Launch Test 68

Quick Links

Home

Propellants

Rocket Motors

Rockets

Rocket Electronics

Ground Suport

Launch & Static Tests

Software

Links

E-Mail Scott

This launch was more of a whim than anything else, though I did have a couple of things I wanted to test on this flight. First, I wanted to test my PIRM deployment in a rocket, and second I wanted to try a magnetic reed switch to initiate my timers. The rocket was put together from left over parts from the Cosmo rocket project, and some other odds and ends. I used one of the new LW-2 motors with a light propellant charge to minimize altitude.

One problem I ran into early was the PIRM was too big for the 3" diameter PVC rocket. I was afraid the blow out bulkhead on the PIRM would ram into the main parachute on the way out, and either tangle or damage the parachute in the process. I was pretty comfortable with the drogue configureation though, and not too worried about losing the rocket anyway. I packed the main as best I could, but I was still worried the chute would slump at launch and get caught on the PIRM.

It wasn't the greatest day for a launch, but we did have a blue sky opening and decided to launch. I had bench tested the magnetic reed switch many times, and it seemed to power two timers with no problems. So we set up the rocket on the launch rail, and positioned a large NIB magnet on the rail, being a steel rail, it was just a matter of sticking it where we wanted it.

Launch

Motor Burn Out

Recovery, well, sort of.

In the last picture you can see the rocket coming down nose first, just before impact. The drogue deployed, what you can't see in the picture is the drogue chute and the nose cone trailing behind the rocket. The drogue chute tangled and the rocket came in fast. Most of the plastic rocket was destroyed, but a lot of the parts including the nose cone were undamaged. Had it come in just a little slower... The main chute would have deployed in a couple of seconds.