DARS Frisco Launch
February 20, 2010

I finally got to fly a few rockets this weekend. I stay really busy keeping up with four kids, so getting a day to fly rockets is hard to come by.

Below Here's yours truly getting ready to fly a Midget clone. (Note to self: Time for a beard trim and a haircut.)


The K40 Midget clone put in a good flight and was recovered in excellent condition.





Sam Barone flew this beautiful Maxi Alpha clone on a cluster of three E9's. You can see here that only two are lit. The ignitor leads are visible above the rod indicating that the rocket pulled them along with it until they broke free.

With only two motors burning, the speed off the rod was low. That, combined with the cross wind and slightly off axis thrust, resulted in a profound arc.



Needless to say, at this point, all hope was lost.

Ultimately, the third, unlit motor did ignite, from the forward end when the others ejected, so there was little left to salvage



My 1.3x upscale Midget also put in a good flight. The wind was gradually picking up as the morning wore on, and the C6-to-B4 combo proved to be a little much.

After over an hour of hunting and getting my shoes completely swathed in mud, I finally found the sustainer in perfect condition with only a bit of dirt on it.

The kevlar shock cord was twisted into a tight wad. I found that surprising given that recovery was on a streamer. I've seen parachutes spin and cause that, but not streamers.

The booster broke a fin, but that's not uncommon and will be fixed without great difficulty.

After the long hunt, and with the wind getting worse, I decided to call it a day. I still have three more rockets prepped to fly, so I'm ready to go again whenever the weather is

Doug

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YORF member #11

Man, I hate to see pics like that Max Alpha. Won't keep me from flying when the chance comes, but I still hate it.

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Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Nice pics. You look different without your "hat".

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I love sanding.

Yeah, this was easily my worst showing since I BAR'ed in '06. No worries though, I'll build another. I believe that my biggest mistake was using dog barf in the forward end of each motor in the cluster. I'm pretty sure it all shook loose early on so that there was little protection for the unlit motor when the two ejection charges fired.
BTW my Maxi Alpha clone started life as an Executioner so no vintage kit was lost.
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Doug takes some nice pics when he's behind the camera!

Fill the ends with dog barf like last time, but hold it in there with a little piece of masking tape.

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I love sanding.

Not to be morbid, but do you have any pics of the aftermath? I've never heard of the ejection charges setting off an unlit motor in a cluster. Were these just regular Estes motors?

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Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Taking the liberty, here's what Sam posted on a DARS forum. It's pretty bad Doug .

http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/...theAlpha001.jpg

http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/...-02-20toast.jpg

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YORF member #11

I've heard of it. The booster motors are the most susceptible since they're bare BP on the forward end. But, apparently, the ejection charges are potent enough to get thru the clay caps on regular motors and set them off...backwards. (BTW, these were regular E9's in Sam's rocket.)

On the few clusters I fly that have a "shared" ejection volume, I've taken to adding some wadding and/or tape, but I haven't always done that. It hasn't caused me a problem, knock wood, but this will certainly help me remember it in the future

That said, I think, if the two charges had somewhere to go, they probably wouldn't have set off the third motor. But, since the nosecone was jammed in place, it probably dramatically increased the exposure of the unlit motor.

Ya know, I've wrecked one rocket twice when one of the three boosters didn't light, but the two sustainers that did light never set off the third, unlit sustainer motor. (It's a clustered stager, 3-to-3.) OTOH, the nosecone did eject, so that may be the key difference.

And that rocket, rebuilt yet again, is already prepped for flight. Now I'm wondering if I need to tear it apart and add some wadding before I fly I guess I can stuff some in from the top. That won't be nearly as much work as removing the 3 friction-fitted motors...

Doug

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YORF member #11

I think Doug called it. The rocket burrowed about 6 inches into the ground before the eject event and never separated. Another take away is that I didn't adjust for field conditions; which called for a higher initial kick than the E9's could give with the wind at the time. Another suggestion was to use the Quest igniters with the lower impedance and longer tails for cluster flights.

I must just live lucky.
http://www.rocketreviews.com/review...terceptor.shtml
(Notice in particular the last picture in the review.)

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2