Updates...

[Ronz Rocketz]

Wow. Tough day. But then if you aren't gonna launch them? Right? Sorry for the losses!

Went back to the park with different kinds of fishing hooks. Not only was the rocket missing from the roof, so was the Razor scooter next to it so probably didn't blow off with the wind. I didn't think the park manager would be able to get the maintenance workers out this quickly. Hopefully, she'll return it and not throw it away. She did say last time they replaced the park lights with LED and brought down my JLCR that's been hanging there for over a year. I have to be on her good side now.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Model Rockets: Low wind day with several F67 launches and testing Eggtimer Ion altimeter

I'm trying to figure out why the video timeline isn't working. Scroll below to determine what motor and details there are for each launch.

We originally intended to launch on Saturday. I called the park office to see if there were any games scheduled in the morning, but no one called back. Turned out there was a major football game scheduled with yard lines, refs, and all. The trade winds were forecasted to be low on Sunday also. You never know.

Fortunately, Sunday turned out to be excellent with most of the rockets coming straight down (despite the slight wind). We were joined by a park participant who didn't know there was a rocket club at the park. He had two small dogs with them. I let him launch the Leviathan.

With the Flightsketch Mini still out of action, I'm trying my hand at the Eggtimer Ion. My first two kits were lost when my son gave them to my ex-wife for no particular reason, seriously. My first soldering attempt was then a failure. Fortunately, I followed Kevin's Models and More assembly video and finished it in about six hours. I couldn't find a Lipo battery that would work with it. Kevin hooked me up with the type he's using.

I launched the Ion in two rockets I have with payloads. The Bandit was successful, but the swivel broke causing the altimeters to come crashing (floating) to the ground. Because the payload detached, the Ion data was not relevant to the flight video so created the flight path using my new formula that uses a sine function to emulate the ascent stage. I did include a graph of the Ion data showing the rapid descent of the payload.

The Doorknob was also successful with the Ion and Estes altimeters coming within one foot of each other (0.1% difference). It had been so long since I used a data chart that I had to remember how to use it in the RaceRender software. It works fine including the fact that the payload was stuck on the fence about 11ft off the ground.

The Ion got knocked around quite a bit. I secured it to the Estes altimeter which ended up breaking the case (easily fixed). Next I'll create a sled that I can mount the altimeter and battery to.

The 60fps cam is doing this weird thing where the image is initially clear then becomes interlaced while waiting on the pad. This happened to the Bandit and Doorknob but not the Leviathan. Not sure what is going on here. It was the same cam on each flight. I have a replacement on the way for the one I planned on the substation. I'm hoping to get the one that planned on the roof back soon.

There were many delayed ignitions today which seem to happen more on humid days, plus the descents are slower. I had revamped my controller to remove some of the possible connection issues. I wondered if the lead wires are getting cooked so will be adding new clips next time.

The Harpoon was made by Mike who gave it to me a other stuff before he left the island. My original Harpoon caught on the field lights two years ago with my JLCR. The park manager said she has it now after they replaced the lights with LED. She just has to find it in her office along with my rocket that landed on the roof the other week.

0:00 Intro
0:37 Frick-n-Frack C6-0/B6-0 4pts
1:16 Estes Silver Streak, 1/4A3-3T
1:30 Bandit Upscale F67-4W 456ft 7pts
2:37 Flight video RR
3:23 Estes Bandit 3, A10-3T
5:35 Semroc MoonGlo cloneish, A8-3
6:01 Leviathan F67-6W 759ft 7pts
7:13 Flight video RR
9:21 USR Hammerhead Sounder, D12-7
10:26 Camui (cardstock), QJet B4-4
11:03 Doorknob clone F67-6C 706ft 6pts
12:25 Flight video RR
13:49 Estes Astron Sprint XL, C11-3
14:22 Venus Probe D16-4FJ 2pts
15:47 TLP Bolo, D12-5
16:21 Estes Super Neon XL, D12-3
17:24 Mike's Harpoon C5-3 4pts
18:09 Turbo Vortico, F52-12C (ejection charge removed)
18:44 B.O.S.S. C5-3 240ft 6pts
19:32 Flight video Total 36pts + 5 bonus = 41pts

 

[Hobie1dog]

enjoyable video as usual

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Model Rockets: Low wind day with several F67 launches and testing Eggtimer Ion altimeter

I'm trying to figure out why the video timeline isn't working. Scroll below to determine what motor and details there are for each launch.

We originally intended to launch on Saturday. I called the park office to see if there were any games scheduled in the morning, but no one called back. Turned out there was a major football game scheduled with yard lines, refs, and all. The trade winds were forecasted to be low on Sunday also. You never know.

Fortunately, Sunday turned out to be excellent with most of the rockets coming straight down (despite the slight wind). We were joined by a park participant who didn't know there was a rocket club at the park. He had two small dogs with them. I let him launch the Leviathan.

With the Flightsketch Mini still out of action, I'm trying my hand at the Eggtimer Ion. My first two kits were lost when my son gave them to my ex-wife for no particular reason, seriously. My first soldering attempt was then a failure. Fortunately, I followed Kevin's Models and More assembly video and finished it in about six hours. I couldn't find a Lipo battery that would work with it. Kevin hooked me up with the type he's using.

I launched the Ion in two rockets I have with payloads. The Bandit was successful, but the swivel broke causing the altimeters to come crashing (floating) to the ground. Because the payload detached, the Ion data was not relevant to the flight video so created the flight path using my new formula that uses a sine function to emulate the ascent stage. I did include a graph of the Ion data showing the rapid descent of the payload.

The Doorknob was also successful with the Ion and Estes altimeters coming within one foot of each other (0.1% difference). It had been so long since I used a data chart that I had to remember how to use it in the RaceRender software. It works fine including the fact that the payload was stuck on the fence about 11ft off the ground.

The Ion got knocked around quite a bit. I secured it to the Estes altimeter which ended up breaking the case (easily fixed). Next I'll create a sled that I can mount the altimeter and battery to.

The 60fps cam is doing this weird thing where the image is initially clear then becomes interlaced while waiting on the pad. This happened to the Bandit and Doorknob but not the Leviathan. Not sure what is going on here. It was the same cam on each flight. I have a replacement on the way for the one I planned on the substation. I'm hoping to get the one that planned on the roof back soon.

There were many delayed ignitions today which seem to happen more on humid days, plus the descents are slower. I had revamped my controller to remove some of the possible connection issues. I wondered if the lead wires are getting cooked so will be adding new clips next time.

The Harpoon was made by Mike who gave it to me a other stuff before he left the island. My original Harpoon caught on the field lights two years ago with my JLCR. The park manager said she has it now after they replaced the lights with LED. She just has to find it in her office along with my rocket that landed on the roof the other week.

0:00 Intro
0:37 Frick-n-Frack C6-0/B6-0 4pts
1:16 Estes Silver Streak, 1/4A3-3T
1:30 Bandit Upscale F67-4W 456ft 7pts
2:37 Flight video RR
3:23 Estes Bandit 3, A10-3T
5:35 Semroc MoonGlo cloneish, A8-3
6:01 Leviathan F67-6W 759ft 7pts
7:13 Flight video RR
9:21 USR Hammerhead Sounder, D12-7
10:26 Camui (cardstock), QJet B4-4
11:03 Doorknob clone F67-6C 706ft 6pts
12:25 Flight video RR
13:49 Estes Astron Sprint XL, C11-3
14:22 Venus Probe D16-4FJ 2pts
15:47 TLP Bolo, D12-5
16:21 Estes Super Neon XL, D12-3
17:24 Mike's Harpoon C5-3 4pts
18:09 Turbo Vortico, F52-12C (ejection charge removed)
18:44 B.O.S.S. C5-3 240ft 6pts
19:32 Flight video Total 36pts + 5 bonus = 41pts

The Doorknob with the payload added worked fine previously with the F44 but veered with the F67. I had NC weight before so added two more squares of clay and will try the F67-6C again to see if it flies straight. The F67W has an initial thrust of 83N, and the F67C is 56N. I didn't think the F67C would be different because the initial thrust of the F44W is 54N, just a little slower at it according to ThrustCurve.

 

[BABAR]

Model Rockets: Low wind day with several F67 launches and testing Eggtimer Ion altimeter

I'm trying to figure out why the video timeline isn't working. Scroll below to determine what motor and details there are for each launch.

We originally intended to launch on Saturday. I called the park office to see if there were any games scheduled in the morning, but no one called back. Turned out there was a major football game scheduled with yard lines, refs, and all. The trade winds were forecasted to be low on Sunday also. You never know.

Fortunately, Sunday turned out to be excellent with most of the rockets coming straight down (despite the slight wind). We were joined by a park participant who didn't know there was a rocket club at the park. He had two small dogs with them. I let him launch the Leviathan.

With the Flightsketch Mini still out of action, I'm trying my hand at the Eggtimer Ion. My first two kits were lost when my son gave them to my ex-wife for no particular reason, seriously. My first soldering attempt was then a failure. Fortunately, I followed Kevin's Models and More assembly video and finished it in about six hours. I couldn't find a Lipo battery that would work with it. Kevin hooked me up with the type he's using.

I launched the Ion in two rockets I have with payloads. The Bandit was successful, but the swivel broke causing the altimeters to come crashing (floating) to the ground. Because the payload detached, the Ion data was not relevant to the flight video so created the flight path using my new formula that uses a sine function to emulate the ascent stage. I did include a graph of the Ion data showing the rapid descent of the payload.

The Doorknob was also successful with the Ion and Estes altimeters coming within one foot of each other (0.1% difference). It had been so long since I used a data chart that I had to remember how to use it in the RaceRender software. It works fine including the fact that the payload was stuck on the fence about 11ft off the ground.

The Ion got knocked around quite a bit. I secured it to the Estes altimeter which ended up breaking the case (easily fixed). Next I'll create a sled that I can mount the altimeter and battery to.

The 60fps cam is doing this weird thing where the image is initially clear then becomes interlaced while waiting on the pad. This happened to the Bandit and Doorknob but not the Leviathan. Not sure what is going on here. It was the same cam on each flight. I have a replacement on the way for the one I planned on the substation. I'm hoping to get the one that planned on the roof back soon.

There were many delayed ignitions today which seem to happen more on humid days, plus the descents are slower. I had revamped my controller to remove some of the possible connection issues. I wondered if the lead wires are getting cooked so will be adding new clips next time.

The Harpoon was made by Mike who gave it to me a other stuff before he left the island. My original Harpoon caught on the field lights two years ago with my JLCR. The park manager said she has it now after they replaced the lights with LED. She just has to find it in her office along with my rocket that landed on the roof the other week.

0:00 Intro
0:37 Frick-n-Frack C6-0/B6-0 4pts
1:16 Estes Silver Streak, 1/4A3-3T
1:30 Bandit Upscale F67-4W 456ft 7pts
2:37 Flight video RR
3:23 Estes Bandit 3, A10-3T
5:35 Semroc MoonGlo cloneish, A8-3
6:01 Leviathan F67-6W 759ft 7pts
7:13 Flight video RR
9:21 USR Hammerhead Sounder, D12-7
10:26 Camui (cardstock), QJet B4-4
11:03 Doorknob clone F67-6C 706ft 6pts
12:25 Flight video RR
13:49 Estes Astron Sprint XL, C11-3
14:22 Venus Probe D16-4FJ 2pts
15:47 TLP Bolo, D12-5
16:21 Estes Super Neon XL, D12-3
17:24 Mike's Harpoon C5-3 4pts
18:09 Turbo Vortico, F52-12C (ejection charge removed)
18:44 B.O.S.S. C5-3 240ft 6pts
19:32 Flight video Total 36pts + 5 bonus = 41pts

Loved the Frick without the Frack!

unintentional CHAD staging! Definitely first time I’ve seen that, and it worked great.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Loved the Frick without the Frack!

unintentional CHAD staging! Definitely first time I’ve seen that, and it worked great.

Turns out I forgot to add the friction tape to the motors. It'll work next time, guaranteed!

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

I'm playing with the Ion altitude data and started reading the instructions which suggested a scatter plot rather than a line graph. The altitude has raw data (blue) and filtered (grey) that removes the peak of 706ft. The filtered velocity is in gold. I removed the raw velocity data because it's too chaotic. There are four events shown. The altimeter detected the launch at 111ft. I'll move this back to the default 200ft now that I understand it more. The low velocity event when the ascent slowed to <100ft/sec. The raw apogee event and the nose over event when the rocket started pointing down.

 

[BABAR]

Loved the Frick without the Frack!

unintentional CHAD staging! Definitely first time I’ve seen that, and it worked great.

Again amazed at the fin placement on Leviathan. Over 750 feet and no roll? Can’t do better than that with a camera rocket!

 

[BABAR]

Model Rockets: Low wind day with several F67 launches and testing Eggtimer Ion altimeter

I'm trying to figure out why the video timeline isn't working. Scroll below to determine what motor and details there are for each launch.

We originally intended to launch on Saturday. I called the park office to see if there were any games scheduled in the morning, but no one called back. Turned out there was a major football game scheduled with yard lines, refs, and all. The trade winds were forecasted to be low on Sunday also. You never know.

Fortunately, Sunday turned out to be excellent with most of the rockets coming straight down (despite the slight wind). We were joined by a park participant who didn't know there was a rocket club at the park. He had two small dogs with them. I let him launch the Leviathan.

With the Flightsketch Mini still out of action, I'm trying my hand at the Eggtimer Ion. My first two kits were lost when my son gave them to my ex-wife for no particular reason, seriously. My first soldering attempt was then a failure. Fortunately, I followed Kevin's Models and More assembly video and finished it in about six hours. I couldn't find a Lipo battery that would work with it. Kevin hooked me up with the type he's using.

I launched the Ion in two rockets I have with payloads. The Bandit was successful, but the swivel broke causing the altimeters to come crashing (floating) to the ground. Because the payload detached, the Ion data was not relevant to the flight video so created the flight path using my new formula that uses a sine function to emulate the ascent stage. I did include a graph of the Ion data showing the rapid descent of the payload.

The Doorknob was also successful with the Ion and Estes altimeters coming within one foot of each other (0.1% difference). It had been so long since I used a data chart that I had to remember how to use it in the RaceRender software. It works fine including the fact that the payload was stuck on the fence about 11ft off the ground.

The Ion got knocked around quite a bit. I secured it to the Estes altimeter which ended up breaking the case (easily fixed). Next I'll create a sled that I can mount the altimeter and battery to.

The 60fps cam is doing this weird thing where the image is initially clear then becomes interlaced while waiting on the pad. This happened to the Bandit and Doorknob but not the Leviathan. Not sure what is going on here. It was the same cam on each flight. I have a replacement on the way for the one I planned on the substation. I'm hoping to get the one that planned on the roof back soon.

There were many delayed ignitions today which seem to happen more on humid days, plus the descents are slower. I had revamped my controller to remove some of the possible connection issues. I wondered if the lead wires are getting cooked so will be adding new clips next time.

The Harpoon was made by Mike who gave it to me a other stuff before he left the island. My original Harpoon caught on the field lights two years ago with my JLCR. The park manager said she has it now after they replaced the lights with LED. She just has to find it in her office along with my rocket that landed on the roof the other week.

0:00 Intro
0:37 Frick-n-Frack C6-0/B6-0 4pts
1:16 Estes Silver Streak, 1/4A3-3T
1:30 Bandit Upscale F67-4W 456ft 7pts
2:37 Flight video RR
3:23 Estes Bandit 3, A10-3T
5:35 Semroc MoonGlo cloneish, A8-3
6:01 Leviathan F67-6W 759ft 7pts
7:13 Flight video RR
9:21 USR Hammerhead Sounder, D12-7
10:26 Camui (cardstock), QJet B4-4
11:03 Doorknob clone F67-6C 706ft 6pts
12:25 Flight video RR
13:49 Estes Astron Sprint XL, C11-3
14:22 Venus Probe D16-4FJ 2pts
15:47 TLP Bolo, D12-5
16:21 Estes Super Neon XL, D12-3
17:24 Mike's Harpoon C5-3 4pts
18:09 Turbo Vortico, F52-12C (ejection charge removed)
18:44 B.O.S.S. C5-3 240ft 6pts
19:32 Flight video Total 36pts + 5 bonus = 41pts

What the heck happen to the Venus Probe?

oh the InHumanity!

figured I’d see alien brains splashed on the grass.

this went catywampus from ignition, started twirling before vertical motion. That’s WEIRD! Did the motor nozzle break or something?

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

What the heck happen to the Venus Probe?

oh the InHumanity!

figured I’d see alien brains splashed on the grass.

this went catywampus from ignition, started twirling before vertical motion. That’s WEIRD! Did the motor nozzle break or something?

I thought it was a newer Qjet but turned out to be one of the defective motors with the chuffing and nozzle issues.

 

[BABAR]

I thought it was a newer Qjet but turned out to be one of the defective motors with the chuffing and nozzle issues.

Will ET ever get home again?

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Cloned Mega Der Khaki Max. I bought the tube and NC from Estes parts. The tube arrived crushed so Estes fedexed me a new one. Used the plywood kit from Rocketry Works which is still available. I needed to widen the fin slots to fit the 1/4in plywood fins. I couldn’t justify the $48 for the vinyl stickers so made my own.

 

[BABAR]

Cloned Mega Der Khaki Max. I bought the tube and NC from Estes parts. The tube arrived crushed so Estes fedexed me a new one. Used the plywood kit from Rocketry Works which is still available. I needed to widen the fin slots to fit the 1/4in plywood fins. I couldn’t justify the $48 for the vinyl stickers so made my own.

View attachment 611899

Nice. Wouldn’t have guessed those were home made stickers.

try not to CATO this one, okay?

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Nice. Wouldn’t have guessed those were home made stickers.

try not to CATO this one, okay?

Trying. It’s the lawn darting that sucks.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Wispy Hawaiian clouds with several C6-5 flights and Jerry Irvine tribute rockets​

The doctor said I need to stay off my feet through November, so Gary helped me out with retrieving the rockets. I realized I haven't launched C6-5 motors for a while. The winds were mostly calm for the two hours we were on the field, so excellent time to launch them, albeit streamers. The chair I'm using is the swing type from Costco which makes it easy to lean back and film, except when they go behind the umbrella.

The GoPro10 was not my favorite cam of the day. It kept overheating and the backup battery was dead. It would say not enough charge even though there was 20% left. The GoPro8 has been working well on the ground despite getting singed from the sparky motors. It does tend to shut off, probably from overheating but not until after the launch. I threatened the 10 with going to ground and getting the 11 from Costco.

I wanted to test the Ion altimeter more but didn't bother with a cam or Estes altimeter. Rather than mount it on a sled, I placed the altimeter in a nylon pouch in the payload section which seemed to work well and kept it from bashing around.

Gary flew several US Rockets flights in tribute to Jerry Irvine. Most of them earned their paint except for the one that disappeared over the west side of the park. Both motors on the Dual Rear Eject lit at the same time.

The Frick-n-Frack worked well with friction fit tape this time. Woulda been nice if it had flown in the direction it was pointed, so it would be easier to film. I got the Cosmic Interceptor and JLCR back. The park manager said she just hasn't been checking her messages for the past couple weeks. The field lights crew just happen to come by for finishing touches on the lights, and she asked if they can get the rocket and scooter off the roof.

The JLCR is toast of course but will try to mail to JL and see if they can fix it or replace. They're out of stock so who knows. The cam audio was corrupted. It's possible the cam was the one that fell from 1100ft last month, and now the audio is busted.

0:00 2to2.5 E20-4W 617ft 5pts
1:12 Supersonic, B6-6
1:55 XF-45 C6-5 4pts
2:58 Hammerhead, C11-5
3:48 Nike Smoke C6-5 251ft 4pts
4:45 Dual 18mm Rear Eject, 2XB6-4
5:28 Micro Gigantor, C11-5
6:09 clone rocket C6-5 4pts
7:10 Frick-n-Frack C6-0/B6-0 4pts
8:07 Miniroc 1.2, D12-7
8:38 Bucket Filter C11-0 2pts
9:06 Titan, C11-5
9:36 Return of the Cosmic Interceptor E12-6 358ft
10:01 Flight video RR 2pts
10:45 Total 25pts + 5bonus = 30pts

 

[BABAR]

First, nice tribute to Jerry Irvine.

I thoroughly enjoyed the video.

second. What? No CATOs? I’m suspicious someone is impersonating you and Gary.

third, I miss Christopher’s color commentary!

fourth. Still amazed at how straight that Cosmic Interceptor flies!

I thought the Frick N Frack flew pretty well.

I know these videos are a lot more work than it seems, thanks for sharing them.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

First, nice tribute to Jerry Irvine.

I thoroughly enjoyed the video.

second. What? No CATOs? I’m suspicious someone is impersonating you and Gary.

third, I miss Christopher’s color commentary!

fourth. Still amazed at how straight that Cosmic Interceptor flies!

I thought the Frick N Frack flew pretty well.

I know these videos are a lot more work than it seems, thanks for sharing them.

I appreciate that. It's a good day when I gain a rocket instead of losing one.

Christopher almost joined us but the traffic was really bad and didn't want to be late for class.

I wanted this to be a casual C6-5 day (if there is such a thing). We were joined by the baseball coach who was prepping the field for Saturday's game. He said they used to launch rockets at his high school (Iolani) and built some with his kids. They wanted to see it go on a C6-5 and it landed in a community far away. We told him we're BARs with disposable income so we can afford to lose a few rockets.

I have one more set of motors for the Frick-n-frack trying to get a decent descent video of the two coming down together.

I'm excited my Ion is working. I create a scattor plot using Excel with the collected data. As an Excel afficionado, this makes me happy.

 

[DymondY2K]

Was there two rockets on that roof??

I also like your points system for launches! Does recovery mean you get to bring it home?

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Was there two rockets on that roof??

I also like your points system for launches! Does recovery mean you get to bring it home?

Ironically, someone had hammer-thrown a scooter onto the roof. The park manager wanted it off her roof so it doesn't slide off onto someone. This perhaps gave her an incentive to ask the field lights crew to bring both off the roof when they arrived.

Correct, no points if it's stuck in a tree or worse, in the canal.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Halloween launches with spooky music and wildfire smoke​

Excellent morning for launching. Unfortunately, many of my rockets headed east toward the wildfire that created a smoky atmosphere. Maybe the wildfire was increasing gravity, maybe. At 8:16, you can see the wildfire in the distance and the lingering smoke near the ground. Gary was more into the Halloween theme with costume, goblins, and several bat rockets.

I had two goals with this launch day. First to test the PVC launcher I built and second to retry the Doorknob with more NC weight and the same motor. Overall, the PVC pad worked great. I added two squares of clay to the NC to see if it will angle over again. It did but after watching the handycam video, I'm thinking it's a motor issue. There was no chuffing off the rod. The rocket wobbled to about 30ft in the air when it chuffed three times then took off.

Fortunately, we were joined by three teens who suspiciously weren't in school. Christopher and the teens went to go find it which landed on a homeowner's roof who was nice enough to let one of the teens climb a ladder to get it off the roof. I doubt the homeowner woulda let myself or Christopher go on the roof.

The E26 motor in the Megabucks chuffed off the rod, and the rocket veered to the east. Christopher was able to retrieve it by befriending two pitbulls. I usually get the Hi-flier XL back but not this time. The E12-6 arced over too far and landed in the tree about 40ft off the ground. The payload with the Flightsketch is still hanging in the tree about 50ft from a year ago.

0:00 Intro
1:14 Semroc Batrok, QJB4-4
1:45 Laser-X clone C12-4FJ 5pts
2:58 Sunward Mini Moondance, QJB4-4
3:43 Squirrel Works Demon, QJB4-4
4:09 Megabucks E26-4W 1143ft 4pts
5:14 Sunward Moondance, QJB4-4
6:07 Doorknob F67-6C 634ft 6pts
7:14 Flight video RR
8:37 Squirrel Works Gremlin, C11-5
9:14 Semroc Goblin, C11-5
9:50 Hi-flier XL E12-6 4pts
10:58 Big Daddy, D12-3
11:46 US Rockets Long Tall Sally, C11-5
12:08 US Rockets Fire and Forget, C11-5
12:30 US Rockets Screamer, C11-7
13:00 Patriot C11-3 188ft 6pts
13:40 Flight video
14:26 Total 25pts + 5 bonus = 30pts

 

[BABAR]

Christopher was in excellent form, as usual.

 

[neil_w]

Do the E26's ever *not* chuff? Do the D22s behave the same? I bought some of... one of these (can't remember), haven't had a chance to fly them yet. I'm a bit nervous about them TBH...

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Do the E26's ever *not* chuff? Do the D22s behave the same? I bought some of... one of these (can't remember), haven't had a chance to fly them yet. I'm a bit nervous about them TBH...

The best way to tell is launch one from the pack in a cheap rocket then launch the second in an expensive rocket, maybe. The D22 may be less popular so hard to tell.

The F67C was the real disappointment. From the velocity on the altimeter graph, the rocket popped off the rod, hung in the air for about 0.2sec, chuffed three times, then took off.

BTW, the air quality was really bad last night.

 

[BABAR]

The best way to tell is launch one from the pack in a cheap rocket then launch the second in an expensive rocket, maybe.

sounds like “how long do you cook a potato in the microwave?”

get two potatoes.

roll one up in a towel and stick it in microwave.

set on high.

set for one hour, hit start, and stay nearby.

stop the microwave when the potato explodes and figure out how long it took.

put the next one in, cook 2 minutes less.

 

[BEC]

The filtered ION data is what's equivalent of what you'd get from other makers' recording altimeters. In my tests it (the ION) consistently reads a little low relative to others on board the same flight (PrefectFlite Pnuts, FS Minis). But it works well enough to give a good idea what went on during the flight and is inexpensive, which are both good things when they occur together. Unfortunately the beeped-out and displayed on the summary data numbers are unfiltered. So plotting the filtered data is really the only good way to see what happened.

Also, acceleration and velocity data are based purely on the barometric data (ION has no accelerometer aboard) so bear that in mind as you look at the data.

Lovely plots, by the way. That's Excel? I have much to learn....

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

sounds like “how long do you cook a potato in the microwave?”

get two potatoes.

roll one up in a towel and stick it in microwave.

set on high.

set for one hour, hit start, and stay nearby.

stop the microwave when the potato explodes and figure out how long it took.

put the next one in, cook 2 minutes less.

Agree. Not very efficient but is scientific.

The filtered ION data is what's equivalent of what you'd get from other makers' recording altimeters. In my tests it (the ION) consistently reads a little low relative to others on board the same flight (PrefectFlite Pnuts, FS Minis). But it works well enough to give a good idea what went on during the flight and is inexpensive, which are both good things when they occur together. Unfortunately the beeped-out and displayed on the summary data numbers are unfiltered. So plotting the filtered data is really the only good way to see what happened.

Also, acceleration and velocity data are based purely on the barometric data (ION has no accelerometer aboard) so bear that in mind as you look at the data.

Lovely plots, by the way. That's Excel? I have much to learn....

I realized the issue with the filtered altitude vs the raw altitude with the Doorknob that landed on the roof about 30ft up-. In the previous Doorknob flight, the raw altitude made more sense. The filtered velocity matches with what I saw, maybe not totally accurate but did seem to hang in the air for 0.2sec before it really took off. Here's the revised graph for the second Doorknob flight.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Sunday in the park...

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Trying out new things with the Ion altimeter and cameras before the next wind storm​

Wanted to try a few new things. First, inserting the Ion altimeter into the NC. Second, trying out a few camera pointers brought up in Joe Barnard's recent video. The wildfire seems to have stopped. The Oahu mountain ranges are not erupting, but they are usually covered in rain clouds. Christopher and I tried to retrieve the Hi-flier XL using the step ladder and pole but were a couple feet short so there it will sit. The Antar on the roof should be easier to get with a fishing pole, as long as the wind doesn't blow it off before then. Gary went to look for the Liberty and couldn't find it.

The altimeters mostly worked. After apogee with the Goblin, the battery disconnected but the data so far was saved. I then extrapolated the data and got fairly close. The Protostar worked better. There were a lot of jarring on ascent causing the filtered altitude to be worthless. Next time, I'll wrap the altimeters with wadding to help pad within the NC. In the video, I covered the beepers with tape and was struggling with removing it. The tape did stick to the Goblin fin.

Barnard's advice includes painting the GoPro10 white to reduce overheating. I covered the lenses and mic ports with Scotch tape then painted with white primer. I'll probably do the same with the GoPro8. He also suggested turning off the Handycam's autofocus and setting the focus to infinity. This only seems to be an issue with the close up of the rockets on the pad.

0:00 Intro
0:57 Goblin Extended D12-5 325ft 7pts
2:02 Flight video RR
3:19 Protostar D12-5 311ft 7pts
4:11 Flight video RR
5:32 Lo-boom SST C5-3 171ft 6pts
6:19 Flight video
7:15 Antar C12-4FJ 3pts
8:13 New Shepard, C5-3
8:44 Frick-n-Frack C6-0/B6-0 4pts
9:25 Chiller, QB4-4
9:52 Mix N Match 60 Black and White, QB4-4
10:08 Mix N Match 60 Pink, Black and White, C5-3
10:46 Mix N Match 55 Blue and White, QB4-4
11:14 Mix N Match 60 Pink and White: C5-3
11:46 Liberty, D12-5
13:17 Total 27pts + 5 bonus = 32pts

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Red Nova and Asteroid Hunter
I usually don’t do two at once but have a backlog of kits. I previously built the Red Nova in 2020 and messed up the red paint. I sold it on eBay and bought the kit again when it was on clearance. I’m really happy with the results.

I bought the Asteroid Hunter for $40 then realized I had already bought one. It’s an antique so will probably keep the unopened kit (unless I lose the rocket).

Tomorrow both will get Quick Shine Polish. We’re doing a night launch on Saturday to try out the parks new super LED field lights. Should turn the night into day.

For the red paint, I used Behr Premium spray paint. Nice stuff and same price as the Rusto 2x.

 

[BABAR]

Are you flying any birds without onboard lighting at the night launch? I’m thinking unlighted rockets might be hard to track, since presumably the field lights are aimed DOWNWARD.

those are nicely finished birds, hate to lose them.