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Ignition and lift off! Hey, what looks different here?
I know, black smoke and a flame.
I used one of my experimental AP/AL/R45 loads in the motor. This was a low aluminum, high binder content propellant. That's the reason for the black smoke. I was a little hesitant to use this propellant load, as it was only .61 lbs and very marginal on having enough thrust to get the rocket stable. But I needed to get it used up, so I thought I'd give it a try.
Marginal it was though, as the rocket made more of an arching flight. As I watched it I was concerned deployment would be too late, as the rocket was starting to go nose down already. Then deployment.
And both chutes deployed at the same time again. About 10 seconds after deployment I heard another pop, as the PIRM2 fired, and the rocket dropped another 10' as the line extended when the PIRM2 key was released.
So this time the PIRM2 and timer worked properly. The reason the main chute came out early was simple, it fell out because the nose of the rocket was pointing down. That's not a problem that should occur on a regular basis, but just in case I decided to shorten up the shock cord so the main chute can't come out until the PIRM2 release pin comes out. Now, it is still possible for the main chute to just barely come out of the upper body tube by its shroud lines alone. But I think that's unlikely, as the chute would have to unwrap itself in the body tube. I'll get the rocket ready for another flight, but bad weather is predicted and it may be some time before I get to launch again. Then again, with weather forecasters being the geniuses they are, it may be sunny with clear skies and no wind for the next week.