Launch Report: ECOF 96

Launch Report: ECOF 96

Post by -Wiersbe,R. » Wed, 31 Jul 1996 04:00:00



Launch Report, July 20th, Bong Recreation Area, Wisconsin

Well, I finally got to fly some rockets just for fun. The occasion was
Eat Cheese or Fly, NIRA's 3 annual HPR launch in Wisconsin. Organizer
Steve Koszuta picked a perfect day for the launch, temps in the 70's,
clear skies, but a bit windy.

The launch got started about 9:45am, and the first few rockets up were
in the A-C range as people tested the wind. I came to fly, so I put a
G80-7 in my Aerotech Mustang and headed for the check in line. People
joked with me about losing it, but I knew better. I've flown this thing
5 or 6 times on G40's or G80's, and always gotten it back. Why? Because
I use an X-form chute in it. Brings it down fast, but not so fast that
it gets damaged.

At ignition (on a Copperhead, no less) it zipped off into the sky, and
kept going and going. After the chute came out and it was coming down
people started commenting on how little it was drifting, and that I
might get it back (I knew that). I followed it down, got a line on it,
and walked about 200 yards to where it had landed at the edge of a
small pond. The chute was in the water, but only the very last 2 inches
of the body tube and fins were in the water. Not a bad start.

I spent the next 2 hours being LCO, got to watch some pretty cool
flights, and mangled a lot of folks names in the process (sorry about
that Jack!). Lots of H, I, J, and even a few K flights. Adam Holterhoff
flew this really nice staged rocket, but I forget the motor combination.
When the second stage ignited the booster disappeared in a cloud of
smoke, then reappeared a few seconds later. The chute failed to open
on the booster (Adam forgot to remove a ***band), but other than that
the flight was flawless.

I flew one of my electronically staged creations next, a Nike booster (3"
diameter) with a 30mm upper stage that I'd built the night before. An F50-4
in the booster and a D12-7 in the upper stage, ignited by mercury switch/
capacitor/flashbulb circuitry. It was another perfect flight, with the
upper stage going nearly out of sight. I did follow it all the way down, but
Jack Wiker beat me to recovering it (thanks!). A shiny blue mylar streamer
helped with visibility. RSIM estimates an altitude of 1888 feet.

I helped my kids fly some of their models for a while, and my son's CATO
managed to peg Steve Smith on the back of the neck on one flight. Steve
has promised not to sue me :)

Then I got down to the serious stuff I'd wanted to fly. I'd built a cluster
rocket with four 29mm tubes in a 3" body a couple of years ago and had used
it to get my "I" certification (flew it with 2 H55's). This time I wanted to
use four G40-10's, for my first 4 motor cluster. After building the thermalite
igniters, I checked the beast in (it weighed in at about 3lbs). All four
motors came to life as one, and it left the pad in a hurry. The chute ejected
just past apogee, and brought the rocket down in the water about 100 yards
from the pad. We got it out before it could get water damaged, and I was
pumped from getting in the flight. RSIM estimates 3000 feet for that one.

Back to some fun stuff. Five years ago I tried to fly my first mercury switch
capacitor/flashbulb rocket - a converted Gemini-Titan (the Estes kit with the
plastic capsule). The C5-3 in the booster blew up on ignition, and the model
was in the "repair" bin for another year. I tried it again a year later after
fixing the damage, and it failed to ignite the upper stage. It sat in the
"repair" bin until the day before ECOF, when I dug it out, fixed the problem
(bad cap), and got it ready to fly.

This time I figured it would work. Everything tested out okay on the ground,
my first staged flight of the day had worked, and my luck was holding. I get
it through check in (the people who knew the history of the model _weren't_
there at the time - phew!), and set up on the pad. Charge the cap, arm the
circuit, run away!, and give the okay to launch. Perfect ignition of the
C6-5, straight up flight, motor burnout, slight coast, ZOOM! The upper stage
takes off and really cruises. Uh-oh. The chute is out of the upper stage,
but it's not opening, just a wad. The stage lands in some grass and rocks
nearby, but isn't damaged at all. Someone else tracked the booster and
brought it back, no damage either. Too cool. After 5 years it worked!

Now people are bugging me to launch my 1/24 scale Gemini-Titan (hey, wasn't
the staged one good enough? :)  This is a scratch built model using the
Revell plastic model for the capsule, and is 5" in diameter. I fly it with
two F25-4 motors, and just _happened_ to have a pair with me. I start to
prep the model at about 4:20, the range was going to close at 5pm, and I
was ready to fly it by 4:45. Out to one of the HPR pads to set it up, make
sure the fins are okay, and give the okay for launch. Once again, both motors
ignite at the same time and the boost looks good.

About 2 seconds into the flight the rocket starts to wobble, and it looks
like one of the fins units has come loose. (I have 2 fin units, similar to
what Estes uses on the Shuttle and Titan IIIE, but they're Lexan on plastic
rods. They're screwed into the bottom centering ring and weren't as tight
as I'd have liked them, so I added some tape to make them more secure.) The
model hangs together and ejects the chutes right at apogee. Bob Kaplow made
a nice catch of the booster before it hit rock, but the capsule made a very
rough landing, causing one of the astronauts to fly out of his hatch (he
was found and has since recovered).

Not a bad end to the day! Didn't lose any rockets, didn't do any serious
damage to any rockets, met some new folks from RMR, saw some new friends
from MRFF this year, and had a good time. Oh yeah, my kids had a good time
too! They pretty much spent the first 3 hours playing in the van, then
wanted to see what I was doing at the controls. After watching for an hour
they got the "bug" and wanted to fly their stuff. Can't ask for more!


 
 
 

Launch Report: ECOF 96

Post by PaulDimi » Thu, 01 Aug 1996 04:00:00



Quote:
(-Wiersbe,R.E.) writes:

>Not a bad end to the day! Didn't lose any rockets, didn't do any serious
>damage to any rockets, met some new folks from RMR, saw some new friends
>from MRFF this year, and had a good time. Oh yeah, my kids had a good
time
>too! They pretty much spent the first 3 hours playing in the van, then
>wanted to see what I was doing at the controls. After watching for an
hour
>they got the "bug" and wanted to fly their stuff. Can't ask for more!

Keep those launch reports coming folks.  Maybe other people will get the
idea that rocketry is fun!  I hope to hit a large launch so I can see some
of the big rockets.  But also to meet some of the folks on RMR. Sounds
like you had a great time!

Paul.

Fly Baby Fly!