What's the fastest anyone has sucsessfuly flown a lightly built Estes Star Orbiter ?
- Thread starter Wallace
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2016
- Messages
- 8,716
- Reaction score
- 3,106
Those fins are pretty light. If paper + CA + tape is "lightly built" then you could probably push up into transonic.
Last edited:
CPUTommy
Thrust cures All
I think that's a project worth revisiting, New body tube and lose the cam.. And a real light accelerometer.. I'm curious to see the numbers.
CPUTommy
Thrust cures All
The engine mount went through the tube and into the nose cone?
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2016
- Messages
- 8,716
- Reaction score
- 3,106
Looks like that Estes retainer is to hold the tail of that sled into the nose.
Correct, that's a modular nc av bay system I designed. Basically anything that I can fit a bt-55 into will hold my eggfinder mini/Quantum combo. Just drop it in and screw on the retainer (I turned down to OD to fit the bt). It also allows for shorter/lighter batteries due to the fact that the sled itself is two separate pieces(can be shortened with a different tail section). I chose a 800Mah Lipo due to the fact it has to handle both the Mini and WiFi on the Quantum. They both survived and I will post data from the Quantum.I will post ground flight video soon, but the onboard 808 #16 is still lost "somewhere" near the pad @ Bong since that's pretty much where I found the rest of the parts.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2012
- Messages
- 5,566
- Reaction score
- 3,741
You need to download the detail. You'll get some interesting insight into what a shread look like to an altimeter... you're likely to see some very spikey data.
It looks like the failsafe kicked in and tried to deploy the parachute right after apogee, probably because it didn't see that your drogue was doing any good. That's understandable since by that time you already were in pieces. You have a really low velocity value for the failsafe, the default (if you enable it) is 100 ft/sec for 1 sec. 50 ft/sec is about the velocity that your drogue should be hitting.
It looks like the failsafe kicked in and tried to deploy the parachute right after apogee, probably because it didn't see that your drogue was doing any good. That's understandable since by that time you already were in pieces. You have a really low velocity value for the failsafe, the default (if you enable it) is 100 ft/sec for 1 sec. 50 ft/sec is about the velocity that your drogue should be hitting.
Well, it seems I never documented the actual weight in my data base but I'm simulating it with 13.5 ounces so I must have weighed it at some point.
In 4 weeks it will hopefully be flying on an H depending what type the vender has at the field.
Here is the build thread: Read....
Thanks for the input Cris. At least now I have a direction to look
Also thanks for the Eggfinder Mini; Or I wouldn't have any data to peruse.
Leo: You do some of the nicest/cleanest work I've seen. Realistically @ $14 with a 40 percent discount at Hobby Lobby the Star Orbiter just cannot be beat. I've bought more than one, but only actually built one, the others ended up being used for "parts". Now that I managed to destroy mine I must get another.They fly absolutely Beautifully on BP motors. An E16 seems to be the "sweet" spot. Being in Germany, I have no idea what such things cost you but here it's just downright cheap...Love it!
Cris; looking @ these numbers, it appears to have come apart just past 1.05 seconds. Unfiltered velocity says I broke mach (by a fair margin ) , filtered says I was approaching it. Which #'s do I believe, or do I use an average? Btw the payload bay is 1.22" × 9" and had a single .1" vent drilled as low as I could get it in the nc shoulder.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2012
- Messages
- 5,566
- Reaction score
- 3,741
When you get near mach, the unfiltered pressure numbers get pretty wonky, that's why there's the filter. You have to use the velocity figure more as a guideline than an absolute... it's a derived value, and therefore can be subject to external errors. I think saying that your rocket came apart near Mach is reasonably accurate. OTOH, the unfiltered value is usually pretty good near apogee and at main chute deployment due to the much lower velocity, unless you're coming in ballistic and going really fast. The last ballistic I had came in at around 350 fps, I know because the Quantum that was in the AV bay survived. (Tip: Don't forget to put powder in the charge wells...)
BTW, if you edit out the 3 or 4 lines representing the deployment spike and regraph it, you'll probably get a much more interesting graph.
BTW, if you edit out the 3 or 4 lines representing the deployment spike and regraph it, you'll probably get a much more interesting graph.
midpower_madness
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2016
- Messages
- 145
- Reaction score
- 25
I know of a few people who have been building basswood finned BT55 rockets with success. They are flying these birds with G80s and a few CTi 159G125s Reds- all flights were well into the sonic speed realm.
Here's the final set of #'s at landing. Safely assume it was tumbling at that point since the nc/bay had separated itself. Weird part is it was stuck in the ground and tried to punch the sled out the front? Absolutely amazes me how delicate theses things seem when you're building them, yet the abuse they can actually handle and survive is astonishing.
Forgot to mention, the end cap on the av bay was long gone by that point (I had to turn it down pretty thin in order to make it fit nicely in the bt-55 and also notch it for the leader wire; Safely assume it self destructed) so the Quantum was receiving air from a full 1.22" hole.
Last edited:
Similar threads
