Flight report, reflections, various ramblings, 2018-19 season finally here

[MikeyDSlagle]

Here at TRA-LA we fly in a cornfield so when the corn is up, we don't fly. Our first launch was this past Saturday, September 15. I have worked on my Viper IV getting ready for a maiden flight boosting on two motors and starting two more. I ended up not flying it but more on that later. When our secretary starting announcing flying conditions with almost zero wind, I decided to drag out the Tyrannosaur, my L2 bird that hasn't flown since my cert flight.

I'll get right to the flight report so as not to bore those who don't want to read the ramblings:
It was HOT. 104 is what the RRC3 said upon startup. Whew. The winds were light. I put my Tyrannosaur up on a K600 to 6245' as recorded by the RRC3. The RRC2 said 6237'. The RRC3 said it reached 1444 ft/s, since mach 1 is a tad over 1100, I find the speeds unlikely. Descent speed also was nearly double what it should be. I find that hard to believe as well. Got some onboard video of a cloud between my rocket and the ground. Awesome. I need a better camera. Even with dual deploy it landed quite a ways away. Of course the wind picked up when it was go time. The retrieval was taxing for sure but the post flight ops that came later along with preflight frustrations lead me to shelve the other flights I had planned.

So I got my rocket over a mile and over a cloud. I almost giggled when I saw the cloud on the video. Never lost sight of the rocket either, which was my primary concern. Well I lost it in the sun on the way down but picked it up quickly afterwards.

A few grabs. The first image: That black spot is a clump of trees. To the (camera) left is the flight line and you can see the smoke from launch just above the trees, with the smoke's shadow streaking over the flight line.

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

So now the ramblings, preflight frustrations and post flight troubles:

So getting close to launch day, our Secretary starts announcing weather reports. Looks like the storms are moving on and the winds will be calm. He suggests a little friendly altitude contest and issues a challenge to beat his field best altitude. Time to knock the dust off my Tyrannosaur (L2 bird) and break in that Pro54 5 grain I have never flown. Just to do it, I put the empty motor in the rocket...well I try to. It doesn't fit. All three of my Aerotech motors slide in easily and with no rear closure, they will slide all the way through. The CTI goes in about 3 inches and stops. I start coming up with creative ways to sand the inside of the tube and peel the label off the case. I finally get it to fit. Whew. It's a little tight but it fits. The K600 sims to 6100'. Nowhere close to his personal best, but it is all I can do.

I take the rocket to the pad, Eggfinder beeping, RRC3 as primary, RRC2+ as backup, keyfob on the side. Everything I need for once. Get it loaded on the rail...where is my motor? Geez. It is on my table. LOL. What happened next, I don't know. But the rocket tilts somehow and pulls the rail buttons right off! I just checked em before bringing it out to the pad. No worries. Glad they pulled out now and not as the rocket was leaving the rail under the boost of the K600. Go back to my pit and fix that issue, install the motor and go back to the pads. This time I get some help. All is ready. Everything is beeping. I can't tell if my camera is recording, the sun is too bright. Countdown, press the button. Nothing. The ematch isn't all the way up. It fires but doesn't light the pellet. Grab another from Chris Short and head back out. A cloud rolls in and I can now get my camera running. Finally all is set.

Awesome flight to 6245'. Now the walk to recover it. Did I mention it was hot? And we fly in a cornfield? The rows are still there so it's big steps or small steps. You can't just walk across the field. With the trusty Eggfinder in hand I set out. I have the GPS installed in the LCD but his darn thing updates way too slow. I can deliberately walk the wrong way and the arrow is still telling me to go left, or right or whatever. I don't know what it's deal is. Luckily I have rocket locator running and I walk right to the rocket. No screwdriver so now I have to listen to the beeping all the way back. The forward end of the booster is crinkled up, like it got wet and I can't get the rocket back together. Bear in mind this is the second flight and the ends were sealed with CA. I have to carry it back in two pieces.

Back at the pit. I lay it in the shade before removing the motor as it is stuck, which I expected; and grab a bite to eat. A couple hours later I have to get this motor out. I guess it heated up some stray epoxy or glue or something and glued itself in. It came out finally, taking some of the MMT with it and my PVC rocket stand turned knocker slipped and came out the side of the rocket.

I have since cut the rocket down to the problem area and it will be a straightforward fix. Whew.

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

This flight was also testing out my JLCR that has caused two rockets to crash under a furled chute. I use it on the bundled drogue and set it to 400', the main is set to 700'. So the drogue will deploy well beneath the main so the risk of tangling is reduced. The rocket just slid behind the trees before I could confirm if the drogue unfurled or not. Upon recovery it was confirmed the JLCR did release and the chute unfurled, then tangled. That particular chute always tangles. Checking the onboard video revealed that I actually got the JLCR releasing the chute.

 

[tim cubbedge]

What chute furled?

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

What chute furled?

I had the drogue bundled with the chute release and it tangled almost immediately after opening. It is a small 12" Topflight Ultra-X made by Gary.
The main is a 6' Rocketman, it worked great.

 

[markkoelsch]

I find it interesting that the CTI case has a large enough diameter to cause the issues you had whereas the AT case did not. Do you have calipers that you could measure the CTI case with?

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

I find it interesting that the CTI case has a large enough diameter to cause the issues you had whereas the AT case did not. Do you have calipers that you could measure the CTI case with?

Yeah. Me too. I don't think my calipers are precise enough to get a good reading but I will try that when I get home. Never thought about it because, well, it is what it is lol. Never used CTI before so I thought maybe there were just tight fitting.

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

I find it interesting that the CTI case has a large enough diameter to cause the issues you had whereas the AT case did not. Do you have calipers that you could measure the CTI case with?

My Calipers went wonky but I got them lined out I think. The AT measures 53.7mm and the CTI 54.0/54.1.

 

[OverTheTop]

I had a similar problem with my Velociraptor when I built it. CTI casing would not go home. I think it balked in the motor mount near the centering rings. A quick sand with a 60mm flapper disk on an extension shaft eased it nicely.

Nice camera work BTW .

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

What chute furled?

Sorry, I guess I misread your question. I flew the JLCR in my Little John and Tembo back in April, both with stock chutes...Topflight thin-mil methinks. Both flew great (the Tembo on the I170 Mojave Geen is possibly my favorite flight so far, yeah I put a 54mm hole in it) but neither chutes opened on the way down. Upon retrieval of both rockets, the chute lay folded just as I had packed it and the JLCR was laying open. Not tangled, folded. I chalked the first flight up to user error. I had flown the JLCR several times before, once being in the Little John, with great success. On the second flight, the Tembo, I made doubly sure to watch the lights come up and blink, shake test, and open test. Twice. And I attached my Nomex far away so it would have no way to interfere. We compared the light sequence to two other JLCRs on site and everything looked great. After the second failure I opened it up and wiggled the battery connection. Looked good. Packed it up and sent it to Jolly Logic. John tested it and said it was good to go and I fly it twice here at the house in LPR to test it and now this flight to test it as well, under higher G's. The Little John lost a fin and has a significant crease in the airframe. Fixable but it is on the backburner. Tembo didn't get a scratch. So I am a bit wary to fly it in my Ethos and Callisto.

I had a similar problem with my Velociraptor when I built it. CTI casing would not go home. I think it balked in the motor mount near the centering rings. A quick sand with a 60mm flapper disk on an extension shaft eased it nicely.

I hit mine the best I could with sandpaper on a dowel and a flapper wheel, but couldn't really get the flapper to make contact in the forward end. I can now because the fin can is cut off. LOL

Nice camera work BTW .

Thanks. It is a cheapo keyfob I think I paid 8 bucks for. Hope to get a better one soon. I did technically win the altitude contest with my flight as I was the only entrant and I chose a HD keyfob as my prize. Just don't know yet if I will accept it since I was the only participant in the contest.