Leading Edge Rocketry Alien

the rocketry show
Onebadhawk
the model rocket show
The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
JPVegh said:
Holy moly!!!!! That is really cool man! Great job!
Click to expand...

Thanks Jeff. About midway through I was a bit concerned, but it finished out nicely. Now the hard part, staring at it for two months!
 
After a quick prep, flight, and recovery of the Fireball, there was plenty of time left to fly the Alien. It had been prepped for flight earlier, just had to get the motor ready. Motor choice was the new G100 skid in the Pro24 6g case. I had flown one earlier in the day in my ghost, cool little motor. Anyway, drilled the delay to seven, popped it in, and headed to the range. Looked nice on the pad, blinking away. Flight was straight, stable, and rather high - but the LED's were visible the entire flight. Untill it crashed, that is. No ejection. I didn't recover it right away, figured the lights were probably off by then... Was by the RSO area Sunday morning, thanks to whoever found it and dragged its remains in. Not a pretty sight. I have not yet pulled the motor out, I'll probably look into that today.
 
gee that is a shame...and right after it won model of the month too, bummer.
rex
 
Rex R said:
gee that is a shame...and right after it won model of the month too, bummer.
rex
Click to expand...

I'll try to determin what went wrong with the motor today and maybe get a pic or two. The bottom half is still in pretty good shape, maybe I can make it into an Alien goonie.
 
Chad, bummer the motor didn't deploy the chute! I'll be interested to hear what you find when you inspect the motor.

That was an insane amount of work that you put into the Alien...bummed it crashed and hope it can be resurrected (at least to some degree).

-Eric-
 
ECayemberg said:
Chad, bummer the motor didn't deploy the chute! I'll be interested to hear what you find when you inspect the motor.

That was an insane amount of work that you put into the Alien...bummed it crashed and hope it can be resurrected (at least to some degree).

-Eric-
Click to expand...

It's kinda funny how luck works. I flew two of those loads Saturday, it only makes sense that the bum-load would end up in the 40 hour build rather than the 4 hour build...
Looking at the motor, seems like a pretty obvious failure. My question is, Why? Any guesses? Experiences? Speculation? I sent an email off to Tim to get his take on it, I'll call him tomorrow to let him know he has mail...

motorfailure1.jpg

motorfailure2.jpg

wreckage.jpg
 
Last edited:
chadrog said:
It's kinda funny how luck works. I flew two of those loads Saturday, it only makes sense that the bum-load would end up in the 40 hour build rather than the 4 hour build...
Looking at the motor, seems like a pretty obvious failure. My question is, Why? Any guesses? Experiences? Speculation? I sent an email off to Tim to get his take on it, I'll call him tomorrow to let him know he has mail...
Click to expand...

Chad, what's the deal with part of the aft closure missing? Did that happen on this flight...hit a rock or something on landing?

I'd be willing to bet if you pulled the white ejection charge cap off, there's still a clump of BP in there. I've encountered several CTI loads where the BP ejection charge has morphed into more of a pressed pellet than loose grains of BP...presumably due to moisture. This being the case, I'd speculate that such a pellet could burn more like an end burner BP motor (a la Estes, Quest, etc.). Not sure if this is the case or not, but it could be part of the lack of ejection event.

-Eric-
 
ECayemberg said:
Chad, what's the deal with part of the aft closure missing? Did that happen on this flight...hit a rock or something on landing?

I'd be willing to bet if you pulled the white ejection charge cap off, there's still a clump of BP in there. I've encountered several CTI loads where the BP ejection charge has morphed into more of a pressed pellet than loose grains of BP...presumably due to moisture. This being the case, I'd speculate that such a pellet could burn more like an end burner BP motor (a la Estes, Quest, etc.). Not sure if this is the case or not, but it could be part of the lack of ejection event.

-Eric-
Click to expand...

The aft closure has a milled slot in it- maybe there's a wrench in the works? It's my first Pro24 case, so I didn't think anything of it. Tim is sending the details of the event (and pictures) to Jeroen today, I'll wait till I hear back from either of them before I do any dismantling. Though it does sound loose when you shake it, that could also be debris in the main chamber, beats me.:confused:

:edit: In hindsight, I wish there was damage to the aft closure on landing, that would mean it came in fins down under chute! Surprisingly enough, the nosecone was undamaged, too. LOVE THEM FIELDS O' SOY! :edit:
 
Last edited:
chadrog said:
The aft closure has a milled slot in it- maybe there's a wrench in the works? It's my first Pro24 case, so I didn't think anything of it. Tim is sending the details of the event (and pictures) to Jeroen today, I'll wait till I hear back from either of them before I do any dismantling. Though it does sound loose when you shake it, that could also be debris in the main chamber, beats me.:confused:
Click to expand...

Ah, forgot it was a Pro24 (I was thinking Pro29 which doesn't have that slot). Nevermind on the aft closure comment:eek:.

Hope they get it figured out!
 
The slot in rear closure is so it can be used in Estes type rockets with the motor hook.

Yeah I know...... like to see an Estes rocket handle a 6 grain load, although I have flown 3 grain loads in their V-2 quite well. [F-240 V-max by the way]

Should have seen the looks from fliers when that big V-2 vanished in an instant.

Somtimes the cap remains even if the charge fires. Is this the case here?

I have had several do the same for me. Just didn't seem to be enough BP to blow out the laundry.!

I'll ask Dr. J to look into it.
 
blackjack2564 said:
The slot in rear closure is so it can be used in Estes type rockets with the motor hook.

Yeah I know...... like to see an Estes rocket handle a 6 grain load, although I have flown 3 grain loads in their V-2 quite well. [F-240 V-max by the way]

Should have seen the looks from fliers when that big V-2 vanished in an instant.

Somtimes the cap remains even if the charge fires. Is this the case here?

I have had several do the same for me. Just didn't seem to be enough BP to blow out the laundry.!

I'll ask Dr. J to look into it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the help CJ, Tim's already looking into it. Took the motor apart today to have a look. The delay element was burned completely, was able to see the paper on the other side. Taking into account that this rocket's "main" airframe was nothing more than a piece of BT-50, the smallest amount of BP should have got the job done. I was actually a bit concerned that it was going to be too much.:y:

ct4.jpg
 
Interesting. I know someone else who had an Alien which never managed to deploy a parachute. Where we launch is very soft ground so it actually survived this, although once it was sufficiently buried as to be almost invisible and was "found" when one of the people looking for it felt something go "crunch" underfoot. That just required the stomped fin to be glued back together. A subsequent parachuteless recovery was more serious, which is why I said this guy had an Alien. :dark:
 
gdjsky01 said:
So is there any reason to suspect the CTI 24mm loads? I have quite a few waiting use.
Click to expand...

Well, I would say that if there is a way to verify that an ejection charge is present, check. I don't really know if that's possible though. After cutting the paper cap off of the suspect G100, the delay well was clean...

Ejection charge well, not delay well.
 
Last edited:
adrian said:
Interesting. I know someone else who had an Alien which never managed to deploy a parachute. Where we launch is very soft ground so it actually survived this, although once it was sufficiently buried as to be almost invisible and was "found" when one of the people looking for it felt something go "crunch" underfoot. That just required the stomped fin to be glued back together. A subsequent parachuteless recovery was more serious, which is why I said this guy had an Alien. :dark:
Click to expand...

At least he got two flights!
 
rharshberger said:
They have an add in the latest ( recieved yesterday) Sport Rocketry magazine.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed..I saw it as an ad on page 15 of the Sport Rocketry magazine Jan/Feb 2019 edition. This is why I went looking for it here in search. Well, found this thread here. I also found the PDF this was referenced in as well. However, neither person flying them did not have a successful parachute launch. Seems to me the motor failed to eject the charge. I'm interested in this kit but will need to track down specifically what went wrong. Maybe use a different motor?
 

Similar threads

JAL3
Sold Leading Edge Rocketry LE10 - Backfire
Replies
1
Views
614
JAL3
JAL3
prfesser
New High Power Rocketry/Tripoli Report; MASSIVE THANKS to Ken Good and Mark Ketchum!
Replies
2
Views
430
Johnly
J
M
Mach 1 Rocketry Patriot Missile BT50
Replies
26
Views
2K
ShadowSpire48
S
SolarYellow
Improving the Estes Hi-Flier: Hot wash, lessons learned
Replies
16
Views
2K
mh9162013
M
Adrian A
Combining a Featherweight Tracker and Raven into a 38mm av-bay
Replies
9
Views
2K
Adrian A
Adrian A

Latest posts

Back
Top