Elapid
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2009
- Messages
- 1,735
- Reaction score
- 2
Well, my old friend matry, an old-timer-rocketeer (not a BAR yet...yet... lol!), was off work today and so we finally got to go flying together. i called another friend and his wife to come also.
we showed up and there wa sa baseball game in progress on another field, so the parkin g lot was pretty full. i parked the suv in front of a big line of cars so as not to block their egress.
well..i guess cars confuse basegball players...they had me move it because it was "right in the way" i didn't want to start trouble, so i moved it forward into the weeds where it wasn't in anyone's way. we proceeded to carry the rockets and gear to the vacant football field.
i was loading motors in rockets after setting up the pad, etc. i looked up to see two kevlar-encrusted firefighters approaching. the one gentleman said "we got a call that there was someone shooting bottle-rockets" i replied, "no, sir. only these". I held up an A10-3T " Class C Toy Propellant motors".
he said, "yeah, i can see that you just have toy rockets"
i grinned, but didn't correct him.
so, more prep...i probably brought too many rockets. I had:
Mosquito clone 13mm
Tumbleweed clone 13mm
ASP IQSY Tomahawk clone 13mm
WAC Corporal-based scratch-built 18mm
Quest Mod Harpoon AGM 24mm/18mm
FadeToBlack 18mm
MachBuster 24mm
TriAgain 3x 24mm
Mosquito 3D 3x 24mm
Sandhawk Scratch-built 24mm
AT IQSY Tomahawk 29mm
AT Initiator 29mm
i flew them all at least once, and got all but one back!
i started off with the little ones...
all got one flight
my friend Troy was the one that found both the Mosquito and the Tumbleweed...AMAZING!
tumble-recovery models i always expect to lose, but they keep coming back...
the little 13mm tomahawk had a recovery system failure, but didn't get damaged at all.
FadeToBlack flew nicely on a C6-5, then i switched to the ¼" launch rod...
First was the Quest-Mod Harpoon AGM
I loaded up a C11-0->B4-4 (RSim 792') combination and it went off flawlessly!
I gap-staged it to keep the booster and sustainer at scale dimensions and made a couple slots on opposite sides of the booster to vent the ejection gases.
next i launched the Mosquito 3D on 3xD12-5 for its first flight since the CATO last week...all 3 motors ignited simultaneously and the M3D boogied to over 1k feet (RSim1500')...arced over...and chute deployed perfectly...it came down in the adjacent baseball field, landing near the pitcher's mound. nobody was playing on that field fortunately
then i sent up the harpoon on D12-0 -> C6-5 (RSim 1440')
it staged perfectly, but took a bit of a bad turn across (slightly downwind) the wind on ignition of the sustainer...it came down across the road in someone's backyard...
next, the Machbuster on a D12-5
It went up fast, slightly unstable, to almost 1000 feet (RSim 1100'), the streamer fouled and the rocket came down fast...across the road and over a fence...(well, 2 fences...) somehow it landed under a pine tree...lol! i haven't a clue as to how it did that, but i mentioned in another thread that i consider myself pretty lucky!
Another flight for the harpoon...that thing's FUN to fly!
this time D12-0 -> C6-5 perfectly straight boost on both motors, it went over 1400' (i'll sim it later later...1440' lol! good guesstimate!) and came down within 200' of the pad!
then the M3D again...
again, all 3 motors lit fine, boost was VERY straight and fine...chute deployed and dropped the rocket on its fins, upright in the middle of a footpath back where the baseball game was just finishing up...two of the three motors were laying on the ground under the rocket.
no damage
I was itching to try the TriAgain
i loaded up 3xD12-7 and re-checked the CG
its maiden flight. (RSim 1944')
all 3 motors roared to life, the rocket screamed off the pad like a scalded cat! boost was straight and perfect! after the 7 second delay, the chute deployed, but since i used the slightly singed chute from the initiator disaster two weeks ago, two shroud lines broke and the rocket dropped quickly into the tall grass near where the initiator disaster happened...no worries! the model was undamaged and there were no fires...
for some reason, i had to Tri Again...
this time with 3xE9-6 (RSim 3100')
the 6 second delay, i knew was a little short.
but, being RCO/LCO and also Sole Rocketeer has its priveliges!
something happened...
i made sure to check the CG with the longer motors...
perfectly within spec...
but one must have lit slower than the rest because it headed waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy downrange and a bit downwind. the photo clearly shows two motors thrusting fine and one weak one...almost no flame...the chute either shredded, or fouled...rocket came down fast and far away inside a gated community. oh well... guess i'll have to TriAgain!
what a cool rocket!
next up was the AT IQSY Tomahawk.
the paint was barely dry, and i didn't have any white or black paint, so i painted the whole thing OSHA Orange...I sent her up on an F20-4 (RSim 1545') for the first flight...i should have checked the motor matrix since the recommended delay is 7 seconds...anyway, it screamed off the pad atop a spear of flame and tower of white smoke...chute deployed waaaaaaaaaaaaaay up there...it came down pretty close, considering. I didn't have to climb any fences!
after i recovered the tomahawk, i looked at the motor chart and found my error. i loaded up an F20-7 (RSim 1670') and sent her on up again, still warm from the last flight!
this time it arced over and looked to be descending when the chute deployed. another perfect flight, the rocket landed 100' away!
then i sent up the Initiator on the remaining F20-4 (RSim 795')
it flew nicely to a decent altitude...deployment was perfect, and the rocket came down just beyond the fence on a paved bike path. it was recovered undamaged.
well... it was a great day, but i had one more APCP motor in my box...besides the RMS motors that i have yet to try out...G40-4 (RSim 1986'), kind of a short delay, but with a little encouragement from Marty, i loaded it into the initiator and threaded the Copperhead igniter (only ones i've used for these things) and loaded her onto the pad. the wind had all but died, a factor that helped my decision.
so, my first G-class motor...
5-4-3-2-1...Launch!
a little smoke...then... WHHHHOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
up, up, she went....
*poof* the ejection charge went off, the chute fluttered a bit, then blossomed...
it came down within 100' of us.
we decided to call it a DAY!
that was a LOT of motors to burn!
4 - A10-3T
4 - B4-4
2 - C6-5
3 - C11-0
13 - D12
3 - E9
4 - F20
1 - G40
for a Grand Total of 727.75 Newton seconds!
how FUN!
lots of flame and smoke, lots of people got to see that rockets are safe and fun...
no rockets were damaged during the entire day!
only one lost.
no CATOs
no kicked motors (except for the 13mm)
SweeeeeeeeT!
we showed up and there wa sa baseball game in progress on another field, so the parkin g lot was pretty full. i parked the suv in front of a big line of cars so as not to block their egress.
well..i guess cars confuse basegball players...they had me move it because it was "right in the way" i didn't want to start trouble, so i moved it forward into the weeds where it wasn't in anyone's way. we proceeded to carry the rockets and gear to the vacant football field.
i was loading motors in rockets after setting up the pad, etc. i looked up to see two kevlar-encrusted firefighters approaching. the one gentleman said "we got a call that there was someone shooting bottle-rockets" i replied, "no, sir. only these". I held up an A10-3T " Class C Toy Propellant motors".
he said, "yeah, i can see that you just have toy rockets"
i grinned, but didn't correct him.
so, more prep...i probably brought too many rockets. I had:
Mosquito clone 13mm
Tumbleweed clone 13mm
ASP IQSY Tomahawk clone 13mm
WAC Corporal-based scratch-built 18mm
Quest Mod Harpoon AGM 24mm/18mm
FadeToBlack 18mm
MachBuster 24mm
TriAgain 3x 24mm
Mosquito 3D 3x 24mm
Sandhawk Scratch-built 24mm
AT IQSY Tomahawk 29mm
AT Initiator 29mm
i flew them all at least once, and got all but one back!
i started off with the little ones...
all got one flight
my friend Troy was the one that found both the Mosquito and the Tumbleweed...AMAZING!
tumble-recovery models i always expect to lose, but they keep coming back...
the little 13mm tomahawk had a recovery system failure, but didn't get damaged at all.
FadeToBlack flew nicely on a C6-5, then i switched to the ¼" launch rod...
First was the Quest-Mod Harpoon AGM
I loaded up a C11-0->B4-4 (RSim 792') combination and it went off flawlessly!
I gap-staged it to keep the booster and sustainer at scale dimensions and made a couple slots on opposite sides of the booster to vent the ejection gases.
next i launched the Mosquito 3D on 3xD12-5 for its first flight since the CATO last week...all 3 motors ignited simultaneously and the M3D boogied to over 1k feet (RSim1500')...arced over...and chute deployed perfectly...it came down in the adjacent baseball field, landing near the pitcher's mound. nobody was playing on that field fortunately
then i sent up the harpoon on D12-0 -> C6-5 (RSim 1440')
it staged perfectly, but took a bit of a bad turn across (slightly downwind) the wind on ignition of the sustainer...it came down across the road in someone's backyard...
next, the Machbuster on a D12-5
It went up fast, slightly unstable, to almost 1000 feet (RSim 1100'), the streamer fouled and the rocket came down fast...across the road and over a fence...(well, 2 fences...) somehow it landed under a pine tree...lol! i haven't a clue as to how it did that, but i mentioned in another thread that i consider myself pretty lucky!
Another flight for the harpoon...that thing's FUN to fly!
this time D12-0 -> C6-5 perfectly straight boost on both motors, it went over 1400' (i'll sim it later later...1440' lol! good guesstimate!) and came down within 200' of the pad!
then the M3D again...
again, all 3 motors lit fine, boost was VERY straight and fine...chute deployed and dropped the rocket on its fins, upright in the middle of a footpath back where the baseball game was just finishing up...two of the three motors were laying on the ground under the rocket.
no damage
I was itching to try the TriAgain
i loaded up 3xD12-7 and re-checked the CG
its maiden flight. (RSim 1944')
all 3 motors roared to life, the rocket screamed off the pad like a scalded cat! boost was straight and perfect! after the 7 second delay, the chute deployed, but since i used the slightly singed chute from the initiator disaster two weeks ago, two shroud lines broke and the rocket dropped quickly into the tall grass near where the initiator disaster happened...no worries! the model was undamaged and there were no fires...
for some reason, i had to Tri Again...
this time with 3xE9-6 (RSim 3100')
the 6 second delay, i knew was a little short.
but, being RCO/LCO and also Sole Rocketeer has its priveliges!
something happened...
i made sure to check the CG with the longer motors...
perfectly within spec...
but one must have lit slower than the rest because it headed waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy downrange and a bit downwind. the photo clearly shows two motors thrusting fine and one weak one...almost no flame...the chute either shredded, or fouled...rocket came down fast and far away inside a gated community. oh well... guess i'll have to TriAgain!
what a cool rocket!
next up was the AT IQSY Tomahawk.
the paint was barely dry, and i didn't have any white or black paint, so i painted the whole thing OSHA Orange...I sent her up on an F20-4 (RSim 1545') for the first flight...i should have checked the motor matrix since the recommended delay is 7 seconds...anyway, it screamed off the pad atop a spear of flame and tower of white smoke...chute deployed waaaaaaaaaaaaaay up there...it came down pretty close, considering. I didn't have to climb any fences!
after i recovered the tomahawk, i looked at the motor chart and found my error. i loaded up an F20-7 (RSim 1670') and sent her on up again, still warm from the last flight!
this time it arced over and looked to be descending when the chute deployed. another perfect flight, the rocket landed 100' away!
then i sent up the Initiator on the remaining F20-4 (RSim 795')
it flew nicely to a decent altitude...deployment was perfect, and the rocket came down just beyond the fence on a paved bike path. it was recovered undamaged.
well... it was a great day, but i had one more APCP motor in my box...besides the RMS motors that i have yet to try out...G40-4 (RSim 1986'), kind of a short delay, but with a little encouragement from Marty, i loaded it into the initiator and threaded the Copperhead igniter (only ones i've used for these things) and loaded her onto the pad. the wind had all but died, a factor that helped my decision.
so, my first G-class motor...
5-4-3-2-1...Launch!
a little smoke...then... WHHHHOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
up, up, she went....
*poof* the ejection charge went off, the chute fluttered a bit, then blossomed...
it came down within 100' of us.
we decided to call it a DAY!
that was a LOT of motors to burn!
4 - A10-3T
4 - B4-4
2 - C6-5
3 - C11-0
13 - D12
3 - E9
4 - F20
1 - G40
for a Grand Total of 727.75 Newton seconds!
how FUN!
lots of flame and smoke, lots of people got to see that rockets are safe and fun...
no rockets were damaged during the entire day!
only one lost.
no CATOs
no kicked motors (except for the 13mm)
SweeeeeeeeT!
