ECOF events - Kelly's Engineering Challenge 2011
 

Welcome to the Kelly Engineering Challenge for WOOSH ECOF 2011 ----- Legged Landers -----

This is looking to be a fun event. We have a lot of creative rocketeers. I think 2010 only scratched the surface! The preliminary rules for 2011 are...

1. Legged lander must fly at ECOF in 2011, under thrust of allowed propellant (BP, APCP, or hybrid).
2. The rocket, or a significant portion thereof, must land upright using folding, deployable landing legs. (i.e. the lunar module.)
3. Legs must be functional. (i.e. must support the landing weight of the lander and keep it upright on landing)
Point deductions for a rocket that landed well but tipped over due to crosswinds will be at discretion of the judge.
4. Legs must fold or stow for boost, and feature some mechanism to deploy for landing. (Snitch's can fly, but with a full deduction of pre-flight judging points for innovation in design and degree of difficulty.)
5. Rocketeer must be certified to level of combined motors flown. NAR safety code applies.
6. Rocket does not have to be a crayon. Innovations in design are always encouraged. Family friendly theme mandatory. Remember the judge is a ten year old girl.
7. Scoring is as follows... 100 points total

20 points for innovation of design (theme, unique design features, including legs)
20 points for degree of difficulty, specifically reserved for legs (folding function, deploy function, etc...)
20 points for quality of build (finish, smooth transitions, fin fillets, motor retention)
20 points for quality of flight (stability, altitude, duration)
20 points for quality of recovery (recovery device deployment, lack of damage, lander stayed upright)

8. Rewards... Points are cumulative. In addition to eternal bragging rights, the winner gets an engraved trophy, with medals for 2nd and 3rd place. All pre-registered participants get a nifty certificate suitable for framing. And, just as in 2010, the winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to Wildman Rocket Supply.

dates - Saturday, 27 Aug 2011 and Sunday, 28 Aug 2011

9:00 AM - tent and table setup
10:00 AM - group photo (bring your legged lander / booster / rocket)
10:00 AM to 12:00 AM - preflight judging (rockets together)

Innovation in design - max of 20 points
Degree of Difficulty - max of 20 points
Quality of build - max of 20 points

12:00 AM to 3:00 PM - qualifying flights (thru Sunday if weather forecast acceptable)

Inflight points - Quality of flight - max of 20 points
Postflight points - Quality of recovery - max of 20 points

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM - point tabulation
4:00 PM - awards ceremony

Kelly Engineering Challenge Hall of Fame...

2011 - Legged Landers

1st place -
2nd place -
3rd place -
Honorable Mention -

2010 - Strap-on Boosters

1st place - Jay R - Delta 304 Gravity Probe - I236 in core (Cesaroni Pro 38-3G)), with 6 x D12, 3 x E9 (9 boosters)
2nd place - Marc S - Ultimate Ninja - 6 x C6, 2 x A10, staged to D12
3rd place - Walt E - Devil Dog - H175 (Cesaroni Pro 29-4G) in core, 2 x F20-4 in boosters
Honorable Mention - Chad R - Tres Daddy - I154-J in core, 2 x F-39T in boosters

2009 - Crayons

1st place - Scott G - yellow crayon, CrayMarc missile on AeroTech J500-G (6 grain 38mm = 723.0 Ns) + 2 x airstarted AeroTech F52-T (each 73.0 Ns) = combined 869.0 Ns
2nd place - Jay R - red crayon, with 3 strap-on crayon boosters that deployed after burnout and had individual recovery systems. Cesaroni G69 Skidmark (1 grain 38mm = 121.1 Ns) + 6 x Estes D12-3 (each 16.8 Ns) = combined 221.9 Ns
3rd place - Marc S - yellow FAO Schwartz crayon on AeroTech I218-Redline (3 grain 38mm = 330.0 Ns)
Honorable Mention - Tim L - green crayon. Cesaroni K675 Skidmark (6 grain 54mm = 2009.6 Ns)

Cheers, Sather

Super Secret ECOF Project - hint #1...

Didn't you let the cat out of the bag on this one somewhere else some time back?

Yes, but I've changed my mind on more than a few occasions. This is version 5 of Hint #1. ;)

P.S. I guess this would technically be Hint #2. Hint #1 is realizing which thread I posted this under.

Time to retrofit my Miranda... 6 legs..Should be fun!

Super Secret ECOF Project - hint #3...

And a special thank you to Dan K for locating a glass cloth drape-able enough to do a full hemisphere without wrinkling!

Bump. ECOF @ T minus 35 days...

Kellys challange
 

So are theese projects top secret?
Or are we going to share plans before hand ?

Mine is sort of built , and I fear I may need a test flight , or are test flights not allowed ?

If you want to keep it a secret, sure. Mine is done, I just haven't got around to putting a piece on here about it. With that big field you have, test fly away!

Test flights are allowed. Secrecy is optional. I am keeping mine under wraps mostly because my daughter is the judge. Two years ago, she watched the Crayola Jayhawk build from start to finish, but was so desensitized (by familiarity) to it's total awesomeness that it wasn't even an honorable mention. This year, the first time she will see it is on launch day.

P.S. Entrants that notify me in advance get a nifty certificate suitable for framing, similar to the attachment (from 2009). Let me know how you want your name spelled.