Lawn Dart / Core Sample Gallery

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
....One of our club members has a 1/2 hour long montage of NASA "They Blew UP real Good" mishaps, failed test launches and "training aid films" that turn my stomach every time it's shown.

Why would you think anyone, anywhere, at anytime would be conserned about you blowing the contents of your stomach?
You kill me. Like being at a breakfast joint and you reach for the tub of whipped butter and smear a load on your toast,take a BIG bite only to find out it was whipped horse raddish. thing is, I like horse raddish.:cheers:
 
attachment.php
attachment.php


The first picture is my Stratos ELM-13. I checked the streamer, but didn't withdraw the piston.

The second picture is my 4" Photon Probe. The first indication of trouble or failure was the rocket seemed to have a bonus delay. When the nose did blow, the recovery system stayed inside. If the parachute had deployed, it still might have been too late.

Lesson learned: Always remove and fully extend all recovery devices from the rocket if that recovery device was installed more than 24 hours ago.

Carefully repack recovery system.
 
Here is my Lil Rascal. I had the nose on a bit tight and the picture tells the rest.

imagejpeg_2.jpg

IMG00432-20110522-1136.jpg
 
A few years ago I attended NSL in Muncie, IN. Some may remember the Sunday launch of my black LOC/Precision Expediter with the green roll pattern type decals on it. Launched on an I218 redline. Beautiful on the way up, no ejection. Would have been a lawn dart, but the ground was like concrete, so it was a horrible crash about 100 yards behind the crowd.

I was ticked about where it had come down, because I felt I had it aimed in such a way that if it came down ballistic it would have been in the empty field to the west of the flight line, but a range safety officer adjusted the rail because there were power lines in that direction (albeit much farther out than my rocket was going). End result - rocket landed behind the spectators gathered at the flight line.

Second lesson learned - when it's 90 degrees outside and you are using a black AT motor casing, use ALOT of tape to hold the ejection charge in and seal the well. Post mortem indicated that the tape let go before the rocket even launched, and the ejection charge spilled out during safety check in and loading on the launch rail.

These pics still hurt to look at...

expediteri218.jpg

normal_Aftermath.jpg

normal_UsedExpediter.jpg
 
Scratch built from Estes parts, a slightly longer phoenix with basswood fins. Weighed out about 10 oz. without motor. D12-3's, no issues. Launched it once on an E9-6, no problem. Second time on the E9-6, It cocked over a few hundred feet in the air. The photos tell the rest.

5891732252_33353f96f8_z.jpg

5891731748_748de07e96_z.jpg
 
Wow, I'll bet that made a nice whistle as it came back in. :clap:

We can laugh now, but I'm sure that at the time these recoveries were anything but funny. After putting a lot of time, money, work and emotional investment into our builds, this is not how we want them to end up. Even when it isn't even our rocket, we all wince. My condolences.

Scratch built from Estes parts, a slightly longer phoenix with basswood fins. Weighed out about 10 oz. without motor. D12-3's, no issues. Launched it once on an E9-6, no problem. Second time on the E9-6, It cocked over a few hundred feet in the air. The photos tell the rest.

5891732252_33353f96f8_z.jpg

5891731748_748de07e96_z.jpg
 
Yea....that one was whistling a bit. Which was drown out by "blow.....blow.....oh come on blow already!" *thump* *pop* :(

At the time it stings...but it's nothing a rebuild can't fix. I did this one from the ground up with a triple 24 :)

When you can finally stand to look over the photos, or cut it apart for autopsy, Good lessons can be learned. Somehow learning the hard way seems to stick in your head more. My lesson was that thrust curves are estimates and can vary in the same pack of motors, and that a bonus delay can really hurt in marginal flights. Stay away from the margins.
 
Really not the gallery I wanted to post to today ><
Bit out of focus, but you get the idea. (wasn't the delay today....Chute failed to clear on ejection)

39 MPH coming in. Caught an unsuspecting worm in the core sample.

6166373811_0347b5f7ed.jpg

6166914314_39b0bb29cf.jpg

6166917904_b1c0285561_z.jpg
 
I don't have any photo's, but I thought I'd share this. I see in my elder years it was a mistake, but as a 10 year old, it was fun.
Tampons use to have cardboard tubes, the one's my sister used fit a mini engine perfectly. I fabed a pine wood nonse cone and use to shoot it up, blow the engine out on ejection, and watch it hurtle to the ground and stick in the ground. It survived about 15 to 20 launches until we took it to a sand hill one day and as it bureled into the sand it tore the fins off.
Oh the days...
 
Smart people learn from their mistakes.

REEEAALLLLY smart people learn for OTHER PEOPLE'S mistakes.
 
Smart people learn from their mistakes.

REEEAALLLLY smart people learn from OTHER PEOPLE'S mistakes.


gotta be a certain irony in that typo
 
A few years ago I attended NSL in Muncie, IN. Some may remember the Sunday launch of my black LOC/Precision Expediter with the green roll pattern type decals on it. Launched on an I218 redline. Beautiful on the way up, no ejection. Would have been a lawn dart, but the ground was like concrete, so it was a horrible crash about 100 yards behind the crowd.

I was ticked about where it had come down, because I felt I had it aimed in such a way that if it came down ballistic it would have been in the empty field to the west of the flight line, but a range safety officer adjusted the rail because there were power lines in that direction (albeit much farther out than my rocket was going). End result - rocket landed behind the spectators gathered at the flight line.

Second lesson learned - when it's 90 degrees outside and you are using a black AT motor casing, use ALOT of tape to hold the ejection charge in and seal the well. Post mortem indicated that the tape let go before the rocket even launched, and the ejection charge spilled out during safety check in and loading on the launch rail.

These pics still hurt to look at...

I was just looking at my NSL pics the other night. Here's more pain.

LoopysattemptatpasturepizzaNSL2007.jpg


Rough weekend for you, man.

LoopystentwaskilledbySaturdaynightshighwindsNSL2007.jpg
 
Smart people learn from their mistakes.

REEEAALLLLY smart people learn from OTHER PEOPLE'S mistakes.


gotta be a certain irony in that typo
REEEAALLLLY unsmart people give up after making a mistake or two. Smart people persevere. They keep pushing until they succeed.
 
I second that Mark, unless when you open your wallet and it says...NO :eyeroll:
Oh I know all about that. But then you find another way! Our biggest barriers to success lie within ourselves.
 
Last edited:
This happened two years ago up at Bong Rec in Wisconsin with my 4" PML Endeavor on a soda-can Aerotech 54mm (I215R IIRC). The cause was a faulty ejection charge. IIRC some grease had gotten on the delay when I was assembling the engine. In short, she planted about a foot in the ground, and additionally the nose managed to...well...the pictures speak for themselves.:y::p It rattles when you shake it, and that's not from dirt inside the cone, that's dirt trapped in all the folds!

At least the fin can + about 5" of tube survived, so she'll be flying again!!

Lesson learned - Watch the grease, or just stick with electric deploy.:eyeroll:

pmlend1.jpg

pmlend2.jpg

pmlend3.jpg
 
Last edited:
Smart people learn from their mistakes.

REEEAALLLLY smart people learn from OTHER PEOPLE'S mistakes.


gotta be a certain irony in that typo

I think it is other peoples' mistakes.....:wink: :p :neener:
:D :tongue: RIGHT?
 
[POW]Eagle159;237525 said:
I think it is other peoples' mistakes.....:wink: :p :neener:
:D :tongue: RIGHT?
No, I think he means the elusive and very mysterious trouble-maker known as Udar Peeble. ;) He is responsible for most of the mischief that occurs in this world. When something bad happens to us, it is usually Udar Peeble's fault.
 
Last edited:
My beautiful scratch-built Aero-Dart clone. I made it before the Semroc kit was available.

Ejection occurred ten feet off the ground. The payload section was undamaged but the body took it hard. I shortened the main body tube and gave it away. Still looks cool and stable.

I have the Semroc model yet to build, and an actual original Aero-Dart. But this broke my heart.

aerodart_crunch_lo.jpg
 
Last edited:
I feel for you for your loss.

Could have you used a piece of new tube and tube coupler and patched it back up? I know it would not be as original on the inside, but would be viewing the outside.

I like doing things like that because it's all memories when you look at it, and when you go to launch it again. You have to wonder is there a perfect flight in store this time? Or an other fix-it-up job instore.
Of coarse I always think that with my luck. Things use to get damaged around here just sittin around until I put a wall up in the basement and made my little cubby hole with a lockable door.
 
Oh, I've done lots of patch jobs through the years! But given that I had a nice modern version of the Aero-Dart waiting to be built, I just decided to shorten this one and give it to a co-worker's kids. They'll be able to fly it on D12-3 and get a big thrill.
 
This happened two years ago up at Bong Rec in Wisconsin with my 4" PML Endeavor on a soda-can Aerotech 54mm (I215R IIRC). The cause was a faulty ejection charge. IIRC some grease had gotten on the delay when I was assembling the engine. In short, she planted about a foot in the ground, and additionally the nose managed to...well...the pictures speak for themselves.:y::p It rattles when you shake it, and that's not from dirt inside the cone, that's dirt trapped in all the folds!

At least the fin can + about 5" of tube survived, so she'll be flying again!!

Lesson learned - Watch the grease, or just stick with electric deploy.:eyeroll:

When I look at the first picture, the first thing that comes to mind is "Spy vs. Spy" from Mad Magazine.:cool::D
 
This was from a few weeks ago:

Sent my Vigilante up on B6-0 to B6-6. Taped the engines together and put them into the booster and slid into the sustainer. Forgot to friction fit wrap the sustainer engine. :y:

5-4-3-2-1-Launch!

Booster takes it to 50-75 feet then stages.

Booster engine in booster body pulls sustainer engine out of sustainer.

Ignited sustainer burns tape all the way off, boster/booster engine fall to earth landing on my new Fliskits Mystic :jaw: But no damage :cool:

Core Vigilante 00002.jpg

Sustainer engine does a spinning dance at ~75 feet up, somehow maintaining more or less constant position as it spins fast (boost phase of engine burn) then slower (tracking smoke phase). At eject the thing's foreward opening happened to be pointing more or less "down" so the ejection pushed it up, went to ~125 feet and was lost in the prairie recovery area.

Meanwhile, the sustainer, deprived of sustaining thrust , arced over and planted itself in the grass:

Core Vigilante 00003.jpg

Other than some mud on the cone and some chipped paint where the cone/BT meet, no damage. It flew again a few minutes later, properly prepared, for a textbook launch and recovery. (the othe thumbnail, accidentally uploaded, is the booster from the second launch)

Marc
 

Attachments

  • Core Vigilante 00001.jpg
    Core Vigilante 00001.jpg
    214.6 KB · Views: 90
Last edited:
eek! Protect the mystic :) I had a spinner today.. the video will make you crazy :)

-Z
 
I`m sure you remember this old chesnut :rolleyes:

AT/SU G80 with super extra long delay :(

Paul T

phpIzmlulAM.jpg

phpl7dDnZAM.jpg

phpu3SIc5AM.jpg
 
A bit of a tangent to the topic, but I came here searching for ideas for a model.
Julie in UK sent me this Mr. Spock kit for my birthday in June.
I don't like snakes.
So ...

... am pondering replacing the snakes with what would be, to Mr. Spock, a giant lawn-dart-ed model rocket.

Why not have some fun! :D😆

52146855424_86eb232449_z.jpg
 
Back
Top