So my first step up from low-power rockets was an
Aerotech Arreaux kit that I purchased at my local hobby shop. I built it this spring, which took far longer than it should because I lost a part and had to get a replacement from the manufacturer. Kudos to
Aerotech for excellent customer service.
I finished the rocket just in time to take it, sans paint, to the final launch of the Spring season conducted by our local
Tripoli Rocketry Association chapter. I hadn't even managed to acquire motors for the rocket before the launch date, so had to get a motor from another member for the maiden flight. I ended up getting a G80-10T. This is a single use motor from Aerotech. At the time I failed to realize that this was
not one of the recommended motors for this rocket, having too short a delay on the ejection charge. This also represented the most powerful motor that can be flown in the Arreaux, which was hardly what I wanted to shake-down my build with. With some trepidation I proceeded to load the motor into my rocket. The launch was a success with the rocket climbing straight into the sky despite a moderate breeze. No weather cocking was observed and the chute deployed successfully. I happily recovered the rocket a couple hundred yards from the launch pad.
Jubilant with the success, I went in search of another motor to fly it on. Another member had an Aerotech G71-10R reload he was willing to sell me and a
Rouse-Tech Monster Motor case he would loan me for the flight. This being the first time I'd flown a re-loadable motor I did the assembly under his supervision. I took my rocket to the pad and hooked up my first Copperhead igniter. Again my rocket flew off the pad straight into the sky, this time with a beautiful, bright, red flame trailing out the back. As it approached apogee all observers lost track of my rocket against the sun. No sign of the rocket was seen as it descended and I came to fear that my parachute had failed to deploy. I spent the next 3+ hours searching the desert for my rocket, but to no avail. Finally my wife was not feeling well, so I was forced to abandon the search.
Later in the week our club's "finder", Jim, went out to the launch site and searched for my rocket and the booster section of another rocket that had gone missing. After 8 hours of searching he gave up for the day, having found neither of the missing items.
Our finder went out again late in the week and put another 5 hours into searching for the two stray lambs. Again he met with no success.
I went out on the weekend and spent six hours with my daughter combing the area for my rocket and the booster section. Some of the search areas are heavy with
cheatgrass which gets into your socks and shoes and makes walking an absolute torment. Again neither object turned up.
Our finder found he couldn't give up on our missing rockets and went out again the following week. This time within a couple of hours he had found both my rocket and the stray booster section! After some 13 days exposure to the environment, a period which saw some serious T-storms roll though, my Arreaux was finally found. As feared, the recovery system had failed to deploy. The payload bay was only separated from the rear portion of the rocket by about 1/4 inch. Apparently the small piece of masking tape I'd used on the coupler tube to tighten this connection had managed to prevent the two parts from separating. Miraculously my rocket somehow managed to make an uncontrolled descent and land with
no apparent damage. There are some water stains and other marks on the body tube, but otherwise my rocket appears ready to go again! I've cleaned up the tube with a light sanding to prepare it for painting and look forward to flying it again this fall when fire season is over and we can resume launching.
Thanks Jim!
My recovered Arreaux standing in my backyard.
Close-up showing the stains on my rocket.
