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After we completed our participation in the TARC 2012 final fly-off, we held a meeting to discuss the challenge for 2012. The following items are some really good comments that we hope to consider them in the 2013 challenge.

Things we did well in 2011/12

1. We made some nice rockets.

2. We had good weather.

3. No rockets were lost (no explosions, hung in trees, lost in fields).

4. We had note pads in our project boxes.

5. We weighed motors and eggs to eliminate variables.

6. All the motors were from one manufacturing lot.

7. We found a new launch site.

Here are some improvement suggestions.

1. Collect more data from the launches.

2. Have someone in charge of collecting data at each launch.

3. Conduct more launches, maybe on Sunday.

4. Consider using motors from a different manufacturer (not AeroTech).

5. Make more rockets.

6. Have a Saturday workshop in the fall.

7. Do something to reduce or eliminate the spikes (which seemed to be worse with the new altimeters)

   1. Isolate the eggs from the altimeter.

   2. Make sure the altimeter is tight in the tube (foam block).

   3. Make a very long shock cord.

   4. Attach the shock cord to the outside of the launch rail button.

   5. Two separate recovery systems (booster and cargo).

   6. Does the sizing/spacing of the holes in the cargo unit help with the spikes on the altitude curve?

8. Have more members committed to TARC.

9. With our irregular attendance, an assistant lead is needed, and all members need a basic understanding of the program and/or responsibilities. Either a notebook or computer folder to communicate status and plans.

10. Need a flash drive always at the office, so all work is stored on the shared drive instead of the individual laptops Investigation Ideas

11. Spark suppressor or Nomex cloth to protect chutes.

12. Launch with an old and new altimeter to compare the results. Compare to results from manual sighting angle/baseline.

Les Cannon pulled these ideas from from TARC 2012 Presentations.

1. Design for payload first. E.g., one team used part of a pool noodle for the altimeter-and-eggs holder, which required a BT-300 tube. Using BT-300 put the design above the maximum weight, and required a more powerful motor. That resulted in an altitude of 950’, so they needed to launch at 57 degrees (I thought 60 was minimum).

2. Test launch plot varying just weight. Best-fit line to identify launch weight.

3. Use the design software with different weather conditions (wind, temperature, humidity).

4. Different team members in charge of (or involved with) different areas. Examples, design, electrical/launch (they made own launch system), construction, data-collection and chasers – this team had at least 9 members.

5. Update design model with results from test flights.

6. Weigh rocket after launch.