richP
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 23, 2019
- Messages
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Had a strange occurrence yesterday and figured I'd get some groupthink goin on the matter.
Launched a rocket using an M1315. Total weight was 37lbs. and simulation altitude would be 11,700'. Wind was gusty up to around 12 mph. Rocket ignited fine, but began to weathercock just after liftoff (pretty drastically). We watched it go up and it looked like it separated as it should, but then realized that it was the main that opened. Needless to say that it drifted quite a bit; but I had tracking and luckily, it landed in a soft beanfield very close to a road. Recovery was not bad at all, considering it was well over a mile away. The final altitude only got to be 9k', likely due to the weathercocking. My SIMs are usually pretty accurate.
I just checked the altimeters' configuration and everything looked fine. The only abnormality I found was a dime sized chunk missing from the motor's nozzle. I would imagine that wouldn't happen from a soft landing. Putting the charges in backwards is almost impossible on this rocket. All wires are color-coded for connections, drogue and main charge cups are labeled and AV bay can only be attached one way.
Couple of questions.
Is it possible that the drogue charges (possibly going-off at the same time) could have caused so much force as to break 3 shear pins and deploy the main? I have a 2 second delay, but stranger things have happened.
I'm also thinking that the weathercocking could have been exacerbated by the missing piece of nozzle, quite a bit actually.
What thinks the collective?
Launched a rocket using an M1315. Total weight was 37lbs. and simulation altitude would be 11,700'. Wind was gusty up to around 12 mph. Rocket ignited fine, but began to weathercock just after liftoff (pretty drastically). We watched it go up and it looked like it separated as it should, but then realized that it was the main that opened. Needless to say that it drifted quite a bit; but I had tracking and luckily, it landed in a soft beanfield very close to a road. Recovery was not bad at all, considering it was well over a mile away. The final altitude only got to be 9k', likely due to the weathercocking. My SIMs are usually pretty accurate.
I just checked the altimeters' configuration and everything looked fine. The only abnormality I found was a dime sized chunk missing from the motor's nozzle. I would imagine that wouldn't happen from a soft landing. Putting the charges in backwards is almost impossible on this rocket. All wires are color-coded for connections, drogue and main charge cups are labeled and AV bay can only be attached one way.
Couple of questions.
Is it possible that the drogue charges (possibly going-off at the same time) could have caused so much force as to break 3 shear pins and deploy the main? I have a 2 second delay, but stranger things have happened.
I'm also thinking that the weathercocking could have been exacerbated by the missing piece of nozzle, quite a bit actually.
What thinks the collective?