[Launch Report] Is this a rocket launch or a geological survey? :(

[Spacepirate R]

I thought that the air was calm enough this morning so I want out for a sunrise launch. Turned out to be a so-so launch day.

My metallic painted Estes Wizard on an A8-3. This rocket has flown perfectly twice with my home made parachute. I thought that I had used enough masking tape for a good friction fit, but... It zoomed up as normal then there was the ejection "pop", a glint of silver, and a blur as it rushed towards the ground!:y: CORE SAMPLE!!! :cry: It had kicked the motor. The impact ripped the body tube and popped off a fin. Did I pack the wadding and chute wrong? I could salvage the fins and the parachute but the rocket will R.I.P.

Cloned Estes Mini Mean Machine on a B6-4. Great altitude but the parachute did not unfurl. It came down slowly enough but the winds aloft were stronger than I thought and it floated out of the park! If the chute had worked it might have floated very far but as it was it came down on the road and damaged a fin. If it had landed in the park it would have been fine.:sad: I am not sure if I will bother repairing it.

Estes Baby Bertha on a B6-4. Finally a good flight! The Baby Bertha proved it's reliability again, but the higher altitude breeze made it drift to the edge of the park.

Estes Big Bertha "The Beat Stick" on a C6-3. A beautiful launch for it's 18th flight. I love my Big Bertha!

I was going to launch my Estes Alpha on a B6-4 and my Nosferatu on a C11-5 but the winds aloft were too strong today. It was nice and calm on the ground, but even my Big Bertha had me going for a walk.

I continue to have bad luck with BT-20 minimum diameter rockets. The only "dead" rockets that I have are a Quest Totally Tubular, an Estes Viking, and now the Wizard (and maybe the Mini Mean Machine). They mostly fall too fast on a streamer for my field so I give them a small parachute, and the needed length of shock cord to avoid nose cone impacts crams the body tube. :kill:

 

[FastCargo]

I continue to have bad luck with BT-20 minimum diameter rockets. The only "dead" rockets that I have are a Quest Totally Tubular, an Estes Viking, and now the Wizard (and maybe the Mini Mean Machine). They mostly fall too fast on a streamer for my field so I give them a small parachute, and the needed length of shock cord to avoid nose cone impacts crams the body tube.

Getting a 12 inch or larger parachute into a BT-20 without wrapping so tightly that reliability of full opening becomes an issue can be a challenge. I really don't have a good answer other than maybe doing the kevlar cord at the motor mount technique instead of the standard trifold.

One thing for me is that I typically don't do min diameter rockets...I've never liked the look of an engine hook on the outside of a BT. And I don't like friction fit either...I want my engines to come out easily when I want them to, but to stay secure when I want them to...I should encounter no difficulty in either direction.

Anyway, because I don't do min diameter or friction fit, it usually means for my BT-20 birds, that I convert them to take 13mm engines only. There are a couple of advantages (besides the aforementioned engine hook). One, it becomes more difficult to lose them if the biggest engine you can stuff in there is an A (as a BAR, I've become a big fan of seeing my rockets all the way through their flights). Two, they are cheaper to fly (13mm engines cost less). Three, they weigh less...even with the additional mass of an engine mount, a spent 13mm engine plus engine mount weighs less than a spent 18mm engine and thrust ring. And it means you can even do TTW fin mounts if you want to make your BT-20 birds more robust and convert to streamer.

But those are my techniques...YMMV.

Good luck!

FC

 

[Spacepirate R]

I normally have not had any problems with friction fitting motors, but the small size of the BT-20 tube makes it harder to get all the recovery stuff in there. I have a Der Mini Max and it is wide enough that a small parachute fits nicely. I have flown my Alpha on mini engines with an adapter and have had no problems. It seems that the skinnier tubes have passed a threshold of usability for me.

 

[paul.nortness]

There is no need for a chute on those little BT-20 min dia birds.....they will come down nice and soft with space saving streamers.

 

[FastCargo]

There is no need for a chute on those little BT-20 min dia birds.....they will come down nice and soft with space saving streamers.

That's true in the green, green PNW my friend (I'm jealous...just sayin), but in southern TX the fields are kind of dry and firm. Something like a Mini Mean Machine might snap a fin or even bend a BT if it came down on a streamer. However, I could be wrong.

FC

 

[Spacepirate R]

That's true in the green, green PNW my friend (I'm jealous...just sayin), but in southern TX the fields are kind of dry and firm. Something like a Mini Mean Machine might snap a fin or even bend a BT if it came down on a streamer. However, I could be wrong.

FC

If streamers worked with the hard, packed earth of this part of Arizona then I would use them. My broken birds did not have the surface area to cause enough drag. I started using a small parachute with my Goblin as it was getting too beat up even with it's long streamer. The only rockets that I use streamers with are the Lil' Ivan and the Cobalt as their wide bodies and fins aid in the slowdown.

The Mini Mean Machine's long body allowed it to fall relatively gently, but it landed on the road...

 

[gdjsky01]

Don't be married to 12 inch chutes. Dry cleaning bags in 10 or 8 inch chute sizes with a good dusting of talc will roll up very small and deploy. Try and wrap the shrouds IN instead of AROUND the chute. They helps pull the chute open.

Just a few ideas.

 

[Spacepirate R]

Don't be married to 12 inch chutes. Dry cleaning bags in 10 or 8 inch chute sizes with a good dusting of talc will roll up very small and deploy. Try and wrap the shrouds IN instead of AROUND the chute. They helps pull the chute open.

Just a few ideas.

Thanks!

The 'chute on the Wizard was 8" with a spill hole. The bag that I used may have been a little thick, but it flew twice perfectly. I still think that I packed the wadding in too tight and didn't put enough masking tape around the motor for a good friction fit. Oh well.

I think that I will try to repair the Mini Mean Machine with some filler and then fly it with a streamer as the long body tube slows it down quite well anyway. I can use it's parachute for another project.

I have an Estes 6" parachute that I am thinking of using on my Semroc Micron. That thing comes screaming down with a streamer as it's narrow fins and short body have very little drag. It's only flight so far ended with a loud "Thunk!", but thankfully no damage. If that works out then I will use that kind of 'chute on a Wizard, Mark, or similar rocket.