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The motors I have are A8-0, B6-0, A8-3, B6-4, B6-6, and C6-5 & 7. If it's a clear blue sky on Sunday, I'll probably go with A8-0/B6-6. If clouds, I'll wait. My son helps with the tracking but he's not always paying attention.
I have a black powder Quest A6-4. Let me know if you would like to use it.
I found a rocksim file here:
https://www.rocketreviews.com/rocksim-estes---hyper-bat.htmlRan an OR sim with B6-0 and A6-4.
Apogee of 633 ft.
Optimum delay of 4.69sec.
Vel. at deploy of 22.2 fps.
I think the Quest motor will work.

2020-11-13.png
 
The winds were purported to be light today but turned out to be swirly. The rockets seemed to be going in different directions.

The Shuttle worked great. It appeared that the D12-3 was underpowered. I ordered E12-4 motors on Ebay so hopefully it's legit. I was told to put the shuttle facing the wind so it will blow back. There was a 5 mph wind with occasional gusts. The rocket ended up going perpendicular. The shuttle dislodged, glided for a bit, then took a nosedive (no damage). I suppose all of that widdling of the balsa nose paid off.

The NC on the Hi-flier L with C6-5 separated and drifted off the park with the Estes altimeter. I have another at home which costs about as much as the trip to Arby's after each park launch. My theory is that I accidently packed the dog barf on top of the shock cord which then burnt through the elastic.

The Micro Teal Machine is the upgrade for the Micro Orange Machine that lost its NC when the Kevlar cord snapped after a couple launches. The new rocket has a bit longer BT and a thicker Kevlar cord. Next launch will be the 1/2A3.

I rebuilt the DC/SAM but as a 2-stage as originally designed. The first rocket drifted off in the wind. Of course, this one also drifted off, so those who warned me (BABAR) have I told you so rights. The A8-0 lifted the rocket off the launcher but tilted the rocket at staging. I have the first stage so it's a simple matter of rebuilding the second, maybe with a longer BT. We packed up, put the stuff in the car, then walked around the block. They probably landed on the elevated light rail. I'll try calling them tomorrow. The altimeter has a 1 hour sleep feature so should be fine.

Timeline:
00:00 Intro
00:05 Shuttle
01:53 Hi-flier L
02:59 Micro Teal Machine
03:41 DC/SAM II

 
The Shuttle worked great. It appeared that the D12-3 was underpowered. I ordered E12-4 motors on Ebay so hopefully it's legit.
Did you pay a hazmat fee? ;)

Anyway: underpowered in what way? E12s will burn longer and go higher than D12 but will be slower off the rail than a D12, due to the significant extra weight of the motor. If you want more kick off the rod you need something like an Aerotech D21 (there still may be some stock out there) or an Aerotech E15/E20, but I'd be nervous about how high that might send your rocket in a small field.
 
Did you pay a hazmat fee? ;)

Anyway: underpowered in what way? E12s will burn longer and go higher than D12 but will be slower off the rail than a D12, due to the significant extra weight of the motor. If you want more kick off the rod you need something like an Aerotech D21 (there still may be some stock out there) or an Aerotech E15/E20, but I'd be nervous about how high that might send your rocket in a small field.
No, that’s why it’s probably not legit.

I guess the shuttle flew okay, just not straight up. I’m hesitant about flying it again.

Trade winds for the next week, so the only thing I have to look forward to is more building. I’m waiting for my Stickershock order to arrive for my BT-80 Mercury Redstone.
 
Nice shuttle flight.
Your shuttle may have windcocked a bit. Facing it into the wind may have amplified it.
Big rocket, large cross section, asymetrical drag. Might be one to launch only on perfectly calm days.
Anytime you recover a rocket with no damage, it's a good flight.
I checked the instructions, D12-3 and E12-4 are the only recommended motors.
Agree with Neil, using an E might launch it out of the park.
Looks like your shuttle almost landed on the roof.
Your penance to the rocket gods will be rewarded in the future. oh loyal one.
 
Nice shuttle flight.
Your shuttle may have windcocked a bit. Facing it into the wind may have amplified it.
Big rocket, large cross section, asymetrical drag. Might be one to launch only on perfectly calm days.
Anytime you recover a rocket with no damage, it's a good flight.
I checked the instructions, D12-3 and E12-4 are the only recommended motors.
Agree with Neil, using an E might launch it out of the park.
Looks like your shuttle almost landed on the roof.
Your penance to the rocket gods will be rewarded in the future. oh loyal one.
We have a traditional spot where the grass is thin but worried the shuttle will fly too close to the buildings and moved about 30 ft away. That’s why the grass looks thicker on the ground camera.

You could see it does a bit of a roll program after leaving the launch assembly. Like you said, any successful recovery is a successful launch.
 
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Sandra at Estes said they're releasing the 1B last week, Skylab next week, and SLS in mid December. I saw someone on Facebook who said he ordered one but could by lying.

1605496658437.png
 
I may be wrong but it's still listed as out of stock on the "Coming Soon" page at Estes.
Could be the guy on Facebook filled out the notification form and thought he was placing an order.
Anyway I would wait and order from AC, their prices are usually significantly less than MSRP.
 
Congrats on the shuttle, definitely a nail biter!

Did the Sam sustainer go MIA?

Did you get a mass on the Sam two stage stack? I may have to rethink my dissing of the A8-0, your ground cam has one of the nicest staging videos ((launch to recovery) I have seen.
 
Congrats on the shuttle, definitely a nail biter!

Did the Sam sustainer go MIA?

Did you get a mass on the Sam two stage stack? I may have to rethink my dissing of the A8-0, your ground cam has one of the nicest staging videos ((launch to recovery) I have seen.
Thanks. I lost the 2nd stage but no hardware. Sorry, no mass data.

Would a B6-0 allow the rocket to point more up during staging?
 
The S1B now showing in stock in the "New" section on the Estes website.
Just a couple of days late.
I think I'll wait a bit and see what the other vendors are charging.
 
So here’s my problem. I bought BT-80 for my Fat Boy clone. I then realized I have enough left over to create a new Mercury Redstone with the kit from Boyce which went on sale. Instead of creating my own decals, I’m trying the vinyls from Stickershock which are awesome but he includes four sets. Now I’ve got extra vinyls and my brain is trying to figure out what I can make with them.

75911314-3A6D-4930-82C2-92F706AB565D.jpeg
 
So here’s my problem. I bought BT-80 for my Fat Boy clone. I then realized I have enough left over to create a new Mercury Redstone with the kit from Boyce which went on sale. Instead of creating my own decals, I’m trying the vinyls from Stickershock which are awesome but he includes four sets. Now I’ve got extra vinyls and my brain is trying to figure out what I can make with them.

Oooh, that's the rocket version of the nacho cheese problem:

https://xkcd.com/140/
 
Oooh, that's the rocket version of the nacho cheese problem:
Is that why hot dogs come in a pack of 8, but hot dog buns come in a pack of 10?
Now I’ve got extra vinyls and my brain is trying to figure out what I can make with them.
Keep one set as a spare for repairs, sell the other two in the For Sale forum.
 
Is that why hot dogs come in a pack of 8, but hot dog buns come in a pack of 10?
Exactly...

Keep one set as a spare for repairs, sell the other two in the For Sale forum.
I thought about it but that doesn't seem fair to Stickershock. I appreciate that for $17 plus shipping, he includes spares. One of the "UNITED" didn't peel off the backing but the spare worked.

It includes stickers for MR-7 (Alan Shepard) and MR-8 (Gus Grissom). I never understood why the model has a crack for the capsule. Is this for the Grissom capsule? If so, that seems rather insulting.
 
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It includes stickers for MR-7 (Alan Shepard) and MR-8 (Gus Grissom). I never understood why the model has a crack for the capsule. Is this for the Grissom capsule? If so, that seems rather insulting.

Grissom rode Liberty Bell 7. The crack was painted on the capsule, just like the crack in the Liberty Bell.
 
I get it now. Ironic since this was the capsule that sank.


This version of the story appears to vindicate Gus Grissom who should be remembered as a hero. Apparently he was fortunate to survive the incident, possibly due to following Schirra’s advice preflight.

https://space.nss.org/space-myths-busted-gus-grissom-didnt-blow-the-hatch-on-liberty-bell-7/

In this installment of “Space Myths Busted,” I’ll tackle a myth that somehow still persists to this day many attempts to debunk it: On July 21, 1961, shortly after splashdown, a panicked Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom blew the hatch on his Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule shortly after an otherwise successful suborbital spaceflight. A clearly freaked-out Grissom then commenced to flail around in the water prior to being picked up by rescue helicopters. Read more after the jump…


The 1983 film The Right Stuff, canon among many space buffs,depicted Grissom in this exact situation. While the movie isn’t terrible, it’s more of a history of “moods” than what actually took place during the Mercury program, and its portrayal of Grissom is one of its biggest failings. By the time the movie was released, Grissom had conveniently been dead for over 15 years, leaving him essentially voiceless. So here’s what really happened during the Liberty Bell 7 recovery.



The book Into That Silent Sea by Francis French and Colin Burgess tells the story of Liberty Bell 7’s recovery in detail, beginning well before splashdown. While Grissom’s spacecraft floated under a ring-sail parachute toward the Atlantic Ocean, the astronaut – the second U.S. person to fly in space – began preparing for splashdown. A top-notch engineer and pilot, Grissom was hardly an acolyte, and had been training for this spaceflight since his astronaut selection in 1959.



Notably, this capsule possessed an explosive-actuated hatch, unlike the latch-operated hatch on the previous Mercury flight (Alan Shepard’s suborbital Freedom 7 mission, which had occurred in May 1961). The book explained how this hatch design was meant to work: “A percussion-activated, explosive primer cord surrounded the new hatch, and the astronaut had to activate a switch in order to arm the mechanism. When he was ready for recovery the astronaut would place the switch in the armed position, and a recovery loop on top on the capsule became the trigger. When the recovery helicopter’s hoisting cable was hooked onto the loop, the pressure created by lifting the capsule fired the mechanism and blew the hatch off.” Ironically, this hatch was designed for easy access, in case an astronaut was in trouble.



Before Liberty Bell 7 hit the water, Grissom was already hard at work, focusing on recovery. The book continued, “He reported opening his faceplate and then had problems inserting one of the door pins that held the hatch to the side of the capsule, a procedure designed to prevent the entire hatch from accidentally detonating outward when he began his exit from the spacecraft.” It was noted in the book that this step did not in any way contribute to what would soon occur. Liberty Bell 7 splashed down after a nearly picture-perfect mission at 7:36 a.m., some fifteen minutes after liftoff.



An exhausted but safe Grissom on the deck of the USS Randolph, shortly after being plucked out of the Atlantic Ocean. Photo Credit: NASA

Grissom then performed some final checks, including some that involved the hatch system. In postflight briefing reports compiled in the book, Grissom stated in part:
I took the pins off both the top and bottom of the hatch to make sure the wires wouldn’t be in the way…I took the detonator cap off and put it toward my feet.
Again, Grissom’s action did not contribute to what was about to happen. According to Into That Silent Sea, this is what was supposed to happen: the rescue helicopter’s pilot, Jim Lewis, and his co-pilot were to sever the spacecraft’s whip antenna, hook a recovery cable onto the capsule, lift the capsule slightly to allow the astronaut to emerge, and lower a rescue sling. Grissom would then remove his helmet, wait for the hatch to blow on its own volition, exit the capsule, and put himself into the rescue sling. This setup had worked fine during Shepard’s spaceflight months earlier, minus one difference – the explosive-actuated hatch.



As Grissom waited for further instructions from the Hunt Club-1 rescue helicopter, the unthinkable happened as he lay back on his couch. The book stated, “Suddenly, he heard a dull thud as, without warning, the spacecraft hatch blew. He looked up in disbelief, not only seeing blue sky, but the unnerving sight of saltwater spilling over in the doorsill.” Grissom took off his helmet and exited the spacecraft, understandably in a state of shock, and soon was in a life-and-death struggle as he swam against the strong currents of the Atlantic, which would pose a challenge even for an Olympic swimmer.



Enter Wally Schirra, who would vindicate Grissom in October 1962. 1960 NASA photo.

Helicopter pilot Lewis and his co-pilot then attempted to hoist the capsule, but their efforts were futile, as their engine began to overheat due to its weight. A backup helicopter came in to save Grissom, who by now was in water coming over his head; he arguably was saved by a watertight neck dam that kept water out of his suit – his colleague and close friend, Wally Schirra, had recently persuaded him to wear it. (More on Schirra shortly.) After a short struggle, he was able to reach the rescue collar. While Grissom was thankfully safe and sound, the Liberty Bell 7 capsule was lost, only to be recovered from the bottom of the sea nearly 38 years later in July 1999.

An interesting coda to the Liberty Bell 7 story occurred during another Mercury mission. Over a year later, Wally Schirra flew the program’s flawless third orbital mission, Sigma 7, in October 1962. At the end of Schirra’s flight, he further vindicated Grissom’s story about the hatch blowing independently of any intervention. Burgess’ book, Liberty Bell 7: The Suborbital Mercury Flight of Virgil I. Grissom, discusses this at length, and also contains testimonies by fellow Mercury astronaut Donald K. “Deke” Slayton and NASA aeronautical engineer Sam Beddingfield that Grissom would have had a deep bone-bruise on his hand had he manually blown the hatch.



Schirra sustained deep bruising and a cut to a hand after hitting the plunger meant to blow the hatch. Grissom suffered no such bruising. Photo Credit: NASA

…But more on Schirra’s mission. At its end, according to Burgess’ book, Schirra blew Sigma 7’s hatch when he was ready to exit. The book underscored, “He had to hit the plunger with five or six pounds of fist force; so hard that he injured his hand. He was not slow to show the tell-tale impact bruising and cut on his hand at his medical briefing.” Schirra stated further in his own book, Schirra’s Space, that the brute force of hitting the plunger had cut through one of his metal-reinforced gloves. Slayton, Beddingfield, and Schirra all confirmed that Grissom had suffered no bruising of any type after his mission, thus nixing the theory that he somehow blew the hatch.



Gus Grissom should be remembered as one of the world’s spaceflight pioneers, not as some hapless “hatch blower” flailing in the ocean – because the latter suggestion never even happened.



Grissom would go on to have a resounding success once again with the first human-helmed Gemini mission, Gemini 3 (jokingly dubbed The Molly Brown, because this time, it would be “unsinkable”), in March 1965; co-piloted by then-rookie astronaut John W. Young, this mission was a vital sequential step in the Gemini program, which proved to be the critical bridge between Mercury and Apollo, making the Moon landings wholly possible.



His story, however, wouldn’t have a happy ending. On January 27, 1967, his life – as well as the lives of astronauts Edward H. White, II and Roger B. Chaffee – would be cut obscenely short by the Apollo 1 capsule fire. This time, an over-complicated hatch system – one that wouldn’t open quickly enough – would seal his fate.
 
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This version of the story appears to vindicate Gus Grissom who should be remembered as a hero. Apparently he was fortunate to survive the incident, possibly due to following Schirra’s advice preflight.

https://space.nss.org/space-myths-busted-gus-grissom-didnt-blow-the-hatch-on-liberty-bell-7/

In this installment of “Space Myths Busted,” I’ll tackle a myth that somehow still persists to this day many attempts to debunk it: On July 21, 1961, shortly after splashdown, a panicked Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom blew the hatch on his Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule shortly after an otherwise successful suborbital spaceflight. A clearly freaked-out Grissom then commenced to flail around in the water prior to being picked up by rescue helicopters. Read more after the jump…


The 1983 film The Right Stuff, canon among many space buffs,depicted Grissom in this exact situation. While the movie isn’t terrible, it’s more of a history of “moods” than what actually took place during the Mercury program, and its portrayal of Grissom is one of its biggest failings. By the time the movie was released, Grissom had conveniently been dead for over 15 years, leaving him essentially voiceless. So here’s what really happened during the Liberty Bell 7 recovery.



The book Into That Silent Sea by Francis French and Colin Burgess tells the story of Liberty Bell 7’s recovery in detail, beginning well before splashdown. While Grissom’s spacecraft floated under a ring-sail parachute toward the Atlantic Ocean, the astronaut – the second U.S. person to fly in space – began preparing for splashdown. A top-notch engineer and pilot, Grissom was hardly an acolyte, and had been training for this spaceflight since his astronaut selection in 1959.



Notably, this capsule possessed an explosive-actuated hatch, unlike the latch-operated hatch on the previous Mercury flight (Alan Shepard’s suborbital Freedom 7 mission, which had occurred in May 1961). The book explained how this hatch design was meant to work: “A percussion-activated, explosive primer cord surrounded the new hatch, and the astronaut had to activate a switch in order to arm the mechanism. When he was ready for recovery the astronaut would place the switch in the armed position, and a recovery loop on top on the capsule became the trigger. When the recovery helicopter’s hoisting cable was hooked onto the loop, the pressure created by lifting the capsule fired the mechanism and blew the hatch off.” Ironically, this hatch was designed for easy access, in case an astronaut was in trouble.



Before Liberty Bell 7 hit the water, Grissom was already hard at work, focusing on recovery. The book continued, “He reported opening his faceplate and then had problems inserting one of the door pins that held the hatch to the side of the capsule, a procedure designed to prevent the entire hatch from accidentally detonating outward when he began his exit from the spacecraft.” It was noted in the book that this step did not in any way contribute to what would soon occur. Liberty Bell 7 splashed down after a nearly picture-perfect mission at 7:36 a.m., some fifteen minutes after liftoff.



An exhausted but safe Grissom on the deck of the USS Randolph, shortly after being plucked out of the Atlantic Ocean. Photo Credit: NASA

Grissom then performed some final checks, including some that involved the hatch system. In postflight briefing reports compiled in the book, Grissom stated in part:

Again, Grissom’s action did not contribute to what was about to happen. According to Into That Silent Sea, this is what was supposed to happen: the rescue helicopter’s pilot, Jim Lewis, and his co-pilot were to sever the spacecraft’s whip antenna, hook a recovery cable onto the capsule, lift the capsule slightly to allow the astronaut to emerge, and lower a rescue sling. Grissom would then remove his helmet, wait for the hatch to blow on its own volition, exit the capsule, and put himself into the rescue sling. This setup had worked fine during Shepard’s spaceflight months earlier, minus one difference – the explosive-actuated hatch.



As Grissom waited for further instructions from the Hunt Club-1 rescue helicopter, the unthinkable happened as he lay back on his couch. The book stated, “Suddenly, he heard a dull thud as, without warning, the spacecraft hatch blew. He looked up in disbelief, not only seeing blue sky, but the unnerving sight of saltwater spilling over in the doorsill.” Grissom took off his helmet and exited the spacecraft, understandably in a state of shock, and soon was in a life-and-death struggle as he swam against the strong currents of the Atlantic, which would pose a challenge even for an Olympic swimmer.



Enter Wally Schirra, who would vindicate Grissom in October 1962. 1960 NASA photo.

Helicopter pilot Lewis and his co-pilot then attempted to hoist the capsule, but their efforts were futile, as their engine began to overheat due to its weight. A backup helicopter came in to save Grissom, who by now was in water coming over his head; he arguably was saved by a watertight neck dam that kept water out of his suit – his colleague and close friend, Wally Schirra, had recently persuaded him to wear it. (More on Schirra shortly.) After a short struggle, he was able to reach the rescue collar. While Grissom was thankfully safe and sound, the Liberty Bell 7 capsule was lost, only to be recovered from the bottom of the sea nearly 38 years later in July 1999.

An interesting coda to the Liberty Bell 7 story occurred during another Mercury mission. Over a year later, Wally Schirra flew the program’s flawless third orbital mission, Sigma 7, in October 1962. At the end of Schirra’s flight, he further vindicated Grissom’s story about the hatch blowing independently of any intervention. Burgess’ book, Liberty Bell 7: The Suborbital Mercury Flight of Virgil I. Grissom, discusses this at length, and also contains testimonies by fellow Mercury astronaut Donald K. “Deke” Slayton and NASA aeronautical engineer Sam Beddingfield that Grissom would have had a deep bone-bruise on his hand had he manually blown the hatch.



Schirra sustained deep bruising and a cut to a hand after hitting the plunger meant to blow the hatch. Grissom suffered no such bruising. Photo Credit: NASA

…But more on Schirra’s mission. At its end, according to Burgess’ book, Schirra blew Sigma 7’s hatch when he was ready to exit. The book underscored, “He had to hit the plunger with five or six pounds of fist force; so hard that he injured his hand. He was not slow to show the tell-tale impact bruising and cut on his hand at his medical briefing.” Schirra stated further in his own book, Schirra’s Space, that the brute force of hitting the plunger had cut through one of his metal-reinforced gloves. Slayton, Beddingfield, and Schirra all confirmed that Grissom had suffered no bruising of any type after his mission, thus nixing the theory that he somehow blew the hatch.



Gus Grissom should be remembered as one of the world’s spaceflight pioneers, not as some hapless “hatch blower” flailing in the ocean – because the latter suggestion never even happened.



Grissom would go on to have a resounding success once again with the first human-helmed Gemini mission, Gemini 3 (jokingly dubbed The Molly Brown, because this time, it would be “unsinkable”), in March 1965; co-piloted by then-rookie astronaut John W. Young, this mission was a vital sequential step in the Gemini program, which proved to be the critical bridge between Mercury and Apollo, making the Moon landings wholly possible.



His story, however, wouldn’t have a happy ending. On January 27, 1967, his life – as well as the lives of astronauts Edward H. White, II and Roger B. Chaffee – would be cut obscenely short by the Apollo 1 capsule fire. This time, an over-complicated hatch system – one that wouldn’t open quickly enough – would seal his fate.
Did you ever notice in The Right Stuff, there is a locust swarming sound effect when the media appear?
 
The replacement second stage for the DC/SAM III is almost ready except I can’t find the first stage I recovered and need it to match the MM together. I’ll wait a week and try to remember where I put it.

96420556-E1D4-45FF-9866-AFB82F14A18B.jpeg
 
I see you were watching the Electron rocket launch by Rocket Lab.
The company confirmed on social media that the booster successfully deployed its' chutes and splashed down in the Pacific today.
Working their way up to the mid-air helicopter recovery.
That's what I want to see.
 
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