| We again
traveled to the launch site at Old National Pike Park, east of New
Market, for some testing and experimentation. It was a little
cool, but almost no wind, and no rain.
Objectives:
- Will the tube launcher pass
inspection by the NAR folks and will it work?
- Could we use a Big Daddy with weight
reduction and an E9 to get to 850 feet?
- We need to practice the Aerotech
motor launch process.
Lessons
- The tube launcher seems to work and
the safety officer gave it an OK.
- We can't load just any parts on the
tube launched rocket. We need to run a simulation with all the parts
assembled.
- It didn't look like the E9 got the
Big Daddy to even 800 feet.
- The Aerotech motor gave the Big
Daddy a good kick.
- With a short rocket like the Big
Daddy, we need to make sure the weight is in the center of the
tubes.
- You need to wear warm clothes when
it's cold.
|
 |
Launches
 |
We just had
a few launches to test some specific issues.
|
Flight |
Weight |
Engine |
Data |
Comment |
|
Tube Rocket (Video) |
400+g |
E9-6 |
crashed 4 seconds after launch |
Unstable flight, but the tube launcher
seemed to work |
|
Big Daddy (Video) |
305g |
E9-6 |
Under 800 feet,
about 38 sec from the video |
Flew too much off vertical, good
recovery |
|
Big Daddy (Video) |
300g |
E15-7 |
Over 850 feet, about 48 sec from the video |
Nice flight, straight up, good
recovery |
|
Pictures
It's getting cold
 |
Getting ready
 |
The tube launcher
 |
Go Big Daddy
 |
|
