3-19-05 Pickrell, NE
The first launch of the year for THOR, The Heartland Organization of Rocketry, and it was pretty nice launch.
The weather had been back and forth all week prior to the launch for conditions, but regardless of the current forecast it was always something that was good enough for launching so we made the trip out to the launch site Saturday morning. Before we left the weather was showing cool temps and windy conditions until around 1 PM and then warmer with less wind the rest of the afternoon. As we left central Iowa we had very cold and cloudy weather with freezing rain so we were hoping the weather forecasts were accurate.
As we got closer to NE the skies became clearer until we hit Omaha and then they almost completely cleared off giving way to beautiful blue skies.
We didn't push it getting there knowing it would be windy and cold at first, so we didn't arrive until about 10:30. Several club members were setting up the range and getting things ready to go.
Shortly thereafter it was announced that the range was open, however there was no rush at that time to the pads, the winds weren't all that bad but with still very cool temperatures it was chilly out.
We stayed hidden behind the car and out of the wind and unloaded our gear and began to prep some rockets.
Our initial plan was to fly our 3" BSD Diablo to check out the winds, then proceed with the new Mach rocket and then wing it from there. (photo by Richard Burney)
We prepped the Diablo with an AT F52-5 Blue Thunder load, all kevlar recovery system and a 24" nylon parachute. It was still a little windy so we held off and waited for some other flights before launching to get an idea on the upper level winds.
The range stayed pretty dormant until around noon and then some sporadic flights started going up. By 1 PM it had warmed up and the winds really started to die down.
With the winds dying down we made a quick adjustment and decided to hurry and get the Mach 1 up in the air while they were calm.
Mach 1 was designed and built for the Pro 54 K445 or the AT K550 to break Mach 1 in speed. Sims show it moving up to mach 1.2 in speed and over 9,000' in altitude.
Since we still had a bit of wind we opted to go for a maiden flight with an AT I284 white lightening. The rocket was prepped for a dual stage flight via a Missile Works RRC2 altimeter. Ejection charges were made and installed, all kevlar recovery systems were attached and and an oversized 45" nylon parachute were used for this flight.
After the motor was built we headed out to the pad and loaded it up, it was nearly 1pm at this point. Sims showed a max altitude just shy of 4500'.
The Mach 1 was placed on the pad and the RRC2 was armed, and the igniter installed and connected to the leads.
We always arm the altimeter first, that way if there were to be an accidental firing when the leads are hooked up at least the recovery system would be operational when the bird comes down.
Pictures were taken and we were all set. Countdown for Mach 1's maiden flight and..........
Coming up to pressure.
Lifting off.
Liftoff and moving out. (photo Richard Burney)
Mach 1 lifted off for a great flight, very quick on the I284 with lots of fire and smoke.
Flight went as planned with the RRC2 firing at apogee to break the rocket apart, in then fell drogueless to 500' where the RRC2 fired the main charge and the main parachute deployed without a hitch.
Upon recovery everything looked great and the RRC2 was beeping out a peak altitude of 4,281'. Not too bad or far off from the simulations. Closer inspection back at the car did show an ever so slight zipper to the top of the booster body tube, not much more than a quarter of an inch and easily repairable.
Only problem was that if the winds did stay calm or get calmer I now didn't want to send it back up under K power with a even a minor flaw in the airframe, but it will be easily repaired and ready for it's next flight, hopefully a K flight if the weather is calm.
Meesha did an excellent job here capturing great flight video, and for the first time we caught one of our dual deployed birds actually deploying the main parachute on video.
Check the video's out here.
3.7 mb
3.85 mb
Flight Stats.
After adjusting the weather conditions in Rocksim I then adjusted the CD until I got a matching altitude and these are the flight stats I came up with. CD .45
Sim 4,250' Actual 4,281
484 MPH
Flight time from Liftoff to touchdown per the video was 1 minute 52 seconds.
Having completed our first flight and gathering everything back up to the car, I was quickly reminded by Tannor that we were supposed to fly the "little white rocket" first and that we should get right on that.
So the Diablo was taken out to the pad.
Everything was all set for the Diablo and Tannor helped me put it on the pad.
Countdown and...........
The typical Blue Thunder load, even though this was a 10 yr old reload we were able to get it up and away. The first copper head igniter fired, but didn't light the propellant, the second one did the trick and it was gone. Not much for flame or smoke but it was a quick flight. Arched over at apogee and the ejection charge fired and the chute deployed fine. A nice little flight. Next up for this little rocket though has got to be an H motor I think.
Not really sure what to fly next we opted for the Estes Executioner. We've flown this bird on everything from D motors to F's and decided today to go with another F flight. The rocket was prepped with an AT F21-6 and a 24" nylon parachute. This in the end would prove to be a mistake.
Here she is on the pad and ready to go.
Completely stock build here she is lifting off on an AT F21, this has proven to be a great combination in the past and once again did so with a nice straight, and quick boost. Another great flight, deployment of the parachute was just a second past apogee and it then started to recover.
At this point quite a few flights had gone up and everyone was recovering fairly close to the pads, so since this rocket has big fins that extend down past the bottom of the body tube adhered with CA only, I opted for a slightly large parachute. Unfortunately it caught a thermal or something as it hung up in the air forever and drifted a long ways off to the southwest.
Meesha went after it to recover it but this is what she found.
So our second Executioner is gone with a similar fate, the first ended up 70' up in a cottonwood tree, this one in the power lines, we're starting to take the hint now with this kit. This picture was taken on the way home at about 6 PM, as you can see the clouds finally rolled back in.
While we were launching there were many other flights going up as well here are some pictures and details from them.
Two certification flights went up, one was Matt Jones and his Level 3 cert attempt, and the second was his wife Ann, for her Level 2 cert attempt.
Here it is out on the away pads. Performance Rocketry Nike Smoke, 65 lbs dry, R18 Chute, RRC2X and a WRC2, to dual 38g CD3 units on a CTI M1400 75mm 5 grain.
Definately an M1400 Cessaroni motor, look at the dirt fly. (photo by Kevin Trojanowski)
It went up for a loud and beautiful flight, deploying the main at apogee as planned and drifting down nicely.
Now isn't this just the way you want to see it coming back down. A pretty sight and a view of the blue sky we had.
And finally touching down within a short walk of the pads, nice and soft.
Remember the dirt flying on the liftoff shot, well here's the hole left by that M motor in front of the rail.
Congrats to Matt on his Successful L3 Cert Flight!!!
Another big cert flight for the day was Ann Jones with her L2 flight. I don't have the specifics but will try to get them and update as soon as I can.
Ann's MAAN rocket, scratch 3" by 84" 5lbs dry, R24D chute on a CTI J285 38mm 5 grain motor.
Countdown and.....
Lifting off, again on a Cessaroni motor, I don't recall the particulars but I remember the flight went perfectly.
Congrats to Ann on her Successful L2 Cert Flight!!!
Kent Burnett from Giant Leap Rocketry was on site and actually had some time to launch also.
I believe this was his first flight of the day, a 4" Nike on an AT H165 Redline. The flight went well. (Photo Kevin Trojanowski)
His next flight however didn't go quite as planned.
Kent brought this beautiful Talon 3 and prepped it to fly on a Pro 38 motor.
Here it is coming up to pressure.
And now coming apart with a CATO on the pad. As you can see there are allot of chunks flying around there.
And a little higher up here, with parts flying over to the neighboring pad. From what I understood there was enough internal damage that the rocket is now RIP. Sorry Kent, been there done that know it isn't any fun.
Other Pics
Here are some other pictures from the day, the first two I took if these are your birds please let me know the details when you have time, and I'd be glad to send you copies.
A nice looking rocket going up on what looks like either a Smokey Sam or a Black Jack motor.
Thomas Kernes' RCDP Thunderball on a CTI J210, getting 7,086' at 586 MPH.
Mark Havel's rocket on a Smokey Sam motor.
Now here I have to take a moment and thank Mark, Tannor is my 5 yr old son who must always accompany me on any launches, he loves rockets. Usually Tannor is well mannered and I can get him to stick with me pretty well. But on this launch Tannor took a definite liking to Mark and spent most of the day being his shadow, now when you're on your own to prep rockets it can be pretty difficult to keep track of a 5 yr old sometimes.
Mark graciously entertained Tannor a few times when I was busy prepping dual deployment birds. Thank you Mark, it was much appreciated and I'll do my best to minimize that in the future.
Our big flight of the day!!!
Now here is where that came into play big time. It's about 4 PM now and flying is winding down, the question is asked what if anything, anyone else wants to fly as they are preparing to start tearing down the range.
I, in my infinite wisdom, make the knee jerk comment that heck with the wind as calm as it is now I could get a K flight up. My comment is heard and now it's "Jason is going to fly a K flight". Ooooops.
I've never flown anything bigger than a Pro 54 J295 so a K flight is no little thing to me. Next thing I know it's perfect weather, I made the comment and people think it's gonna happen.
It's 4 PM and the waiver is over at 5 PM, but I figured what the heck now or never and decided to go for it.
I wanted to fly the Mach 1 but with the slight zipper I just didn't want to take any chances with it. The only other K flight capable bird I had with me was the Thor. Now this was the first dual deployment bird I ever built and wasn't built in the best way for a quick prep, it works very well but just takes a little more prep time than some of the others I've done later with different techniques.
So with little time left and a difficult prep job it was off to the races. It was a big flight for me, on a difficult to prep bird, in minimal time so Meesha helped me and we jumped in with both feet, unpacking everything from the trunk and getting after it. (We were already packed up to head for home) At this point there wasn't much time to watch Tannor and Mark again graciously entertained him while Meesha and I prepped the Thor. Thanks again to Mark for his help.
With Mark watching Tannor we prepped the Thor with a drogueless at apogee all kevlar recovery system, an all kevlar main recovery system with an R7C chute. Ejection charges were built and the altimeter was setup for charges at apogee and the main at 500'.
One Pro 54 K445 was obtained and built for me by Kevin Trojanowski and then I installed it into the Thor.
Holy Crikey's we were ready to go and actually going to do this. It was 4:40 PM and definitely time for a quick smoke break before the Thor went out to the pad.
On the pad and ready to go, altimeter armed and I'm now getting very nervous. Thor has had many flights on it and a few minor crashes with repairs following. A K is not big deal to allot of people but to me I think I was more nervous here than on any Cert flights. Not to mention the shear weight of the motor was like nothing we'd played with before.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1........ pop......
Nothing, the igniter popped but it didn't light. Now this is just what I needed and the first thing out of my mouth was "I wonder if that's a sign" I've had igniters fail to light off motors before and then on following attempts go fine. But I've also had them fail to light and then on following attempts had disasters, and always wondered afterward if that was a sign.
Matt quickly gave me another igniter and it was reloaded and hooked up, ready to go again. Now I'm really nervous but there's nothing else to do
5, 4, 3, 2, 1......
Now we're in business and no looking back, coming up to pressure.
Lifting off and on the way,
Now, will she hold together, she's going.......
(photo Rich Burney)
Going.........
(photo Rich Burney)
Gone...... and motor burnout and she held together. Getting home I ran sims and found she was pushing Mach .86, 657mph, she held together fine on an all paper and wood rocket.
(photo Rich Burney)
She went up great and out of sight for my eyes but others had an eye on it..I felt better when it was called out that the apogee charge fired and the rocket had separated and was all together.
As it got lower I was able to get an eyeball on it and follow it down, she drifted down nicely falling drogueless until 500' when the dependable Missile Works altimeter fired the main charge and then the R7C unfurled and slowed her down.
I started breathing again and headed out after it, easily found to the east about a 1/4 mile, it appears we may have been starting to get upper level winds now but not too bad of a hike. Upon reaching it everything appeared fine with no damage.
The RRC2 was beeping out an altitude of 7,428' our new altitude record. It was a beautiful flight, a great looking bird sitting on the pad and going up under power. Meesha did an excellent job getting flight video of this one, check it out below, and make sure you turn the sound up to hear that great motor roar.
3.8 mb
Flight Stats.
After adjusting the weather conditions in Rocksim I then adjusted the CD until I got a matching altitude and these are the flight stats I came up with.
Sim 7403' Actual 7,428
657.75 MPH
Flight time per video from liftoff to touchdown was 2 minutes and 37 seconds. CD 4.2
Well that concluded our day and we packed up and headed home getting home a little after 9:30 PM, a bit of a drive but one of our best launches yet. If I have any pictures anyone wants copies of feel free to email me and I'll gladly send copies to you. Also if anyone has information on any flights particularly the cert flights, motors used, dual recovery? etc.. and the unknown rockets please let me know and I'll update the page.