It was
rather windy day with gusts close to 20mph, but we had some great flights.
The big problem was the rockets were landing almost 2000
feet away! We launched six times, two test launches, and two
qualification launches for both teams. Both teams had successful
qualification scores. Team 1, 4222, BT80, got one score of 9. Team 2, 4228,
BT70, got scores of 71 and 272.
I suspect team 4222 will be invited to the national
competition on May 20. Team 4228 is on the bubble, and may not get invited,
but they can be proud of a successful qualification flight.
Congratulations to all the members who worked hard on
this project. And thanks to all the parents for using up a Saturday
and driving to the launch sites.
- No rain, no freezing hands.
- We recovered all altimeters and downloaded six altimeter data sets.
- Operations went very smoothly, the teams
worked well together.
Lessons
- We compensated for the wind, even over
compensated on the last flight. Two flights were over 800 feet in the
15mph wind.
- When we know the rockets will land far
away, we need to get runners out there to speed the recovery.
Sometimes our recovery took almost 15 minutes and that put a stress on the
altimeter battery.
- The separate recovery mechanisms proved to
be a good design. The eggs came down OK and we didn't need a shock
cord.
- We used a coat over the computer and Bob's
head -- solved the computer screen brightness issue.
Our TARC Rockets
Rocket |
Engine/
Weight |
Cargo/
Chutes |
Recovery |
Results |
BT80-1
Test Launch
Video
Score: 102 DQ |
E9-8
|
Egg, Altimeter,
Chute1-14in w/spill,
Chute2-18in engine
Chute protector |
Chutes opened, egg broke, otherwise vertical flight |
Height: 706ft altimeter
Time: 37sec altimeter
Altimeter Data |
BT70-2
Test Launch
Video
Score: 89 |
E9-8
|
Egg, Altimeter,
Chute-14in w/spill
Streamer for engine |
Chute opened, good vertical flight |
Height: 879ft altimeter
Time: 55sec altimeter
Altimeter Data |
BT80-1
4222 Qualification 1
Video
Score: 9 |
E9-6
|
Egg, Altimeter,
Chute1-14in w/s,
Chute2-18in engine
Chute protector |
Chutes opened, good vertical flight |
Height: 794ft altimeter
Time: 46sec altimeter
48sec timers
Altimeter Data |
BT70-2
4228 Qualification 1
Video
Score: 272 |
E9-4
|
Egg, Altimeter,
Chute-14in w/spill
Streamer for engine |
Chute opened, flight into wind, strange altimeter readings |
Height: 536ft altimeter
Time: 49sec altimeter
53sec timers
Altimeter Data |
BT70-1
4222 Qualification 2
Video
Score: 83 DQ |
E9-6
|
Egg, Altimeter,
Chute-12in |
Chute opened, but shock cord broke out of engine unit, lost engine unit,
and the egg broke |
Height: 873ft altimeter
Time: 55sec altimeter
Altimeter Data |
BT80-2
4228 Qualification 2
Video
Score: 71 |
E9-6
|
Egg, Altimeter,
Chute-18in,
Chute protector |
Chute opened, flight with the wind, otherwise good |
Height: 740ft altimeter
Time: 54sec altimeter
56sec timers
Altimeter Data |
Pictures
Checking in
|
BT80-1 getting ready
|
BT70-1 getting ready
|
BT80-2 getting ready -
last flight
|
|