RED GLARE XIII

[Neil]

GaryT's Albatross sequence. Liftoff!
View attachment 104942
View attachment 104943
Problem...
View attachment 104944
Booster getting torched. Luckily, the long case protected the motor mount.
View attachment 104945
Dan Michael really gets into his photography job here:
View attachment 104946

Thanks to MDRA for a great launch -- Neil, Bob, Kathy, Troy, Mike, and crew. Plus, of course, Tommy Higgs and the Higgs family for continuing to allow us to use their fields. See you all in the spring!

Great pictures David and Nick........I think all the folks who had motors issues should write up a short dissertation of what they think went wrong for ROCKETS Magazine, to go along with the photos. We can combine it into one article and call it something like "Don't Try This At Home" and warn people about the pitfalls of using certified motors.....:eyeroll:

Thanks to all those who made it to the launch. It is the MDRA Members and their awesome projects that make MDRA what it is....we just set the equipment up and push the button....that is the easy part....:shock:

Neil

:flyingpig:

 

[GaryT]

Neil, Bob and the whole MDRA Crew:

Thank YOU!.. like I've said many times before Red Glare is my all time favorite launch to attend. One thing good about RG13 being so late this year is we don't have to wait as long for Red Glare 14! That is truly what gets me through the winter months.

On a personnel note I set a record this time for how many pieces of Tommy's chicken I can eat.. 8! LOL

 

[THier]

On a personnel note I set a record this time for how many pieces of Tommy's chicken I can eat..

8! LOL

So how far north did the last piece make it?

 

[Yoehahn]

Well, It was an interesting launch. I got to try the chicken which was, in fact amazing. Anyways, on to the launch report.

Saturday: Drag raced my friend on tube fin crayons. he flew an I316 (loki Spitfire) and I flew an I170 (CTI Classic). I won first off the pad and got a ringer by hitting the LPR rack.

My GF Flew her Vindicator JR. on an I345G for a test flight before her L2 attempt, flight went perfectly.

Then things got interesting. I flew my DarkStar 4" on a K456DM, which was beautiful at night but the motor CATO'd and the rocket ripped apart before the motor finished burning.

What annoyed me the most is that the RSO, a lot of the spectators and I were shouting heads up as my payload section and shredded chute came down towards the flight line and there were a group of people who practically got hit and jumped out of the way at the very last second (barely) If anyone got hit with that an ambulance would surely have had to come pick someone up. Lots of repair work needed on that one!

Sunday: My gf took her L2 test and got 100% on it, so we started prepping her Vindicator for flight. it was a gorgeous flight and went to a little under 8,000' on a J410 Red and she got her L2!

I then went to go fly my Eagle Claw on a CTI L995 Imax. Flight went well until apogee, which was at 7,999' (go figure) where it popped out the main chute and drifted into the sandpit. First time I have ever had to do a water recovery and it SUCKED! ruined another tracker and almost ruined another raven as well. All in all not a very good weekend for me but I had fun, and now have some work to do for next launch! see you at RG 14!

 

[Tetrahedron]

Neil, Bob and the whole MDRA Crew:

Thank YOU!.. like I've said many times before Red Glare is my all time favorite launch to attend. One thing good about RG13 being so late this year is we don't have to wait as long for Red Glare 14! That is truly what gets me through the winter months.

On a personnel note I set a record this time for how many pieces of Tommy's chicken I can eat.. 8! LOL

I agree, a great time and super launch. Geewhiz, I thought the four pieces I had was the most.

 

[GaryT]

Some better pics courtesy of Nick DeBrita

Albatross O3400IM

Intimidator 5 on the New M1160G

 

[AndyC]

I then went to go fly my Eagle Claw on a CTI L995 Imax. Flight went well until apogee, which was at 7,999' (go figure) where it popped out the main chute and drifted into the sandpit. First time I have ever had to do a water recovery and it SUCKED! ruined another tracker and almost ruined another raven as well. All in all not a very good weekend for me but I had fun, and now have some work to do for next launch! see you at RG 14!

There ya go Tom! You busted 5k' with your Eagle Claw, congrats. Told you its possible.... I only got 6700' with mine (you asked me about it on the pads on saturday), but I knew the propellant I used (an EX red load) had lower ISP than others I fly (I usually get 7000-7400' on a 2550 load). The IMAX is a very nice propellant, gotta love the bonus 10-20% Ns. Sorry to hear about the water recovery and damaged electronics - though its far from the worst rocket to drop in the drink; I've had to recover cardboard tube rockets from water before - one got badly waterlogged and damaged, though the electronics just washed off OK.

 

[KevinDunn]

Jart Drag Race, all on Pro29-3G motors

Left to Right: Tim Lehr, the illustrious Tom Hier, Rick Comshaw, Kevin Dunn

 

[KevinDunn]

Second Jart Drag Race on Pro29-3G long burn motors (G54 and H54). Mine must have been only marginally unstable on the H87 of the first drag race. On the slow-burning H54 it became unstable. Caught here moving exactly backwards.

 

[THier]

View attachment 105031

Jart Drag Race, all on Pro29-3G motors

Left to Right: Tim Lehr, ???, Rick Comshaw, Kevin Dunn

Great I'm reduced to ???????? Thanks world,, I get no respect!!!!!:wink:

 

[G_T]

Thought I'd post a picture from above... The video camera never pointed in an ideal direction to show the field well from above. This is about the best I can come up with, much of the way through the descent. The heavy contrail is from Sprite (rocket taking the video). The thinner contrail is from another rocket that went up as Sprite was on the way down. I thought it was a pretty cool capture. This is from Saturday afternoon.



I can probably come up with some kind of a shot of the bay from a distance if people want, or some other pictures to show the lay of the land.

Gerald

 

[KevinDunn]

Great I'm reduced to ???????? Thanks world,, I get no respect!!!!!:wink:

Sorry, Tom. I was so busy getting ready, I didn't meet you properly.

 

[THier]

Sorry, Tom. I was so busy getting ready, I didn't meet you properly.

No worries,, I was just funnin' with ya!

Tom

 

[wyo17]

Nick,
Thanks for your help. Also thanks go out to Tim Lehr, Crazy Jim and Joe Zawodny, for helping me analyze the failure of my main charges.
I still don't understand it but I guess BP doesn't like colder weather. The charges put in have worked on 2 previous launches.

All paperwork has been submitted to TRA and NAR and new cards should be on the way.

WooHoo!

 

[crossfire]

Not sure what cold weather has to do with BP. We fly all winter in WI with temps of highs around 15. Maybe if a flyer has a weak battery.
gp

 

[GaryT]

Albatross's repair is well underway. Motor mounts have been extracted and new vinyl from StickerShock is on its way.

 

[patelldp]

Albatross's repair is well underway. Motor mounts have been extracted and new vinyl from StickerShock is on its way.

View attachment 105254

Holy cow, that was quick. What did you remove the paint with? I have a Competitor 4 that I'd love to strip as part of its rebuild, so any help would be appreciated...

So, will its redemption flight be on the O3400 or an N5800?

 

[GaryT]

Dan:
I always do my repairs pretty quick, can't stand looking at it in that condition lol. As for the paint remover I use whats below, it works great and is water soluble. Just brush it on wait like 10 minutes then scrape it off. Any left over paint I wipe off with acetone. Its a bit messy (wear gloves) but works great.




As for the next flight I'd like to fly the O3400IM again. I REALLY! wanted to see that fly.

 

[vahpr]

So I slowed down my booster cato footage to try get a handle on the sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw7rARVz-Rs&feature=youtu.be

Impressive that just one of the J595s' cato at ignition had enough energy to lift the 100lb sustainer all by itself. You can see it in the lookup. Wow.

If you haven't seen the "shot from all angles" cut....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnRh-Mf0Gio

Jerry

 

[DavieRockets]

Wow, Jerry

That is amazing footage! You can really do an analysis on what took place.

My Gizmo XL was 2 pads away from your Iris waiting for my L3 launch. I remember thinking " Oh no, I hope the Iris doesn't shower my rocket with parts". Great recovery although it is a shame to see so much hard work and preparation go awry. I've attached a few pics I took while I was setting up my rocket.



Dave

 

[vahpr]

Thanks for the pics Dave, very nice! Mishap aside, it was a most engaging project - I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process from conception to execution (no pun)

 

[THier]

Dan:
I always do my repairs pretty quick, can't stand looking at it in that condition lol. As for the paint remover I use whats below, it works great and is water soluble. Just brush it on wait like 10 minutes then scrape it off. Any left over paint I wipe off with acetone. Its a bit messy (wear gloves) but works great.

View attachment 105265

Hey Gary,
How bad are the fumes on that stuff? Is it an outside thing? Water soluble sounds not too bad.

Tom

 

[GaryT]

Tom
Not bad at all. You can definitely use it in the basement or garage.

 

[THier]

Tom
Not bad at all. You can definitely use it in the basement or garage.

Cool Thanks, I will have to get some to strip my Ultimate Dark star, repairs are done, now I just have to refinish it.

Tom

 

[rocket1017]

Gary:

Do you think it be save to strip paint for a LOC paper based body tube ?

Tom
Not bad at all. You can definitely use it in the basement or garage.

 

[GaryT]

Gary:

Do you think it be save to strip paint for a LOC paper based body tube ?

Can't answer that one? I'd try it on a scrap BT 1st though.

 

[dragonsp]

So I slowed down my booster cato footage to try get a handle on the sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw7rARVz-Rs&feature=youtu.be

Impressive that just one of the J595s' cato at ignition had enough energy to lift the 100lb sustainer all by itself. You can see it in the lookup. Wow.

If you haven't seen the "shot from all angles" cut....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnRh-Mf0Gio

Jerry

From the Lookdown footage, at 1:27, it looks like there was another motor that catoed. Actually, it looks more like a liner. Was that supposed to happen? I can't go frame by frame, but if something else happened let us know!

I look forward to seeing it again, if you are to fly it at a future Red Glare. I was really looking forward to this one.

 

[G_T]

Not my rocket, but IIRC, there were three motors total that failed of the 9 in the booster. Possibly failure of the first contributed to failure of the others as I think they were adjacent motors. But I could be recalling completely incorrectly. I was busy prepping when Jerry and crowd were going over the booster next to where I was standing.

Gerald

 

[butalane]

Great time as usual! Thanks MDRA.

 

[MaxQ]

So I slowed down my booster cato footage to try get a handle on the sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw7rARVz-Rs&feature=youtu.be

Impressive that just one of the J595s' cato at ignition had enough energy to lift the 100lb sustainer all by itself. You can see it in the lookup. Wow.

If you haven't seen the "shot from all angles" cut....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnRh-Mf0Gio

Jerry

Wow Jerry. Sorry to see that.
I was thinking, the interstage area took a pretty good bend on lift off...and I was thinking ....had I seen something like this before?...then it dawned on me...



I'd really like to do some bigger two stage projects myself, but seeing something like this happen, especially at your skill level, makes me a bit nervous...