Sending a wildman darkstar Jr supersonic on an L1 motor

[James Owen]

Hello everyone!
It’s been a minute since I’ve visited the forum.
I bought a wildman darkstar Jr. a little while back and it has flown twice so far, first on an Aerotech H100 and then on an Aerotech I175. It’ll be flying again this weekend at NSL on the I600R. Should be an exciting flight.

Here’s a recap of what’s happened so far:
Flight 1: beautiful, clear day with nice low winds. Flew with a homemade altimeter on board to about 3000’ and 350 mph.


(Videos of each launch are attached to bottom of this post)


Flight 2: slightly cloudier day, but the clouds were confirmed to be high enough to permit launching. Wind was nice and low, and the rocket went to roughly 4500’ and 500mph.





Both flights were incredibly stable and recovered perfectly. The flight on the I600 simulates to 6800’ and 850mph given the lat/lon, elevation, and projected atmospheric pressure and temperature of the alamosa, CO launch site.

Will post more pictures and videos soon.

 

[James Owen]

Forgot to mention in the original post how I get these flights to perform as well as they do (the speeds and altitudes acheived are more than I’ve seen with other rockets from the same kit)
1) I didn’t paint the rocket, just made all the surfaces and the fillets as smooth as possible.
2) keeping weight down with minimal payload, no DD
3) airfoil cross section rail buttons, as opposed to traditional circular ones.

For recovery I have a homemade paracord shock cord which has been tested to 330lbs of shock with no damage and a 30” parachute with a swivel connector.

Loaded weight with motor for the supersonic flight is just under 4 pounds. With a peak thrust of about 180 lbs that makes for an intense takeoff.

 

[Highpowerrocketyahoo]

Can you pack up your flight range and send it to me? Lol beautiful!

 

[Wayco]

Please look me up at NSL, we just parked our trailer at the launch site. I will be flying my Darkstar Jr. this weekend too, and would like to take a look at your rocket. I’m assuming yours is made from the red thin wall fiberglass and is much lighter than my old Jr.
We parked right by the back fence on the left side as you enter. Arizona flag and a tie-dyed streamer by our Stealth toy hauler.

 

[James Owen]

Can you pack up your flight range and send it to me? Lol beautiful!

The first two launches were at Utah rocketry club’s primary launch site - Frank hunt field. It’s a nice looking place with the mountains in the background.

 

[James Owen]

Please look me up at NSL, we just parked our trailer at the launch site. I will be flying my Darkstar Jr. this weekend too, and would like to take a look at your rocket. I’m assuming yours is made from the red thin wall fiberglass and is much lighter than my old Jr.
We parked right by the back fence on the left side as you enter. Arizona flag and a tie-dyed streamer by our Stealth toy hauler.

I’ll try to find you! Could be fun to compare the newer and older kits.

 

[cbrarick]

good luck, got my jumbo well beyond M1, lots of fun...

 

[StreuB1]

I highly recommend the I1299N in the WM Jr Series of rockets. They're a hoot!

 

[Theory]

Are the speeds confirmed with any onboard electronics?

Asking as I don’t see how an I is getting you to 850 MPH.

 

[James Owen]

Are the speeds confirmed with any onboard electronics?

Asking as I don’t see how an I is getting you to 850 MPH.

There are two on board flight computers, both of which have been tested on the previous two flights of this rocket, and on a few others. In my second post on this thread I explained how I’m getting such high speeds.

supersonic flight attempt happens tomorrow morning at NSL.

 

[James Owen]

(Better pictures from a real camera coming soon)

Simulated velocity: 854 mph
Measured vel. (Altimeter 1): 826 mph
Measured vel. (Altimeter 2): 861 mph
Measured vel. (Avg.): 843.5 mph

Projected altitude: 6782 ft AGL
Measured alt. (Avg.): 6812 ft AGL

Motor ejection, JLCR @ 700’.

Recovered in perfect condition. I’m on cell data right now because I’m still at the launch site, but once I’m back on wifi I’ll show the better pictures and the flight video.

 

[dhbarr]

Are the speeds confirmed with any onboard electronics?

Asking as I don’t see how an I is getting you to 850 MPH.

The i600 is veeeery close to being a j500. Kicks like mule, too.

 

[James Owen]

Flight video! Will need to wait until I get home from Colorado for the pictures from the nice camera. In the meantime, here’s some glorious redline sounds and a very fast rocket!

Next project: scratch built rocket to mach 2.

 

[James Owen]

Turned out to be only only one picture from the nice camera where the rocket was in frame. Beautiful shot though!

Camera courtesy of Diane Owen Photography (bet you can’t guess how I know of her… it’s totally not like we’re related or anything)

 

[James Owen]

Pictures from the NSL photographer, as posted on NAR's forum.



with my original goals of flying a rocket over a mile and past mach 1 both completed, my next goals are mach 2 and 2 miles. here's the thread for my next project if you're interested: https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/“risky-business”-minimum-diameter-mach-2-attempt.180205/

thanks to anyone to took interest in this project, and anyone who can provide help with the next one.