Madcow "Level-2" Build, 4" Fiberglass Airframe w/54mm Motor

[Hobie1dog]

Still inspired to build mine soon with this great thread, thanks for sharing your videos with us.

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

What software/hardware was used to put the gauges/analog altimeter on the video. That was pretty sweet.

 

[tim cubbedge]

What software/hardware was used to put the gauges/analog altimeter on the video. That was pretty sweet.

Dashware - it's free!

https://www.dashware.net/dashware-download/

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

Thanks. I'll check it out.

 

[EeebeeE]

I'll be using Rocketpoxy from Glenmarc Industries Inc. A downside to the long working time, is that I tend to stay up far too late working with it.

A little late on this thread for this comment, but after you mix the Rocketpoxy, Use a hairdryer and heat it for about 2 minutes. This will do 2 things... 1 , thin it down and allow the air bubbles to work their way out easier. and 2. Speed up the cure time. You will still have about 20 minutes of workable time with it, but instead of taking 8 hours or so to cure, it will take about 3.5. This is excellent stuff, BTW.

 

[kevinkal]

A quick video, no dashware since Windows 10 update broke it and GoPro hasn't fixed it.
Aerotech RMS 54/1706 K2050ST-P
Madcow Level2 Rocket, 12.5 lbs
40 g's max acceleration
Mach 0.71 in just 0.7 seconds!
Apogee was 5,400 feet after a 17 second coast... see previous page in this thread for StratologgerCF Data Plot

[video=youtube;dJ_bWJLcLxM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ_bWJLcLxM[/video]

I also posted this in the Aerotech Open Thread.

Successfully flying this motor gives me great confidence in the strength of the RocketPoxy fin fillet, motor mount and centering ring bonds. This motor hits hard with ~460lbs of average thrust! The flame was as long or longer than the rocket.. ~6 feet!

 

[kcobbva]

You are having WAYYYY too much fun Kevin!!! That rocket has served you VERY well!

 

[kevinkal]

The winds were stiff for the K2050ST flight.. close to 20mph. When my Level2 rocket landed in the cut "weeds" field, the 70" parachute remained inflated by the wind and proceeded to drag my rocket for a long while before I could get to it... roughly 15 minutes. No real damage occurred other than green grass stains, some scuffed paint and a bent Eggfinder Tx stock wire antenna. With each gust of wind, the parachute would inflate picking up both the light nosecone and the heavier payload/avionics bay into the air.. then drag the booster for 10 - 20 yards.. then when the wind lulled, the payload/altimeter bay and nosecone would drop to the ground. Here's some pictures of the minor damage:

 

[kevinkal]

I'm at Starbucks filling up on caffeine for the 2.5 hour drive home, so I'll make this a short and sweet report:
I flew the K1103X in my Level2 Rocket today. Winds were light on the ground.. but there was a significant wind shear at altitude. The K1103X is a performer, thrusting the Leve2 to 7,339 Ft!! That's my new altitude record. I have onboard video and GoPro ground video. I'll try to put a video together soon.
The launch was straight up and fast. The winds aloft were significant... taking the Level2 approximately 0.7 miles downwind, even though it descends at 60 ft/sec under drogue. The Eggfinder Tx did a good job of tracking 2D position, but the altitude was way off. Still, I managed to use the Eggfinder to find my rocket behind a half dozen shallow hills that blocked the 900 Mhz transmissions until I was on top of a nearby ridge. I'll put together a image of the Eggfinder Tx position as seen in Mapsphere tomorrow.

 

[wighty44]

...The launch was straight up and fast. ...

So far I've flown my Level 2 six times and in each flight it ascended without any axial rotation (video proof). I've had several comments about that and wonder if its a characteristic of the Level 2's design or just accurate fin alignment.

 

[kevinkal]

So far I've flown my Level 2 six times and in each flight it ascended without any axial rotation (video proof). I've had several comments about that and wonder if its a characteristic of the Level 2's design or just accurate fin alignment.

It's both fin alignment, which is governed mostly by the factory cut fin slots in the body tube, and also camber of the fins themselves.
My Level2 doesn't rotate much at lower speeds, with an I or small J.. but with a full J or K, it rotates almost 1 rev every 1000 ft.
I beveled my leading and trailing edges of the fins to reduce drag.. I may have introduced a little camber.. but I can't see much asymmetry in the bevels between fins. I suspect that the slots in my booster were slightly off true and my fins have a bit of camber.. resulting in a little spin.

 

[kcobbva]

Well, those are earned battle scars! I was trying to envision the weeds that would do that. Man at the end of the video I get it! Might as well have been a field full of sand paper! Wow!

 

[kevinkal]

I downloaded the StratoLoggerCF data, it showed apogee at 7,302 ft on the K1103X. The Eggfinder Quantum showed 7,339 ft for apogee.

There may be hope for exceeding 10,000 ft on a small L motor. I think kcobbva is going to demonstrate how to break 10,000 ft with a Level2 rocket shortly!

Here's the StratologgerCF data plot:


Some in-flight screen captures:
T-0 There goes the nozzle cap.. ignition


Blast off... the noise frightened my 5yr old son who was watching with anticipaton.


Leaving the pad


Coasting to over 7000 ft.. notice launch scene and exhaust smoke shadow:


7,739 ft Apogee



Strong winds aloft took the Level2 the better part of a mile away while falling under the drogue.


About to touch down under the main parachute.


Down on nice soft green grass.

 

[kevinkal]

The Eggfinder Tx worked well for this flight, except that the Altitude information was Bogus. It didn't show any ascent in altitude until the rocket had been coming down under drogue for a long while. The Position information was good. I was able to receive position information until the rocket dropped behind the hill and out of line-of-sight.

Here's a screen capture of the track information captured on Mapsphere:

 

[kcobbva]

Love the "blast off" shot!!

 

[kevinkal]

I finally got around to adding Dashware gauges to the K1103X Flight Video...

[video=youtube;5AdtUF2mBVc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AdtUF2mBVc[/video]

 

[kcobbva]

Very nice Kevin! So we need to chat. I've done the Dashware, but I love the way you have the Alt graph in the video with the red tracker following the path! I'd love to learn how you did that. Will pm you later!!

 

[Nick@JET]

Kevin's video work is awesome, love to learn to do that as well!

 

[kevinkal]

I flew a smaller green J reload on April 15th, the Aerotech RMS 38/720 J500G. The J500G had plenty of punch off the pad and up to about 2000 feet. Rough launch weight was 11.5 lbs. The motor popped about 3 times during boost, I don't know why. I was expecting 2,300 ft per my simulation, but only got 1,965 ft.
I flew this small J motor since I strained/tore my hamstring the week before and didn't want to walk too far to retrieve the rocket. I wished I'd loaded something larger, as the weather and winds were outstanding this day.

Here's the StratologgerCF flight profile plot. After the main parachute deployed at 700' AGL, it opened for about 1 second, then other segments of the rocket fell into it and collapsed it. The main parachute looked like a short streamer between 600' and 400' .. with the rocket falling very fast. I could hear the rocket falling fast. Fotunately, when the backup main parachute charge fired, it somehow jogged the system enough to get the main parachute free again and it inflated at 400' AGL.



Of interest during the flight, the booster and payload section collided a number of times at apogee, and the backup altimeter charge fired right into the side of the rocket/camera, making for an interesting video segement. Also, both the primary apogee charge and the triple redundant motor eject charge lit up the white booster tube with their orange flame.
Here's the onboard video, with some detailed slow motion of the apogee charges and collisions:
[video=youtube;SZOs2a4CRfs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZOs2a4CRfs[/video]

I flew with my new Eggfinder TRS in the nosecone, replacing the Eggfinder Tx. It was VERY nice to have real-time baro altitude reported on the Eggfinder LCD during the flight. It worked nicely. I also connected an Eggfinder Rx to my laptop via USB, and logged the flight using Mapsphere. The position data looks great, however the GPS altitude was bogus for the whole flight, which seems to be the norm. Now that I have the Eggfinder TRS unit, I'll have to figure out the best way to log telemetry position and baro altitude data from this tracker.
Here's the 2D view of the tracker data:

 

[kcobbva]

Wow Kevin! You really got some footage there! Glad it was only a paint chip. The Level-2 is a workhorse! I'd hate to see it damaged. Might have to upgrade my eggfinder now

 

[kevinkal]

I ordered an AeroTech DMS L1000W for my Level-2 Rocket from the Wildman sale yesterday. I plan to fly if at LDRS next year in Helm, CA. We'll see if it can break 10,000 ft launching from sea level. My simulations predicts a bit over 10k and just over Mach 1.

 

[kcobbva]

I ordered an AeroTech DMS L1000W for my Level-2 Rocket from the Wildman sale yesterday. I plan to fly if at LDRS next year in Helm, CA. We'll see if it can break 10,000 ft launching from sea level. My simulations predicts a bit over 10k and just over Mach 1.

Best of luck Kevin! I look forward to your results! My flight was 9490 ft flying at 1350 ft/s on the L1000. Granted I added weight in the back because it balanced better with the weight of the electronics in the nose and it was a nice flight, but definitely didn't reach the altitude I'd simmed. I hope you bust my results by another 1k in height!!!

 

[School of Rock'et']

Best of luck Kevin! I look forward to your results! My flight was 9490 ft flying at 1350 ft/s on the L1000. Granted I added weight in the back because it balanced better with the weight of the electronics in the nose and it was a nice flight, but definitely didn't reach the altitude I'd simmed. I hope you bust my results by another 1k in height!!!

Looking to pack an L1000 in my Level 2 as well this year in Kansas at LDRS.
Here was my Level 2 cert flight last weekend. (didn't get a chance to fix the date stamp yet)

 

[School of Rock'et']

MWP 17
Perfect conditions
L1000W
10,143 ft @ 1052 ft/p/s.




Love that motor!

 

[Nytrunner]

Love those fin wiggles

 

[School of Rock'et']

Love those fin wiggles

Yeah!
~93.5% of mach1!

Surprised the camera shroud didn't peel off. The fins are cemented with that epoxy clay, inside and out reinforced by the centering rings with the same adhesive.

I'm thinking about adding another coupler and tube to the booster, enough to try an Loki M1378LR. I've already got the tailcone space...Once I certify Level 3 that is. Lol

 

[Nytrunner]

he fins are cemented with that epoxy clay, inside and out

That's your only adhesive on the fins? Brave

 

[School of Rock'et']

Through the wall g10 fiberglass. Yup!

 

[Hobie1dog]

Still inspired to build mine soon with this great thread, thanks for sharing your videos with us.

4 years ago and I still have failed to build mine. Someone just shoot me.

 

[School of Rock'et']

4 years ago and I still have failed to build mine. Someone just shoot me.

As Nytrunner stated above, I have some fin flutter limits I'm reaching. I still have to lengthen the booster and payload to cram a Loki M1378LR in for the fun of things. Before that I will be Kevlar carbon clothing the fins (2 layups) after chemically removing the paint. Should be able to handle the velocity. Just cleared the l3 hurdle so looking to refine a few skills.