February 5th, 2001 Launch Report

WOOSH Launch at Bong

 

Dean Roth:

 

 

I've needed to fly a rocket to test a couple of ideas so that I can complete a magazine article before the submission deadline. Today, Monday, looked like a good opportunity. A call to Bong determined that the "special use zone" would be available. Although the runway is still inaccessible, parking lot E was open.

 

Bong was largely empty, which was to be expected for a Monday afternoon during the winter.

 

I flew my AeroTech Initiator on G80 motors a couple of times to test the wind. The rocket was easy to find after the first flight. Recovery after the second flight was more difficult. Following the axiom that a rocket falls further away than one thinks, I kept walking. Eventually I found it. Now I was ready to fly the test rocket.

 

I figured that Fred and Darlene would like an excuse to skip the afternoon "soaps," and had asked them if they'd like to take a trip to Bong. As I was preparing my test rocket for its flight, they arrived.

 

Anyone who attended the Tripoli Wisconsin Association launch last month will recall the section of parking lot E that had been plowed toward the west end for the launch pads. The plowed area was still there, but the ground is covered by a thick layer of ice with a dusting of snow, and that's where I was parked. Fred pulled his car in front of my car. I was concerned that his car would slide into mine, but he slowed without a collision. Alas, that was not to be the situation for everyone.

 

I had run some simulations and had selected an I161 motor for the test flight. I didn't want a high flight, and the sims said the rocket should go about 1300' which was acceptable. It was carrying a Rocketman R9 parachute, is which a lot of parachute for the rocket. I hoped I had the pad positioned so that the rocket would recover in the ATV field south of parking lot E as had the Initiator, for the wind was coming from the SSE. I didn't want the large parachute to tangle with the trees near the parking lot.

 

The rocket flew pretty much as aimed. However, the altitude was far less than I had expected. Therefore, the rocket was also much closer to the parking lot (and trees) than I desired. It tipped over apogee, fell a short ways, and the main deployed, an event that should have occurred at 600'. Fortunately, the rocket sailed over some trees and between others to land just short of the trees on the north side of lot E.

 

My new electronics bay had worked. The altimeter had activated the apogee event close to apogee - closer than on other flights using a different bay design.

 

My "floating," foam filled piston worked. I call it a floating piston not because it's filled with foam and floats on water, even though that's true, but because it slides on the tether rather than being fixed in place. While I have used floating pistons on other flights, this was my first test of a "foamed" piston, which is a piece of coupler and foam. My other pistons have a plywood bulkhead on the top and bottom.

 

The altimeter, an Adept ALTS25, report an altitude of about 740', which agrees with my observation. Why the flight was so low compared to the simulation's results are unknown, but it does explain why the parachute was deployed shortly after the apogee event was fired by the altimeter.

 

I flew a 4" diameter rocket on an H128 motor and used motor ejection! That was only the fourth time that I've used motor ejection with a reloadable motor rather than electronics control. Once again, the RMS-Plus delay column design worked correctly.

 

Paul Smith, another person with time to kill on a Monday afternoon, arrived, and his car slid on the ice into a snow/ice bank. Ouch.

 

Paul and Fred made a few flights. I was in the field north of the parking lot searching for one of Fred's rockets when Paul flew a two-stage rocket with a clustered booster. Based on what I could see from the field it had an "interesting" though not successful flight. Darlene and I didn't find Fred's rocket, which means Fred will have a slightly easier time counting his rockets (150?) the next time he decides to do that.

 

The sky had been pretty clear, but low clouds quickly rolled in at about 4:00 so we packed and left. I discovered that my thermos has mysteriously turned into a costly and mostly useless piece of stainless steel, as it will no longer keep hot stuff hot for very long. In addition, the "6-hour" chemical hand/toe warmers only last three hours, if that long. However, during the first two hours the toe warmers definitely kept my toes warm. 

 

 

 

Paul Smith:

 

I flew my Archer on a H128S, using the RMS-Plus again. Perfect flight. This was the first flight with the roughly 15 inch payload section attached (though no altimeter - I'd need a larger engine and parachute than any I had for that). 

 

> Paul and Fred made a few flights. I was in the field north of the

> parking lot searching for one of Fred's rockets when Paul flew a

> two-stage rocket with a clustered booster. Based on what I could see

> from the field it had an "interesting" though not successful flight.

 

It was a central D12-0 in a BT-55, staged to a Quest A6-4, with Estes A8-3s in two "strap-on boosters". Everything lit, but it wasn't stable. Spun around in the air over the pad, and fortunately the sustainer also spun (rather than taking off straight in god only knows what direction). I'll try again with a longer sustainer, at another launch with only a few people there. <grin>  I figured that when Dean and Darlene were out searching for Fred's Maniac, that'd be a good chance to fly the thing with a little less risk. 

 

I also flew that Neubauer 2.6" Mercury Redstone, using an E30-4, for a perfect flight, and my Astron Avenger clone on a B6-0/A6-4 combination – also perfect.