MikeyDSlagle
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- Joined
- Dec 16, 2013
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So finally got to fly Danger Close - a heavily modified Wildman Patriot kit I picked up from Crossfire. I only used the body tube, nose cone, a bulkhead and a few rings, oh and the chute. The rest I cut myself or had cut.
Sim file:
View attachment Level 1 Flight accurate.ork
I'll take a moment to thank Chris Short for going the extra mile to get the motors out to me and all the off site support.
I don't think Paul posts here but nonetheless, I owe him thanks for showing me a few tricks on assembling the motor and electronic deployment.
Video in post #7
Here she is ready to go:
I first designed the electronics bay for dual deploy and dual altimeters. Thinking that was a bit complicated for my first flight. I scratched the idea and decided to use my RRC2+ to pop my main at apogee and keep the motor undrilled for a backup. Tested my RRC2+ the night before launch and it started beeping a fault code. I got more than a little frustrated because the manual said not to fly until the problem was fixed but gave no information on how one goes about fixing the problem. I was hoping it was something simple, but it rarely is. That is a discussion for another thread. So I went with my Adept22. It was just a matter of rearranging my sled to accommodate the larger device. I ended up having to drill more holes, make a few notches and finally had it ready. To make room, I had to remove my JL Altimeter 3. But I had the Dino Chutes pouch so I could just hang it in my booster section.
It took me over two hours to get it flight ready. I didn't get my camera set up correctly but I did manage to get a decent shot of liftoff.
So I get it all sorted out. The motor I used was AT 38/240 H123W. Motor built and installed. Everything checks out. Put her on the pad. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
Liftoff!
and recovery. Came down a bit fast. But it survived with no damage.
It was a nice flight. Landed maybe 600 feet away. I have a video but will have to edit it before I get it posted.
Results from my altimeters:
Adept22: 1240 feet OR said 1578 or so. I did have a different altimeter and added some dog barf so my weights undoubtedly changed.
Alt3: 166 feet Apparently my vent hole was insufficient as a sampling port. I didn't even think about it. Kinda bummed about that.
I am not sure my Adept even deployed the charge correctly. In the video, the rocket looks to be on its way down well before the chute comes out. It seems much lower in the flight pattern in the video than it did on the field, different POV maybe. Leading me to believe the motor ejected it. Without the Alt3 getting proper readings, I don't know. The match was blown as was the charge. I tested the Adept22 the night before in a vacuum chamber and it worked fine. It is possible I had the charge on the wrong pin. I was being told a story by one man, and questioned about phases of the moon or why is grass green or some other nonsense by another. And the Adept22 is not clearly marked what wire goes where. You have to refer to the manual, which I was doing. But it beeped out everything correctly saying it had an apogee charge set.
Yes everything was ground tested...twice to make sure it worked.
I learned a lot at this launch. It was my first time using electronics and first time building a high power motor. Which was a breeze BTW, really is nothing to it. I am horrible at over complicating a build, or under simplifying. And that is just fine until you have a problem in the field like I did. And the entire flight plan goes out the window. I had to redesign my sled on the fly. Which brings me back to my original idea for a modular electronics bay/sled Going forward, I will redesign the sled again to simplify it. Heck, I am gonna redo the entire bay. I had a few ideas come to me as I was messing with the bay, I will go back and implement those ideas into a new design.
I had another HPR flight that day which I will post later. No pictures of it. Didn't have my camera in hand and my photographer was trying something new and missed it completely. Bummed about that as well.
Thanks for looking. Any feedback is welcome as usual.
Mikey D
Sim file:
View attachment Level 1 Flight accurate.ork
I'll take a moment to thank Chris Short for going the extra mile to get the motors out to me and all the off site support.
I don't think Paul posts here but nonetheless, I owe him thanks for showing me a few tricks on assembling the motor and electronic deployment.
Video in post #7
Here she is ready to go:
I first designed the electronics bay for dual deploy and dual altimeters. Thinking that was a bit complicated for my first flight. I scratched the idea and decided to use my RRC2+ to pop my main at apogee and keep the motor undrilled for a backup. Tested my RRC2+ the night before launch and it started beeping a fault code. I got more than a little frustrated because the manual said not to fly until the problem was fixed but gave no information on how one goes about fixing the problem. I was hoping it was something simple, but it rarely is. That is a discussion for another thread. So I went with my Adept22. It was just a matter of rearranging my sled to accommodate the larger device. I ended up having to drill more holes, make a few notches and finally had it ready. To make room, I had to remove my JL Altimeter 3. But I had the Dino Chutes pouch so I could just hang it in my booster section.
It took me over two hours to get it flight ready. I didn't get my camera set up correctly but I did manage to get a decent shot of liftoff.
So I get it all sorted out. The motor I used was AT 38/240 H123W. Motor built and installed. Everything checks out. Put her on the pad. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
Liftoff!
and recovery. Came down a bit fast. But it survived with no damage.
It was a nice flight. Landed maybe 600 feet away. I have a video but will have to edit it before I get it posted.
Results from my altimeters:
Adept22: 1240 feet OR said 1578 or so. I did have a different altimeter and added some dog barf so my weights undoubtedly changed.
Alt3: 166 feet Apparently my vent hole was insufficient as a sampling port. I didn't even think about it. Kinda bummed about that.
I am not sure my Adept even deployed the charge correctly. In the video, the rocket looks to be on its way down well before the chute comes out. It seems much lower in the flight pattern in the video than it did on the field, different POV maybe. Leading me to believe the motor ejected it. Without the Alt3 getting proper readings, I don't know. The match was blown as was the charge. I tested the Adept22 the night before in a vacuum chamber and it worked fine. It is possible I had the charge on the wrong pin. I was being told a story by one man, and questioned about phases of the moon or why is grass green or some other nonsense by another. And the Adept22 is not clearly marked what wire goes where. You have to refer to the manual, which I was doing. But it beeped out everything correctly saying it had an apogee charge set.
Yes everything was ground tested...twice to make sure it worked. I learned a lot at this launch. It was my first time using electronics and first time building a high power motor. Which was a breeze BTW, really is nothing to it. I am horrible at over complicating a build, or under simplifying. And that is just fine until you have a problem in the field like I did. And the entire flight plan goes out the window. I had to redesign my sled on the fly. Which brings me back to my original idea for a modular electronics bay/sled Going forward, I will redesign the sled again to simplify it. Heck, I am gonna redo the entire bay. I had a few ideas come to me as I was messing with the bay, I will go back and implement those ideas into a new design.
I had another HPR flight that day which I will post later. No pictures of it. Didn't have my camera in hand and my photographer was trying something new and missed it completely. Bummed about that as well.
Thanks for looking. Any feedback is welcome as usual.
Mikey D
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