With the rocket season here very quickly coming to a close, I had a chance to launch this weekend just gone. I have a number of electronic payloads I really want to get into the air at the moment (including a BeeLine tracking transmitter, altimeter and a beeping locator beacon). As time was short, I decided to try out the new 'Gum stick' camera I recently purchased on eBay. I managed two flawless launches on Sunday and here's the footage:
The rocket was a quick scratch-build, BT50 with a 18mm motor mount. Both launches were on an Estes C6-5 with an altitude of just a few hundred feet, recovery under a 12" Mylar parachute. Ideal shake-down flights for the camera. I'll look at launching the camera in something much more exciting a Tripoli launch next year :)
Not bad for an $11.50 camera :) Two more videos after the jump!
I recently went out to fly with Wombat - He had fitted out his Semroc Hustler with a Parrot Altimeter and a Pen Spy Camera. This was the first launch of the new electronics and while it wasn't responsible for deployment, it was to be a test to see how they perform under flight conditions. Loaded up with a single-use composite E, it was given the kiss of death....
Deployment was late.. Very late... The avionics bay was torn free of the parachute and booster and landed in the lake on the East side of the Dandenong Wetlands launch site. Ouch! All was not lost, though. Electronics recovered and washed-off with isopropyl alcohol and all look good at this stage!
Steve is a Born-Again Rocketeer who has spent 30 years creating special effects for the movie industry (he created the ears for Spock in Star Trek the Motion Picture!). He returned to rocketry in 2009.
After reading through his site and seeing the work that he had done, I figure that these kits were going to be something special. I checked my bank balance & sent Steve an email - how much to ship a kit to Australia?
I processed a paypal payment straight after I got his response :)
The V23 kit - his first on offer - turned up about 10 days later. I wasn't disappointed! This is a great looking kit. I've snapped a few photos straight out of the box:
I've been busy for the last 6 weeks designing and building three new scratch-built rockets. All finished and flight-tested today!
First up is "Red, Black & Balls" and "The Lance of Adequacy"
"Red, Black & Balls" is about 20" long and built around a BT20 body tube. Three ping-pong balls are mounted at the bottom (and cutting the holes top and bottom was a pain!). Launched today on a Quest A6-4 motor. Ejection was quite late but recovered without damage. a C6-4 would be a better choice for this but with the wind today I didn't want to risk it drifting too far. "The Lance of Adequacy" went up on a C6-5, again ejection was quite late since after motor burn-out it virtually stopped and began it's return to Earth. With such a large conical fin at the rear slowed it down and recovered without damage.
My favourite for the day was my "Cruz'n Missile"
The "Cruz'n Missile" flys on a 13mm motor and features a custom turned nosecone. I had a vague idea of building a cruise missile when I started this. Very happy with the results :) Doesn't break the sound barrier or reach orbit - but still gets up a respectable few hundred feet.
Launch photos of "The Lance of Adequacy" and "Cruz'n Missile" after the jump.
After a 230km (140 mile) drive to the October launch at Tripoli's Serpentine launch site things weren't looking good - rain and low cloud threatened to derail the day. However within a couple of hours, the cloud-base had lifted enough to allow the waver to open - with flights restricted to just a few thousand feet.
I started the day by launching my Estes Mean Machine on a E28W, good boost to somewhere around 1,000' and perfect recovery.
I also launched my QANTAS rocket and Der Red Max. The QANTAS rocket had a good, if not twisty, boost. Rocksim predicted an altitude of around 2500' on a G64 and it looked like it did that and more.
My Scratch-built Der Red Max was my third and final flight of the day. It screamed off the pad with a D13W installed, it appeared to apogee somewhere around 1000'. The 18mm RMS system really does give a kick to those small rockets, never fails to attact a few WOW's.
I've been off work for a few days now with a twisted ankle and since I can't do much more than sit on my bum, I got busy finishing my current scratch-build project :) I give you - The QANTAS Rocket!
Being a little less than two years before I was born, I have had to re-live the excitement of the events vicariously through books, movies and the Internet and of course, by building and flying my own rockets.
I may never have the opportunity to walk on the face of another world but that will never stop me dreaming. Well done guys. You really are heroes.
After the June Launch being cancelled due to rain, I decided that I would brave the cold and take the long drive out to Serpentine for the July launch on the weekend. Only got in two flights:
The first flight of the day was my scratch-built Mini Mean Machine launched on a C6. Nice straight flight and perfect recovery. The second flight was my scratch-build 'Green Thing' with tube fins. I flew this on an Aerotech RMS D13. The eject charge blew so hard that the parachute and nosecone separated from the airframe. The airframe was recovered with minimal damage but the parachute & nosecone was last seen heading for New South Wales.
Holden Australia have just started promoting their new car, the Cruze with the following advertisement:
This seems to be the first time that Amateur rocketry has been used in advertising! Excellent! A 2nd video after the jump has some behind the scenes footage.
I took advantage of a fairly still day to launch some rockets this weekend, while most of the flights were uneventful, the Big Daddy decided to put on a show... Loaded up with the same Aerotech E18 motor I flew at the Tripoli launch the weekend before, it decided to CATO just a few feet off the end of the rod.
When the motor blew,the nozzle & propellant (which self-extinguished) were ejected. Everything except the aft closure were recovered.
The image above is three consecutive frames from the video.
I believe the cause of the aft closure failure was due to it not being fully secured in place. The closure was done up tight, however I believe that the liner tube may have been a fraction longer than normal, causing the aft closure to not screw in completely thus only having a small portion of thread engaged. As the motor came up to full-pressure, it simply pushed the ass end out of the motor in a bright flash of light. Impressive flight for all the wrong reasons! Check out the video after the jump.
Rocketry 
