marcusSRG
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2012
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My local club, Rocketry of Central Carolina (ROCC) has had to move its launch back two weeks due to crops and weather and everyone was just itching to get out and fly! The day finally came yesterday, with beautiful weather, and a wide open farm.
I had three launches planned, two of which were fully prepped minus igniters. So I got right to it...
First off was my newly rebuilt/cloned Big Brute, based on the two fins I had left from my original model. I modified the design further by adding an electronics bay in the nose, an Archetype cable cutter for dual deploy and a central 38mm motor mount with two outboard 24mms. This would be the bird's first flight and my first flight with a cable cutter.
After a misfire (leads accidentally shorted out), the H97J roared to life, belching black smoke. The Brute flew very well but took a bit of a left turn... but I had adjusted it to the right to fly into the breeze... Hmm...more on that in a minute. Good nose separation at apogee but the rocket seemed to be moving around and tumblig a good bit. The cable cutter fired right on cue, deploying the main chute successfully. However, the booster was above the chute and fell right through it, causing some tangling and unintentional reefing. Landing was soft enough. No damage except for a missing aft rail guide, which is the culprit of the unexpected flight profile. I made the mistake of not using a standoff since the Brute can stand on its own fins. I think the bottom rail guide sank below the base of the rail and snagged upon ignition of the H97....the angle is quite obvious in the picture! 1112' according to my RRC2+ and a good flight overall but I dodged a couple of bullets.
One motor just isn't enough...time for clusters. My LOC Ultimate was already to roll minus igniters. It was loaded with a central DMS H135W and (6) D12 outboards. I used Q2G2s to fire the D12's and for the "H" I used two Q2's wired together, extended with CAT5 and double dipped in QuickDip. RRC2 onboard set to deploy a main at apogee with motor backup and a secondary main at 300'.
Now, I knew the D's would hit first, but I expected the central H to be up to pressure by the time it left the rail...nope. At zero the D's hissed to life with abundant smoke. Slow climb up the rail...no H...rail cleared...no H...where's the H?!? Finally, at about 30' up, when the rocket was climbing painfully slow and beginning to arc downrange the H135W finally caught and sent the Ultimate into overdrive! As evidenced by pictures, I missed the ignition of the H. The myriad of shots under D12 power shows how slow it was moving. The 'smoke only' shot shows the enhanced smoke plume (which doesn't reach the ground) from the H igniting. After a nail-biting liftoff it turned out to be an excellent flight to 1045' with nominal recovery.
I had three launches planned, two of which were fully prepped minus igniters. So I got right to it...
First off was my newly rebuilt/cloned Big Brute, based on the two fins I had left from my original model. I modified the design further by adding an electronics bay in the nose, an Archetype cable cutter for dual deploy and a central 38mm motor mount with two outboard 24mms. This would be the bird's first flight and my first flight with a cable cutter.
After a misfire (leads accidentally shorted out), the H97J roared to life, belching black smoke. The Brute flew very well but took a bit of a left turn... but I had adjusted it to the right to fly into the breeze... Hmm...more on that in a minute. Good nose separation at apogee but the rocket seemed to be moving around and tumblig a good bit. The cable cutter fired right on cue, deploying the main chute successfully. However, the booster was above the chute and fell right through it, causing some tangling and unintentional reefing. Landing was soft enough. No damage except for a missing aft rail guide, which is the culprit of the unexpected flight profile. I made the mistake of not using a standoff since the Brute can stand on its own fins. I think the bottom rail guide sank below the base of the rail and snagged upon ignition of the H97....the angle is quite obvious in the picture! 1112' according to my RRC2+ and a good flight overall but I dodged a couple of bullets.
One motor just isn't enough...time for clusters. My LOC Ultimate was already to roll minus igniters. It was loaded with a central DMS H135W and (6) D12 outboards. I used Q2G2s to fire the D12's and for the "H" I used two Q2's wired together, extended with CAT5 and double dipped in QuickDip. RRC2 onboard set to deploy a main at apogee with motor backup and a secondary main at 300'.
Now, I knew the D's would hit first, but I expected the central H to be up to pressure by the time it left the rail...nope. At zero the D's hissed to life with abundant smoke. Slow climb up the rail...no H...rail cleared...no H...where's the H?!? Finally, at about 30' up, when the rocket was climbing painfully slow and beginning to arc downrange the H135W finally caught and sent the Ultimate into overdrive! As evidenced by pictures, I missed the ignition of the H. The myriad of shots under D12 power shows how slow it was moving. The 'smoke only' shot shows the enhanced smoke plume (which doesn't reach the ground) from the H igniting. After a nail-biting liftoff it turned out to be an excellent flight to 1045' with nominal recovery.
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