned about recovering the rocket... maybe a vulture carcass, though... (ref: bald monkey syndrome)

 

[dr wogz]

we had a student launch a 3D printed min dia. 'thing'; fins, nose cone, and on an 'I' something..

I had hesitations about it.. due to the fact it was knowingly not likely to return / be found..

 

[Arnie]

Not really. I've test flown models to find out if they work.

But to purposely fly a model that I know won't work? Therefore go unstable and/or crash?

No,

That would be foolhardy. That is NOT what this hobby is about.

The ONE person killed in this hobby by a rocket, launched a rocket he knew would not work (nose purposely glued on, no recovery system, intended to crash nose-first, totally against the Safety Code). The Karmic thing is that he was the one killed (hit in head), and not anyone else (there were scouts present at that launch, apparently nobody in charge of safety).

.

.

Get your damned facts straight. The person, Mike Bentley, was NOT the builder of the rocket that killed him.

 

[Joekeyo]

It was always a crapshoot with a C6-5 in whatever small field I could scare up when I was a kid. I lost quite a few rockets. Phase II of rocketry found me being the 4H aerospace leader. Friendly farmer's pasture took only 3 engines to figure out: C6-5s only! We lost very few rockets.

 

[georgegassaway]

Get your damned facts straight. The person, Mike Bentley, was NOT the builder of the rocket that killed him.

Sorry, so much was hushed up and hidden about that whole mess, that I thought the builder was the one killed.

Well, that makes it far more tragic.
Could you provide a good source of info on what happened?

What did law enforcement do about it, then?

The builder/flier could easily have been charged with, and probably convicted, of manslaughter. It was no "accident".

 

[dhbarr]

Sorry, so much was hushed up and hidden about that whole mess, that I thought the builder was the one killed.

Well, that makes it far more tragic.
Could you provide a good source of info on what happened?

What did law enforcement do about it, then?

The builder/flier could easily have been charged with, and probably convicted, of manslaughter. It was no "accident".

If you reached your second set of conclusions the same way you reached your first set, perhaps consider not stating them as fact.

The guy was a scout volunteer. Law enforcement investigated. It was determined to be a tragic accident.

I wasn't there, but about a hundred newspapers widely reported on the matter.

 

[dhbarr]

I flew a minimum diameter, minimum length, minimum mass tubefin on an F15-8. The fins ( which I was quite concerned about ) held up, but I forgot to worry about the recovery system and the ( I think ) too-short delay.

 

[teepot]

When we first got to the wide open spaces of Pahrump I started flying again. I had some ready to fly plastic rockets for A motors. I wanted more. Never saw on again after the were launched with B's. I got bigger rockets foe C's. I put the biggest C I could find in them. Lost those too. Bigger rockets bigger motors more experience and I stopped losing them, at least permanently. There were a few that I had to search for. A couple were in a neighbors yard. One I found only because I wanted to see what pipe was sticking out of the ground. No chute. Impaled the Earth. Was a write off. Another time a Rocket went up arched over behind us an disappeared. I walked over to the next street and saw a flock of Ravens circling a spot in the desert. Sure enough there was my rocket. Thanks guys I yelled to them. I haven't lost a rocket in a couple of years now. Knock on wood.

 

[CalebJ]

Sorry, so much was hushed up and hidden about that whole mess, that I thought the builder was the one killed.

Well, that makes it far more tragic.
Could you provide a good source of info on what happened?

What did law enforcement do about it, then?

The builder/flier could easily have been charged with, and probably convicted, of manslaughter. It was no "accident".

What was hushed up or hidden?

For what it's worth - here's the original thread you started about the topic:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...t-fatality-announced-by-nar-president.130109/
I don't see any details on the rocket involved other than very vague references to its size. Seems like the biggest take away from that event involves launch safety procedures in general.

 

[Back_at_it]

I've never launched one that I knew would fail. I have launched a couple where some people might question my judgement. I've put a basically stock Big Bertha with a 24mm mount up on an F44 and an Alpha on an E30. I expected the Alpha to survive the flight but didn't think I'd get it back. The Big Bertha I had a feeling that the fins might not survive but it did.

On a similar note. I do a lot of "first flight" testing away from people. While I do a good job of swing testing and sim testing, I'll often times do a stability flight when no one is around before I take it to a club launch. If something is going to go wrong I don't want it to happen when others are around.

 

[Arnie]

I've never launched one that I knew would fail. I have launched a couple where some people might question my judgement. I've put a basically stock Big Bertha with a 24mm mount up on an F44 and an Alpha on an E30. I expected the Alpha to survive the flight but didn't think I'd get it back. The Big Bertha I had a feeling that the fins might not survive but it did.

On a similar note. I do a lot of "first flight" testing away from people. While I do a good job of swing testing and sim testing, I'll often times do a stability flight when no one is around before I take it to a club launch. If something is going to go wrong I don't want it to happen when others are around.

So did you recover the Big Bertha and the alpha?

 

[SecondRow]

What was hushed up or hidden?

For what it's worth - here's the original thread you started about the topic:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...t-fatality-announced-by-nar-president.130109/
I don't see any details on the rocket involved other than very vague references to its size. Seems like the biggest take away from that event involves launch safety procedures in general.

The NAR president at the time sent out an email to all members about a week after the incident. AFAIK, nothing else was ever released. You can see the message here: http://rocketn00b.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-message-from-national-association-of_22.html?m=1

He participated in a drag race with another rocketeer. While watching his rocket, the other rocket came in ballistic and hit him. There isn’t much else definitively known. It appears the authorities decided a criminal investigation wasn‘t necessary, so I doubt there’s anything more than the letter.

 

[T-Rex]

NOT ME, but someone I knew probably 50 years ago. I wont go into detail but it involved an Alpha, a booster motor and an M80. Clearly a violation of safety codes and several laws (even back then).
I will admit that it was pretty cool to 8yr old me though.

 

[Back_at_it]

So did you recover the Big Bertha and the alpha?

Yes. The Alpha recovered on a foil streamer but broke a fin on the first flight. Second flight was recovered on a 9" foil chute and came down safely but it was a long walk. Not bad considering that it's flirting with supersonic speeds.

The Bertha has flown and recovered many times. I'm not sure how much more those poor fins will take as they are starting to look a little frayed. I have gone over the leading edge with super glue a couple if times as the wood was starting to splinter.

 

[John Kemker]

At NARAM 33, I flew an Alpha III with an Aerotech D21. It HUMMED on the way up. Never saw it again.

 

[georgegassaway]

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