Senior Space Cadet
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 23, 2020
- Messages
- 717
- Reaction score
- 310
Got to launch rockets today for the first time in months.
No pictures yet, I need to download them and run them through Paint Shop Pro.
I launched five rockets, four of which I'd never launched before.
The good news is all five flew nearly flawlessly. Flew straight, no motors came loose.
The bad news is not a single parachute opened all the way.
I just don't get chutes. I watch videos on packing chutes and I don't see anyplace I'm making any kind of major error, yet the don't open.
One of the rockets was the one with the parachute packed into the nosecone. Some of you were skeptical it would work.
I'm an honest man. It didn't work. The chute was still tucked up in the nosecone when I picked it up off the ground.
That rocket also had long, skinny fins. Two of them broke on landing. The joint didn't fail, so they were glued on good and strong, but the balsa broke.
No more long skinny fins on my rockets.
I used nothing bigger than a C motor. They went plenty high for the small field I was launching from. In fact, the one BT-50 rocket I launched went too high. Even with the chute not opening all the way, and very little wind, I had to chase it about a quarter mile and it landed in a parking lot. I'm going to stick with BT-55 and BT-60 for my builds.
No pictures yet, I need to download them and run them through Paint Shop Pro.
I launched five rockets, four of which I'd never launched before.
The good news is all five flew nearly flawlessly. Flew straight, no motors came loose.
The bad news is not a single parachute opened all the way.
I just don't get chutes. I watch videos on packing chutes and I don't see anyplace I'm making any kind of major error, yet the don't open.
One of the rockets was the one with the parachute packed into the nosecone. Some of you were skeptical it would work.
I'm an honest man. It didn't work. The chute was still tucked up in the nosecone when I picked it up off the ground.
That rocket also had long, skinny fins. Two of them broke on landing. The joint didn't fail, so they were glued on good and strong, but the balsa broke.
No more long skinny fins on my rockets.
I used nothing bigger than a C motor. They went plenty high for the small field I was launching from. In fact, the one BT-50 rocket I launched went too high. Even with the chute not opening all the way, and very little wind, I had to chase it about a quarter mile and it landed in a parking lot. I'm going to stick with BT-55 and BT-60 for my builds.