The Flight of the Monkey

[ThirstyBarbarian]

As most of you know, it has long been my ambition to launch a monkey into space... and for me to be that monkey.

I am now one step closer to my goal!

Yesterday, I launched a monkey in a rocket! The monkey wasn't me, and it did not go all the way into space, but it's still a major development in my personal Space Program.
Thanks go to Rob Heil (not sure if he has is a TRF handle) for some of the still images and to Mr. G for the video of the flight.

[video=youtube;Ahx_sSuw7LA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahx_sSuw7LA[/video]

 

[o1d_dude]

Absolutely spectacular, Thirsty!!

 

[markkoelsch]

The monkey is lacking Viking horns and a beer.


Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

 

[Bat-mite]

That was just plain fun! Very cool. :grin:

 

[qquake2k]

Dammit! I picked the wrong launch to miss!

 

[o1d_dude]

Yes, but you had a valid reason for not being there.

Hope your mom is doing better.

 

[Eric]

The monkey was awesome. Loved the warlock flight as well

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Absolutely spectacular, Thirsty!!

Thanks!

The monkey is lacking Viking horns and a beer.

Now that he’s home, he’s back in uniform, enjoying a cold one!

That was just plain fun! Very cool. :grin:

That monkey enjoys hamming it up for a crowd.

Dammit! I picked the wrong launch to miss!

I’m sure the monkey will fly again. You know how monkeys are!

The monkey was awesome. Loved the warlock flight as well

Thanks!

 

[Eric]

Fly the monkey when we drag race. I'll bring our guinea pig.

 

[qquake2k]

Yes, but you had a valid reason for not being there.

Hope your mom is doing better.

She was actually a little better today. CHF and kidney problems, but they're getting a handle on it.

 

[Eric]

She was actually a little better today. CHF and kidney problems, but they're getting a handle on it.

I'm Happy to hear that. I postponed flying "Running with Scissors" until you can witness it.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

She was actually a little better today. CHF and kidney problems, but they're getting a handle on it.

That’s good to hear.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Fly the monkey when we drag race. I'll bring our guinea pig.

Guinea pigs are fun to fly. Right after the boost, the coast sounds like:

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE​EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE......................

 

[cbrarick]

Tumble recovery??? How would that sound?

 

[T-Rex]

Outstanding!!

 

[Sooner Boomer]

That was a great flight! With or without monkey, I love it when a rocket sits at the top like that for just a second.

 

[K'Tesh]

I love that the monkey came out beautifully at the APEx of the flight.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

That was a great flight! With or without monkey, I love it when a rocket sits at the top like that for just a second.

I love that the monkey came out beautifully at the Apex of the flight.

I liked that part of it too, and it was even weirder to see it in person than it is in the video.

This was a really low flight for a rocket as big as a Warlock. I used a 29mm CTI H295 with an adapter. That’s a small motor for this rocket. It’s made for I and J motors, but it can fly on an H, if it has enough thrust. I wanted to keep it low so it would be easy to see the monkey pop out.

The boost was super short, and the rocket coasted up to only about 600’ before ejecting the monkey. So the monkey aspect was funny, but the flight was kind of amusing too just by itself. It’s weird to see that big rocket levitate up to 600’ and just stall there for a second and appear to hover. It looked like slow motion. I think the ejection was timed perfectly.

 

[Exactimator]

That monkey’s crazy. You’ll never see me jumping out of a perfectly good rocket...

I love how he’s in skydiver’s pose. It looks like he was folded a bit in the rocket. Are his arms and legs springy so he snapped back into that splayed-out position when he came out? Or am I just looking at the pic wrong.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

That monkey’s crazy. You’ll never see me jumping out of a perfectly good rocket...

I love how he’s in skydiver’s pose. It looks like he was folded a bit in the rocket. Are his arms and legs springy so he snapped back into that splayed-out position when he came out? Or am I just looking at the pic wrong.

You are right. The arms and legs are very flexible, so you can fold him up, put he pops back into shape as soon as he has room. The monkey is a Crazy Tugs dog chew toy, like these on Amazon, but I got mine at Costco, a 3 pack for about $13!

Each arm is one piece with the leg and can be pulled through the body — pull an arm, and the arm gets long, while the leg gets shorter. You can adjust his arm and leg length to get his trim characteristics dialed in for flight!

I think this is just about the perfect plush toy skydiver, because he can fold up so small, but he’s actually pretty big when deployed. Even the big bucket that is the Warlock parachute bay can’t hold a very big toy, so the foldable monkey makes good use of the space.

I wrapped him in an 18x18 nomex. The chute is 18”.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MEK8PU...t=&hvlocphy=9032032&hvtargid=pla-354055556539

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Another detail I forget to mention. The monkey’s parachute has a Jolly Logic Chute Release set for 200’. The rocket reached about 600’, so the monkey had a nice 400’ freefall before popping his chute at 200’. He’s a HALO jumping stunt monkey!

 

[Daddyisabar]

How about a Monkey Shines toy for the next one. The clanging symbols would make it easy to locate!

 

[Daddyisabar]

Glide recovery?

 

[Daddyisabar]

A linked chain that breaks up into MIRVs?

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

A linked chain that breaks up into MIRVs?

View attachment 340624

This is a violation of our international monkey non-proliferation treaties.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

How about a Monkey Shines toy for the next one. The clanging symbols would make it easy to locate!

View attachment 340622

He's not just a tracker. A built-in altimeter allows him to clang out the attitude in a series of cymbal crashes.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Glide recovery?

View attachment 340623

This is just for wicked monkeys. Good monkeys float around inside a giant soap bubble.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Tumble recovery??? How would that sound?

It sounds like a guinea pig barfing?

 

[ChrisAttebery]

This is a really cool project Eric. I'm sorry I missed it.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

This is a really cool project Eric. I'm sorry I missed it.

Maybe the monkey will make an appearance at LDRS...

Or maybe APE needs to fly an ape...