The rise and fall of a Ventris Kitbash

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Charles_McG

Ciderwright
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This rocket was inspired by the Estes SLV. Built from a Ventris kit with (essentially) 4 Baby Berthas as pods.

ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1469402506.766843.jpg

For the first flight, we decided to go conservative and did a 3 motor all black powder cluster. E9-4 plus two outboard E12-0s.

[video=youtube;Smo6AyvW78E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smo6AyvW78E[/video]

And the result.
ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1469402773.081920.jpg
ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1469402795.690482.jpg

The rocket is dead! Long live the rocket!

(Yes, I'm off to file MESS reports and contact Estes even now)
 
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Ouch. :(

Well, it was beautiful on the pad, really like the paint job. Hope you can get it put back together.

I've never flown an E9 or E12, but at this point I don't think I'd ever put one into a rocket I cared about.
 
So far I've had 1 C11 Cato and 2 E12s. The E9s have been okay.

I have also had a C11 cato and have flown three E9s that were flawless. I won't tempt fate any further with E9s though...

P.S. sorry about the Ventris. What is salvageable?
 
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Sorry for the loss of the rocket. That's too bad. It was a nice design, and I'm a big fan of pods!

The video is cool to watch, but I'm not exactly sure I understand what happened. I see what looks like the motors from the pods take off on their own, and the main rocket barely gets off the pad and crashes. Did the central E9 cato?
 
What looks like the pods taking off are the bare fuel grains from the E12s. They shot forward, blowing off the pod nosecones on the way. One spit the nozzle, too. One casing is missing - I don't know where it went.

The rest of the rocket rises slowly on the remaining E9. Which was way underpowered, without the other motors. And falls back at burnout.
 
With some work it looks repairable. Great video of 2 CATOs in a three motor cluster (nice crash as crashes go!). Reminds me of one of my PS II kit bashes a few years back. A four motor cluster of 3 E's and one F. An E CATOed, the two other E's lit and the F did not as the igniter was blown out. That was a big arching crash well away from the pad. It was repaired and has flown again.

Argent crash 4.jpgArgent crash 2.jpgArgent crash 5.jpgArgent crash 1.jpg

Such is the danger of PODS with clustered Estes BP motors; sounds like you got a real bad batch of E 12-0's:( Hate when that happens on a cluster. But when it works it is awesome!
 
The pod damage is the worst. Partly because it's thru the wall, into a fun pocket on the body side. But I should be able to pry it off, leaving the TTW stub and rebuild it. Once I get the custom vented centering rings re-laser cut.

The crushed body tubes can be replaced. Plus, I discovered during the prep for this flight that the Ventris payload bay doesn't have room for anything useful. So I'll extend it enough for flight computer and tracker.

My long term goal for this model was (is) to airstart the pods. I even ran a wiring chase down the outside. Put a high thrust motor in the middle, and let her rip.

Oh, and DIAB, those can't possibly be your rockets. They have fins and rear motors and no evil pointy bits.
 
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The pod damage is the worst. Partly because it's thru the wall, into a fun pocket on the body side. But I should be able to pry it off, leaving the TTW stub and rebuild it. Once I get the custom vented centering rings re-laser cut.

The crushed body tubes can be replaced. Plus, I discovered during the prep for this flight that the Ventris payload bay doesn't have room for anything useful. So I'll extend it enough for flight computer and tracker.

My long term goal for this model was (is) to airstart the pods. I even ran a wiring chase down the outside. Put a high thrust motor in the middle, and let her rip.

Oh, and DIAB, those can't possibly be your rockets. They have fins and rear motors and no evil pointy bits.

Good to hear it can be rebuilt. Get all of the crashes and learning curve out of the way with these cheap PSII kits from the Estes sale bin. Repairing is fun too.

Yes, I do launch and love 3-4FNC. Those PSII kit bashes do have PODS, so even though the motors and fins are in the right place, they are still classifies as "questionable clusters."
 
I launch with Wildman Tim in the background whispering [haha] evil things.

Tim, look at my nifty rocket. I followed Tim's Second Law (No Engine Blocks!) so I can load it up and attempt to follow Tim's First Law (If you get it back, the motor wasn't BIG enough!)

Charles, did you actually load it with 6G VMax in all corners? Umm, no. MILD!
Charles, did you use blackpowder instead of APCP? MILD!
Charles, I see you used only 3 of the 5 motor mounts you built in. MILD!

Tim, I did use those E12s that travelled around in the back of your trailer for years.
Well that's okay. LIGHT 'ER UP!
 
With the chance of a CATO even the HI-PO guys can get a little scared of wimpy BP motors in clustered pods. With heavy and inefficient motors you can get nice slow NASA style lift offs. Even scarier not ripping it off the pad to get the fins some bite in the air. They don't seem to even come up and watch stuff under an L, but they will come up to see the silly BP cluster with nose weight to help questionable stability just off the thick rod or rail. So there must be some WILD involved! Some chance of "small and dangerous" or a good, entertaining crash. So next time tell 'em you rebuilt it from a flaming pile of goo, but are using fresh motors this time. And if it is a successful flight there will be refreshing cider drinks to celebrate:)
 
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