It was another fine day for flying, with clear skies and mild temperatures. I sent FLying Colors flying on it's 10th voyage, powered by a CTI 538I303-16A, to an altitude of 6374'. Everyone lost track of it, so I was forced to rely entirely on my Walston Tracker to locate the rocket. This was the first time I had to rely entirely on the tracker. It led me on a bit of a circuitous route since my rocket had landed beyond a ridge, but I did locate it.
When I returned from recovering Flying Colors we loaded a motor in my wife's Wildman Wildchild that she has named Wild Flamingo on a CTI 108G68-13A motor. My AltimeterOne altimeter was attached to the shock cord using the vendors included wire clip. When we recovered the rocket there was no sign of my altimeter and it appears to be lost for good. It was a first generation AltimeterOne which differed in a couple ways from the current product, so I'm not happy about having lost it.
Photo Album: 2011-10-22, TIR Launch
Video: "Flying Colors", Flight #10
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Showing posts with label 538I303-16A. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 538I303-16A. Show all posts
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Flying Colors, Flight #8, "A Date with Kate"
Yesterday was our final launch opportunity of the spring season. We had a very good turn out with many launches. I shot quite a lot of video, capturing 15 launches in 13 segments. There were many more launches than that, but I wasn't always in position to take video. I was there to fly my own rocket after all.
We got to the site early so we could set up our own equipment and help with the launch equipment. I was still working on setting up the weather station when other people, including the person towing the club trailer, showed up. With a number of people working on it, the range was set up well in time for the opening of the launch window at 10:00.
Vern Knowles, "parent" of the ever-popular "Kate", is working on making a version of her available for sale. Kate is an automated flight data reporting system that receives GPS data transmitted from a rocket and announces the details of the flight in near-real-time. Vern had prototype transmitters, pre-installed in various size nose cones, available for test flights at this launch. For various reasons I was the only person to take Vern up on the chance to give Kate a ride at this launch. Having Kate on-board meant I would not be able to include my Walston Tracker, which is installed in my usual nose cone. I was still able to fly my AltimeterOne, which meant I'd have two sources of data regarding my maximum altitude. The Kate nose cone is also heavier than my usual nose cone, so I anticipated a lower than estimated flight. Based on RockSim v9.0 my expected altitude was 6830' AGL. According to my AltimeterOne I reached an altitude of 6210', while Kate reported 6449'. Kate did lose GPS during the ascent, but reacquired a fix before apogee and reported data for the rest of the flight. It is a good thing she did, as I never saw Flying Colors after it left the pad. There were people that spotted it, but I think they were able to due to Kate's reporting. Since Flying Colors landed 1.33 miles from the launch site I probably would not have received a signal from the tracker if I'd been flying it, particularly after Flying Colors landed. With Kate having provided landing coordinates it was a simple matter of punching them into a hand-held GPS unit and walking right to my rocket. Thank you Vern for letting me fly your transmitter for you.
Photo Album: 2011-06-04, Tripoli Idaho Launch
Video: 2011-06-04, Tripoli Idaho Rocketry, Launch Montage
We got to the site early so we could set up our own equipment and help with the launch equipment. I was still working on setting up the weather station when other people, including the person towing the club trailer, showed up. With a number of people working on it, the range was set up well in time for the opening of the launch window at 10:00.
Vern Knowles, "parent" of the ever-popular "Kate", is working on making a version of her available for sale. Kate is an automated flight data reporting system that receives GPS data transmitted from a rocket and announces the details of the flight in near-real-time. Vern had prototype transmitters, pre-installed in various size nose cones, available for test flights at this launch. For various reasons I was the only person to take Vern up on the chance to give Kate a ride at this launch. Having Kate on-board meant I would not be able to include my Walston Tracker, which is installed in my usual nose cone. I was still able to fly my AltimeterOne, which meant I'd have two sources of data regarding my maximum altitude. The Kate nose cone is also heavier than my usual nose cone, so I anticipated a lower than estimated flight. Based on RockSim v9.0 my expected altitude was 6830' AGL. According to my AltimeterOne I reached an altitude of 6210', while Kate reported 6449'. Kate did lose GPS during the ascent, but reacquired a fix before apogee and reported data for the rest of the flight. It is a good thing she did, as I never saw Flying Colors after it left the pad. There were people that spotted it, but I think they were able to due to Kate's reporting. Since Flying Colors landed 1.33 miles from the launch site I probably would not have received a signal from the tracker if I'd been flying it, particularly after Flying Colors landed. With Kate having provided landing coordinates it was a simple matter of punching them into a hand-held GPS unit and walking right to my rocket. Thank you Vern for letting me fly your transmitter for you.
Photo Album: 2011-06-04, Tripoli Idaho Launch
Video: 2011-06-04, Tripoli Idaho Rocketry, Launch Montage
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Another Successful Launch Day
Yesterday was our regularly scheduled launch day and the rocket gods smiled on us and gave us decent weather. We got stopped by a train across railroad tracks on the way to the launch site, so things were pretty much set up by the time we arrived. Our president had had to bring out the club trailer, meaning he didn't bring his personal trailer, which had his rocket tracker receiver in it. Since for now I'm borrowing his receiver when I fly my rocket, I was quite nervous about launching up over a mile and trying to find it. Given these considerations I decided to proceed with a flight, but use the I255 motor I had instead of the I303, since it was supposed to provide me a slightly lower flight. I armed my tracking transmitter and installed it in my nose cone as a precaution against my rocket going missing, the idea being that if I did lose my rocket I'd be able to go back out to the launch site with the receiver and locate it. I took my time prepping the rocket and ancillary gear so I didn't forget to do anything this time. I took my rocket out to the pad once I had it loaded up and inspected, but before I had everything else ready to go. I think I irritated some of the other rocketeers by tying up the pad for a while as I was getting everything else ready. I'll need to modify my preparations to make sure I don't do this again.
By the time I had video cameras ready to roll, GPS receiver up and running, and binoculars, camera, and FRS radio located and checked Coldfire was loaded up on the away pad and ready to fly. I re-situated my tripod mounted video camera so it could capture both Coldfire's and Flying Colors' flights. I asked Coldfire's owner if he would launch first so I could watch Coldfire fly without worrying about losing track of where Flying Colors landed. I don't think he understood my reasoning, but agreed and that is how things proceeded. It did prove to be a mistake in one regard in that I ran out of memory in my camera at the base of the launch pad prior to Flying Colors launching, so I have no video from it.
For this flight there was a high layer of thin clouds. This is exactly the kind of situation where I lose track of my rockets. I simply can't see them against the clouds. I think everyone lost it this time, so it may have actually gone above the clouds, but it is not clear. We watched and listened and for what seemed for an eternity there was no sign of Flying Colors. Finally somebody called out that they saw it and soon many people were tracking it. Eventually even I spotted my brilliant red parachute. In this case I think I would have been blind to not ultimately spot my descending rocket as it landed a mere 288.8' from the launch pad, per my GPS. I made the short walk out to it and did my usual post-flight inspection, including checking my AltimeterOne to see how high I actually flew. I was disappointed in this case to find that my altimeter had malfunctioned and was only reporting a peak altitude of 953' AGL. This was with the altimeter installed in my ported payload bay in the same configuration as the previous 5 flights.
I returned to base with my rocket and contemplated the skies. Soon we had a large patch of blue develop right over us and I decided to go for a second launch, this time on the I303 I had brought along as my primary motor. I reset my AltimeterOne and, hoping for better results, assembled my rocket. Since I already had my gear lined up from the first flight I was much quicker getting ready to fly when I took Flying Colors out to the pad. Soon the LCO gave the count and hit the launch button. Flying Colors flew beautifully up into the clear blue skies and I watched it from launch to landing. I walked straight out to it with no difficulty, though before I reached it I was really beginning to think I must have some how walked past it. It had landed beyond a small ridge and once I crested the ridge the parachute was easily spotted. I really didn't think it had landed as far out as it had, at 1244' from the launch site. I popped open the payload pay to see how my AltimeterOne had performed on this flight and found it reporting a perfectly normal looking reading of 6661' AGL.
So, with one small hiccup I had a really nice day of rocket flying with two successful flights of Flying Colors. In all there were 6 HPR launches, though I only managed to record 3 of them. There were a number of LPR rockets flown, at least one of which went AWOL. It was a rather detailed model, so I hope it can yet be found.
Photo Album: 2011-05-21, Tripoli Idaho Launch Day
Video: Montage of Tripoli Idaho Rocketry launches on 2011-05-21
Video Playlist: 2011-05-21, Tripoli Idaho Rocketry Launch
By the time I had video cameras ready to roll, GPS receiver up and running, and binoculars, camera, and FRS radio located and checked Coldfire was loaded up on the away pad and ready to fly. I re-situated my tripod mounted video camera so it could capture both Coldfire's and Flying Colors' flights. I asked Coldfire's owner if he would launch first so I could watch Coldfire fly without worrying about losing track of where Flying Colors landed. I don't think he understood my reasoning, but agreed and that is how things proceeded. It did prove to be a mistake in one regard in that I ran out of memory in my camera at the base of the launch pad prior to Flying Colors launching, so I have no video from it.
For this flight there was a high layer of thin clouds. This is exactly the kind of situation where I lose track of my rockets. I simply can't see them against the clouds. I think everyone lost it this time, so it may have actually gone above the clouds, but it is not clear. We watched and listened and for what seemed for an eternity there was no sign of Flying Colors. Finally somebody called out that they saw it and soon many people were tracking it. Eventually even I spotted my brilliant red parachute. In this case I think I would have been blind to not ultimately spot my descending rocket as it landed a mere 288.8' from the launch pad, per my GPS. I made the short walk out to it and did my usual post-flight inspection, including checking my AltimeterOne to see how high I actually flew. I was disappointed in this case to find that my altimeter had malfunctioned and was only reporting a peak altitude of 953' AGL. This was with the altimeter installed in my ported payload bay in the same configuration as the previous 5 flights.
I returned to base with my rocket and contemplated the skies. Soon we had a large patch of blue develop right over us and I decided to go for a second launch, this time on the I303 I had brought along as my primary motor. I reset my AltimeterOne and, hoping for better results, assembled my rocket. Since I already had my gear lined up from the first flight I was much quicker getting ready to fly when I took Flying Colors out to the pad. Soon the LCO gave the count and hit the launch button. Flying Colors flew beautifully up into the clear blue skies and I watched it from launch to landing. I walked straight out to it with no difficulty, though before I reached it I was really beginning to think I must have some how walked past it. It had landed beyond a small ridge and once I crested the ridge the parachute was easily spotted. I really didn't think it had landed as far out as it had, at 1244' from the launch site. I popped open the payload pay to see how my AltimeterOne had performed on this flight and found it reporting a perfectly normal looking reading of 6661' AGL.
So, with one small hiccup I had a really nice day of rocket flying with two successful flights of Flying Colors. In all there were 6 HPR launches, though I only managed to record 3 of them. There were a number of LPR rockets flown, at least one of which went AWOL. It was a rather detailed model, so I hope it can yet be found.
Photo Album: 2011-05-21, Tripoli Idaho Launch Day
Video: Montage of Tripoli Idaho Rocketry launches on 2011-05-21
Video Playlist: 2011-05-21, Tripoli Idaho Rocketry Launch
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
I passed with Flying Colors.
Saturday, October 30, was finally the day to put my new LOC/Precision Vulcanite H76 to the test and attempt to get my Tripoli Rocketry Association Level 1 certification. If all went well I also intended to go for my Level 2 certification as well. We got to the launch site early so I could get our shelter set up before the other rocketeers arrived and it would be time to help set up the launch equipment. Precisely at 9:30 the other people started showing up and we quickly got the gear unloaded and set up. By shortly after 10:00 we were ready to go, so I started preparing my new rocket, Flying Colors for launch. For my L1 certification attempt I would be flying a Cesaroni 538I303-16A motor with the full 16 second delay. The preparations went smoothly and I soon found myself standing at the launch pad double checking my check list. This was the first time I'd flown a Cesaroni motor and I couldn't believe how easily it had gone together. With some trepidation I turned in the flight card for my rocket and when the Launch Control Officer (LCO) was ready to go quickly started the video camera rolling and got back to the flight line. Here is the launch, both at full-speed and at 1/30th normal.
Video: Level One Certification Launch
Video: Level One Certification Launch (Slow Motion)
After walking 1.21 miles I found my rocket in good order laying on the desert floor. Actually I should say that I found Jim, our local rocket finder, standing next to my rocket laying on the desert floor. After snapping some photos to document the condition of the rocket I opened the payload bay to check my altimeter. The altimeter reported a maximum altitude of 6732'. Pre-flight simulations had predicted 6735.91841'. Apparently it is unusual to have a prediction that close to the actual altitude as several comments were made about it.
I didn't initially find any damage, but when carrying it back to the launch site I noticed that I had lost some paint toward the leading edge of the sustainer, apparently from an impact with something. I had not initially seen it because it was on the side of the rocket that was laying on the ground. The underlying fibreglass and kraft paper tubing was undamaged, so I passed my L1 certification flight!
By this point the weather had degraded to the point that I could not attempt my L2 certification due to low ceilings. I grabbed some lunch and prepped my Aerotech Arreaux, Dragon Fly for flight. This is the rocket that was lost for nearly 2 weeks in the Spring on its second flight. I had not had time to paint it in the Spring, so this was the first time it would be flown in a completed state. I had acquired 3 Aerotech G76G-10 reloads for this rocket for use in the Fall launch window. I prepared the motor and was about half way through when I discovered that the reload kit had included the wrong igniter. There were actually three igniters in the package and all of them were too short to be used. Fortunately one of the other rocketeers was able to provide me with a a suitable igniter and I finished preparing the rocket. As I was completing the assembly of the rocket the skies decided to clear and it was obvious that I could go for my L2 attempt, but I didn't want to leave a loaded rocket sitting around and I could not unload it, at least not without compromising the ejection charge of black powder. I hastened to get the Dragon Fly launched and recovered so I could get going on the Flying Colors. Below are the videos for the Dragon Fly's launch.
Video: Dragon Fly, Flight #3, Launch
Video: Dragon Fly, Flight #3, Launch (Slow Motion)
Dragon Fly landed .34 miles from the launch site and achieved an altitude of 2948' vs. a pre-flight estimate of 2665.10535'. Recovering it was straight-forward, but ate quite a bit of time. By the time I got back to base we had clouds moving back in and I had to hurry to get my L2 attempt ready to fly. For this flight I would be using a Cesaroni 658J357-17A with the full 17 second delay. The ease of assembly of this motor really helped get me to the pad quickly, so quickly that I went through my check list twice again to make sure I'd not forgotten anything. With even more nerves than before I turned in the flight card for my L2 attempt. Again I started the camera rolling when I got the sign from the LCO and cleared the area. Flying Colors once again leapt off the pad and tore off into the sky. Below are the videos for this launch.
Video: Level Two Certification Launch
Video: Level Two Certification Launch (Slow Motion)
We lost track of it for a while but it was spotted coming down on the chute. While this was the highest flight of the day, it was also the shortest walk I had, landing only .34 miles from the launch site. There was no new damage. I took a picture of the rocket as it lay, but somehow I don't have it in the camera. Apparently I didn't get the shutter release fully depressed. I did open the payload bay to see my altimeter and have a photo of it, the only one I thought to take of it all day. So my highest flight to date has photographic record. The pre-flight estimate for this flight was 7408.37892'. The actual altitude was recorded as 7434'. This should have been my first supersonic flight with a predicted maximum velocity of 1180.7712 ft/s (805mph), but unfortunately I don't own the instrumentation necessary to verify that. Given the accuracy of the height prediction however, I strongly suspect that I achieved at least that velocity.
Below are photos taken during the day by my daughters and myself.
Photo Album: 2010-10-30, Rockets (TRA Certification Day)
Map of Launch and Landing sites:
View Rocket Flights in a larger map
Video: Level One Certification Launch
Video: Level One Certification Launch (Slow Motion)
After walking 1.21 miles I found my rocket in good order laying on the desert floor. Actually I should say that I found Jim, our local rocket finder, standing next to my rocket laying on the desert floor. After snapping some photos to document the condition of the rocket I opened the payload bay to check my altimeter. The altimeter reported a maximum altitude of 6732'. Pre-flight simulations had predicted 6735.91841'. Apparently it is unusual to have a prediction that close to the actual altitude as several comments were made about it.
I didn't initially find any damage, but when carrying it back to the launch site I noticed that I had lost some paint toward the leading edge of the sustainer, apparently from an impact with something. I had not initially seen it because it was on the side of the rocket that was laying on the ground. The underlying fibreglass and kraft paper tubing was undamaged, so I passed my L1 certification flight!
By this point the weather had degraded to the point that I could not attempt my L2 certification due to low ceilings. I grabbed some lunch and prepped my Aerotech Arreaux, Dragon Fly for flight. This is the rocket that was lost for nearly 2 weeks in the Spring on its second flight. I had not had time to paint it in the Spring, so this was the first time it would be flown in a completed state. I had acquired 3 Aerotech G76G-10 reloads for this rocket for use in the Fall launch window. I prepared the motor and was about half way through when I discovered that the reload kit had included the wrong igniter. There were actually three igniters in the package and all of them were too short to be used. Fortunately one of the other rocketeers was able to provide me with a a suitable igniter and I finished preparing the rocket. As I was completing the assembly of the rocket the skies decided to clear and it was obvious that I could go for my L2 attempt, but I didn't want to leave a loaded rocket sitting around and I could not unload it, at least not without compromising the ejection charge of black powder. I hastened to get the Dragon Fly launched and recovered so I could get going on the Flying Colors. Below are the videos for the Dragon Fly's launch.
Video: Dragon Fly, Flight #3, Launch
Video: Dragon Fly, Flight #3, Launch (Slow Motion)
Dragon Fly landed .34 miles from the launch site and achieved an altitude of 2948' vs. a pre-flight estimate of 2665.10535'. Recovering it was straight-forward, but ate quite a bit of time. By the time I got back to base we had clouds moving back in and I had to hurry to get my L2 attempt ready to fly. For this flight I would be using a Cesaroni 658J357-17A with the full 17 second delay. The ease of assembly of this motor really helped get me to the pad quickly, so quickly that I went through my check list twice again to make sure I'd not forgotten anything. With even more nerves than before I turned in the flight card for my L2 attempt. Again I started the camera rolling when I got the sign from the LCO and cleared the area. Flying Colors once again leapt off the pad and tore off into the sky. Below are the videos for this launch.
Video: Level Two Certification Launch
Video: Level Two Certification Launch (Slow Motion)
We lost track of it for a while but it was spotted coming down on the chute. While this was the highest flight of the day, it was also the shortest walk I had, landing only .34 miles from the launch site. There was no new damage. I took a picture of the rocket as it lay, but somehow I don't have it in the camera. Apparently I didn't get the shutter release fully depressed. I did open the payload bay to see my altimeter and have a photo of it, the only one I thought to take of it all day. So my highest flight to date has photographic record. The pre-flight estimate for this flight was 7408.37892'. The actual altitude was recorded as 7434'. This should have been my first supersonic flight with a predicted maximum velocity of 1180.7712 ft/s (805mph), but unfortunately I don't own the instrumentation necessary to verify that. Given the accuracy of the height prediction however, I strongly suspect that I achieved at least that velocity.
Below are photos taken during the day by my daughters and myself.
Photo Album: 2010-10-30, Rockets (TRA Certification Day)
Map of Launch and Landing sites:
View Rocket Flights in a larger map
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