What did you do rocket wise today?

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It's always a great feeling when we find our rocket that we think we may have lost.:clapping: Landing upright is awesome. Did you also get the speed it traveled ?
It says 401.3, unsure but think that's feet per second. I'm having trouble finding unit settings..

401.3 f/ps
273.6 mph
440.3 kph
 
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So, they flew the golf ball back from the landing zone via a drone? It's the drone part messing with me...

The SWOSU team (and several others) launched a rocket containing a small drone. The drone had the required golf ball taped to its underside. The rocket used dual deploy, breaking apart near aopgee, then at 800 feet, ejecting the main parachute and a sled containing the drone/golf ball. From 800 feet (and an unknown distance away), the drone pilot flew it back to the target. The winning team (OSU) had spent the last four years developing and improving an autonomus glider that folded up and fit inside the body tube. At ejection, it tried to fly itself back to the target.
Check out the team submission videos for the different ideas. Some were very creative, others very clever. Out of 18 team submissions, only about 8 were able to locate their golf ball after it landed. OSU made it within 300 feet, SWOSU flew to under 600 feet then had a control problem and landed short. The next team was 3000 feet away.

Team submission videos (scroll down) Argonia Cup Gallery
 
Congrats to Wally for going back and finding his Big Daddy!
Been there, done that and found a few other rockets in the process. Seems like taking a day that's not a launch day to do this always gets results.


The Argonia Cup team from SWOSU showed up and proved they're not a fluke! They launched their rocket to over 10K and brought the drone with golf ball back to the launch site. I made plans to cert level 1 next month.

Go BULLDOGS! Southwest Oklahoma State University is Sharon's alma mater, we're cheering them on. If only they could have done it last month!

Today I primed the fincan on "The Grand Optimist", a rocket Sharon bought from Poker Jones two years ago at Airfest. We flew it on a 98/10000 "Sharon's Sparkler II" back in February and blew a nozzle as it left the pad. Made it to about 50 ft. and returned abruptly, cracking a couple of fillets and breaking ALL the electronics. Two GPS's and both altimeters will be replaced for it's next flight.
I also got a shipment from AC Supply and Binder Design. Bought another Majestic and booster from AC Supply, and added a 98mm nozzle for a big 98/16000 (6 grain) motor we hope to fly next year.
 
Launch Report from 04/17/21

Estes Mini Mean Machine - A10-3T - Success. Good flight, good landing, downscales are at least as fun as upscales.

NewWay Cornered - 2X C6-5 - Failure. CATO on both motors as far as I could tell. Probably from the same batch that blew in my Fat Boy at Red Glare. I don't have any more C6-5's so next time I'll have fresh ones. Rocket is okay.

Estes Sasha - D12-5 - Success. Dang this one got up there even without the booster. I was really glad too that I flew it without the booster. It almost landed in the trees and landed about 20 feet short of the trees with the wind blowing directly into them. I had actually resigned myself to losing it when I was watching it come down and was elated when it dropped below the treetops and was still clearly in front of the tress.

Fliskits Deuces Wild - 2x B6-4 - Success. Good flight with twin smoke trails.

NewWay 2x4 - C11-0 to A8-5 - Partial Success. Something happened at staging and the sustainer took off sideways and almost hit the ground before the parachute came out. Not a total success but the rocket is okay so I'll take it.

Fliskits Diminutive Deuce - 2x MicroMaxx II - Partial Success. Good flight with both motors lighting, less-than-ideal landing with the streamer failing to come out of the body. The rocket is fine though.

Sunward Penguin - C11-5 - Success. Built by my wife. Good flight but I wish it had landed just on the near side of the irrigation ditch rather than the far side.

Fliskits Goddard L-13 - C6-3 - Success. Flies really nicely but I think the -5 would have been too long a delay. I was really happy not to lose any of the styrene rail pieces.

Boyce Gemini-Titan - 2x D16-4 - Failure. Parachute on top part did not open, parachute on bottom part did not come out. Probably left the parachutes packed for too long. Repairable but still depressing after anticipating flying this for so long.

Estes Little Joe 1 - C5-3 - Success. First successful flight with a C5-3 after two failed ones. Good flight with good landing that left the tower intact.

LOC Deployer - G75M - Failure. Stratologger CF worked perfectly but main parachute did not open and rocket hit the ground hard. Fins have broken plies and will require repair. Probably going to replace the parachute with a thin-mill one that won't have to be compressed as hard to fit into the short payload tube.

Dyna-Star Flamethrower - 2x E12-6 - Partial Success. Too-hastily adding the chute release was probably not a great idea. The chute release opened as it usually does but failed to release the parachute. Rocket is miraculously intact though.
 
Launches were actually Saterday, but due to a bad knees and visit to a critical care clinic, I was not able to post until today. I just got my L1 last month , and was unsure if I was going to be able to make to this weekends launch. But after checking the weather forecast (50-70 degrees with very low winds) ,I knew I had to go (I was correct). I launched my Zephyr on an I 140 , but the best part of the flight was the landing. Like I said, my knee was really hurting, so I was thrilled when the rocket bounced off the awning on my tent and literally landed 10 ft from my prep table. Also launched a few LPR .

short walk.jpgRenagade.jpg
 
Launches were actually Saterday, but due to a bad knees and visit to a critical care clinic, I was not able to post until today. I just got my L1 last month , and was unsure if I was going to be able to make to this weekends launch. But after checking the weather forecast (50-70 degrees with very low winds) ,I knew I had to go (I was correct). I launched my Zephyr on an I 140 , but the best part of the flight was the landing. Like I said, my knee was really hurting, so I was thrilled when the rocket bounced off the awning on my tent and literally landed 10 ft from my prep table. Also launched a few LPR .

View attachment 460660View attachment 460661
Hey! I recognize that field!
 
First flight on the BT-80 Tomahawk 2-Stage. Booster parachute deployed as designed with motor ejection - got a little burned from the sustainer but still worked fine. D12-0 and C11-3 kept it low and in view. A couple cheap 808 cams were attached to monitor the event. Should be good for some E12's and a bit of nose weight.

tomahawk.png
View attachment tomahawka.m4v
tomahawk 2b-1.png
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Today I am working on a couple of mid power models and the fourth in a series of RC RGs that I am building for the season.

Yesterday, I finished three RC RGs. Pic below. The Athena is an RC RG design I derived from the fictional G. Harry Stine design from his short story, “The Day the Rocket Blew Up”. The wonderful Spaceship Handbook has an excellent drawing of the Athena in it.

The one in the middle is an updated light weight Coaster Dynasoar Centauri from 1962, done in Centuri 2” tubing per the original.

The last one is an Avro Vulcan designed by Frank Burke, built from his excellent Dynasoar Rocketry kit.

All use Depron foam for flying surfaces and 2.6” and 2” light weight tubing. The first two have custom nose cones. All fly on the AT RMS-RC E6 motor. All have two channel RC controlling elevons.
 

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Went back to look for my Big Daddy today, my amazing wife stood as a marker post for my sight line, indicating my search on Saturday had drifted a bit north of where it landed. I had certainly come within 30 yards of it Saturday. One last sight line before I was too deep in the thicket to see my wife Carol gave me one last correction, definitely NOT an area I had gone through, 30 more yards into the thicket and there was a small clearing, with a Big Daddy on the far side, standing on it's fins, bright orange parachute beside it. W00T!!! All electronics intact. 1576 feet altitude per the Flight Sketch... 😁 Thanks again for the encouragement @Sandy H. @BrendanH69...:clapping::goodjob:


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Best news I heard today!!! Glad you got it back.

Sandy.
 
Nice- Have you made a 2-stage? How big?

It normally flies on "short" 29mm composites (Black Jack? Black Max?). If I remember correctly, the only bp motor I tried to fly it on was an E9 that cato'd. I've never thought about two (or more) stages on a spool. I think I may have to make an 18mm spool and try it out! I'd probably try CHAD staging first.

I really like spools, whether made from parts or from found objects. If they're small, they can get by with tumble recovery. Mine has a small nylon parachute and several feet of kevlar cord that helps act as an ejection charge blanket (still needs wadding). A couple of launches ago, we had a physics prof. from a local college as a guest. He couldn't believe I was flying a "rocket" with no fins or nose cone. "Is it stable" Yes, it goes up until the motor burns out then it stops flying, tumbles. "How, what makes it (the spool) stable?" FM mostly "FM?" Freakin' Magic.
 
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It normally flies on "short" 29mm composites (Black Jack? Black Max?). If I remember correctly, the only bp motor I tried to fly it on was an E9 that cato'd. I've never thought about two (or more) stages on a spool. I think I may have to make an 18mm spool and try it out! I'd probably try CHAD staging first.
That's essentially how the 2 cool for spool works, I am eager to see how it flies.
 
I worked on several rockets- the one pictured is:

Squirrel Works...

Two Cool for Spool SW-033
Length: 5.88"
Diameter: 5.75"
Weight: 2.0 oz
Recommended Engines:
Upper Stage: D12-0
Booster Stage: D12-0
I flew it once, nice straight flight and both stages tumbled to a soft landing in grass.
Slight scorching on the bottom of the booster stage.
0420211949[1].jpg
It normally flies on "short" 29mm composites (Black Jack? Black Max?). If I remember correctly, the only bp motor I tried to fly it on was an E9 that cato'd. I've never thought about two (or more) stages on a spool. I think I may have to make an 18mm spool and try it out! I'd probably try CHAD staging first.
Loc has the Cool Spool, 29mm motor with parachute recovery.
I've flown it on an F Black Jack with a short delay.
And as soon as I use up the last of this kevlar line, I'll have another 18mm rocket.
0420211948[1].jpg
😁
 
(Read another two more page[ѕ].)
I had mine done about 15 months ago, it was the best decision I ever made. I didn't realize how much I was catering to the pain until it was gone.
Does that mean you'll be changing your username to notquiteasmessedupanymoreryan?

@messedupryan So your surgery was pre-COVID. I'm waiting until either COVID is under control or all the COVIDIOTS die off before I have surgery.
"COVIDIOTS" is definitely going into my personal dictionary. (And their die-off is part of how COVID gets under control, so it's not really an either-or.)

Love the book in the background... "Quantum Physics for Babies"! 😂😂😂
My sister-in-law has the idea that we should teach qualitative quantum mechanics to preschoolers, while they're still able to believe in fairies. (The rigorous stuff can come later, just like every baby knows about gravity long before learning about the inverse square law.)

Froze my arse off, and launched some rockets 🚀!!View attachment 460324
That's part rocket launch day, and part bleak WWI landscape.

Ouch. I mean... ouch.

Electronics work. Lots & lots of electronics work. Zero smoke escaped.
Great news. Feels good, doesn't it, when something works right the first time.

Went back to look for my Big Daddy today... with a Big Daddy on the far side, standing on it's fins, bright orange parachute beside it.
That's a great relief.
 
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