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