January 24, 2005
Here's a cool picture of a rocket lifting off. The motor is an Animal Motor Works M2200(?) Skidmark. To give you an idea of scale, the rocket is around 10' tall.
Now when things don't quite go according to plan, you see things like the video clips on this page. Spectacular footage.
Thanks to A.E. Brain for the pointer.
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January 23, 2005
Mookie and I have had the extreme pleasure of launching rockets with Rob Edmonds for several years now. Anytime we have a club launch, Rob is usually there, testing new glider prototypes or perfecting existing models. The man is a font of glider-knowlege, and he's more than happy to share his expertise.
His company, Edmonds Aerospace, makes some of the coolest rocket kits around. Specializing in glider designs, Rob has carved out a niche creating the simplest and most fool-proof glider kits imaginable. They're perfect for beginners, but they also fly great! For more advanced rocketeers, he features binary gliders, larger models (for bigger motors) and the simplest RC glider available.
I noticed in the latest issue of Sport Rocketry a full-page Edmonds Aerospace ad. I'll excerpt it here, because it's an awesome educational concept:
The G-PackThis special package will get your students into the air more quickly and at lower cost than any other rocket-powered product. You will enjoy costs of less than $2.50 per student and build times of as little as twenty minutes! Individual aircraft for 12 students are packaged with a single rocket booster that launches three aircraft at a time. Each student experiences a rocket launch of her own model, yet you can launch all twelve students with only four motors, cutting your flying costs by two thirds. Each group of 3 students can enjoy competing to see which aircraft remains aloft the longest!
He's designed this model to fly on Estes A10-3T motors, which come four to a pack (around $5.00 at WalMart). Plus you get the fun of multiple gliders flying at one time. Too cool.
Rob also suggests using the G-Pack for birthday parties, which would make for a memorable (and easy to do) event. The glider kits in the G-Pack consist of 5 parts, no cutting is necessary, and, being the owner of several Edmonds kits, I can tell you that they fly like a dream.
Just for fun, here are pictures of several of our rocket gliders. Click on the links to open in a new window.
Edmonds Deltie, Mookie has one of these too.
Another Edmonds kit. This one isn't a beginner model, it takes some effort to make it fly nicely.
Edmonds Tinee, another beginner-level kit. Isn't that the coolest looking thing?
Flying Jenny. This biplane glider is available from plans here. It's an old design, and when I lose one I just build another.
A Holverson Zoomie. No longer in business, I've got one of their Silver Hawk flying wing gliders in my 'to build' box.
There are a couple of others we fly, but I don't have pictures right handy. Something you might have noticed was that the gliders are mostly undecorated. I use pink highlighter to add some flair without adding the weight of paint. Makes 'em easier to see too.
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January 22, 2005
There was also going to be the Kimberly Harms / John Lyndal full scale Honest John powered by four 4-grain full O motors. Dave Triano, Mike Hobbs had teamed up with Frank Kosdon on an 8" minimum diameter full Q motor attempt scheduled to go over 88,000 feet. Then there were all those 35,000 foot fun flights.
Of course, it helps to fly in the desert too. Black Rock, Nevada to be precise. The same chunk of desert where Burning Man takes place. Rocketeers in the Western U.S. have room that we east of the Mississippi only dream about.
Back to the story:
Not much comes back alive at Black Rock and this held true for the mighty Honest John. This was a full scale model of the real thing. It was built by Kimberly Harms and the Community Space Program out of Washington State. The motors were built by John Lyndal out of Oregon. John and Kim have combined their talents successfully on many other projects in the past. But this was the biggest one yet and this was Balls 13 at Black Rock. As with many other projects at the event there would be a secret conspiracy with the 700 pound, 24"
diameter, 4 full O powered rocket. Earlier in the event I was talking with Kim and
mentioned to her that she should put some "Cow Spots" on her military green painted rocket. She slowly shook her head and said she thought the project might go the way of the Cow . I wonder what she knew, that the rest of the world didn't. I had discussed with both Kim and John how the big projects get logarithmically more difficult. That was one thing we were all in agreement with.[The photo below shows an actual Honest John being launched. The black, white and orange colors indicate that this is a test round, and the plumes emerging from the nose end are small rockets mounted at an angle to induce spin which increased stability and hence accuracy. The full-scale Honest John discussed in the article had no spin rockets and was launched vertically, as are all our rockets for safety reasons. -- RJ]
The Honest John was man handled onto the tower fully assembled. We were not out at their pad, which was over a mile away, yet we could see the progress as they finally got the big rocket vertical on the tower. The time had finally come and the button was pushed.
The Honest John climbed right up and off the tower. It started to take a slight arch to the right and then about 1,000 feet all hell broke loose. One of the O motors had catoed and that tore the rocket apart. The motor section continued to sail past the flailing payload and nose cone section. As the booster cruised by the nose cone it clipped it smashing the nuclear warhead to tiny bits [the Honest John was a nuclear-capable rocket used by the US Army, this was a full scale model - RJ]. The booster must have continued on to about 3,000 feet while the rest of the rocket fell helplessly back to earth from a much lower altitude. On Sunday I approached Kim to offer my condolences on the demise of her project and she told that "You can't cry over spilled milk."
When Mookie was a wee rocketeer, she took to design like a fish to water. One of her very first rockets was a beautiful flyer painted red, white & blue, and we watched it drift away under chute over an adjoining patch of woods. Despite our best efforts, we never did find it. She impressed me with her attitude because you could tell it hurt her to lose her rocket, but she accepted that sometimes you don't get them back.
Here's a nifty panoramic view of the playa at Black Rock.
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January 18, 2005
I love it when a plan comes together.
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January 03, 2005
Y'all are invited. Look for me in the red Mazda pickup.
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November 29, 2004
Wives fall into categories.
"Saintly" are the ones who build and fly their own rockets. Very rare and wonderful, if you have one you should treasure her. The biggest drawback is when you sneak over to the on-site vendor to pick up that big honkin' motor, she's already in line with *her* motor, and you know you can't afford both. Que sera, you settle for a slightly smaller whoosh generator, and vow to be quicker than her at the next launch. Dishes seldom pile up in the kitchen sink with her around because that's where she does her wet sanding.
Next in the hierarchy are the "Angelic" ladies. These are the ones who go to launches and enjoy flying your rockets, even if she doesn't want to build her own. You often wind up painting a few her favorite color (even pink) as a thank you for being so understanding. She might fuss a little bit about buying that gallon of epoxy instead of milk, but she understands and will explain it to the kids. And their shoes will last another month with a little duct tape.
"Very Cool" wives are next, and the first of the mortals. This perfectly describes my own wife. She doesn't build, doesn't fly, and could care less (mine's never even been to a launch), but she indulges you without complaint because she loves you. Easiest to identify around the holidays when she asks you for a list of rocket-related gifts you might like. Also known to call you from the rocket-aisle of a craft store to let you know that motors and/or kits are on sale and wants to know what she can get for you. And how many.
The "Ambivalent" wife doesn't fuss much, but doesn't take much interest either. As long as your rocketry doesn't interfere with home-life and doesn't become an obstacle to one of the kids' activities, she's pretty much ok with it. You are expected to miss the rocket launch this weekend because she volunteered you to mow the lawn at the church. Buck up and count your blessings, it could be worse.
"Equivalent" wife *is* worse. She believes that you can spend any amount you want to on rockets, as long as she gets at least that much money to spend on her activities in return. Of course, in "equivalent" math, one dollar for you equals at least five for her. On the plus side, you get a lot of fiberglassing done while she's out on Bingo nights, and she's graciously alloted you one knick-knack shelf in the den for your stupid toys.
The bottom of the scale is "Ex" or "Soon-to-be-Ex" wife. At best, she didn't intentionally bust up your rocket stuff when she left (and although she didn't give a shit about rockets, you can bet she'll zero in on the most expensive and hard to replace stuff you own), and your reputation will survive with minimal lasting damage. With luck, her bad-mouthing you will taper off over time, but face it, every mutual friend you have is going to look at you funny from now on.
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November 07, 2004
A bad day fishing beats a good day at work every time
That's what happened to me yesterday. I had a wonderful day, despite all kinds of things going absolutely wrong.
The day started off very chilly. When I got up, I discovered that we were inexplicably childless. Rachael had left early (SAT's) and TJ had been called in to work. That meant I had to load the truck up myself. This is doable, but my "system" results in some rather large and heavy containers best handled by two people. So I switched to plan B, which is to empty the containers, load them into the truck, then refill them again with all of my equipment. Not a biggie, just unexpected.
When I got to the field, I was stunned at the number of cars already there. We've really been growing this club for the last few years, and I remember the days when there might be a half dozen cars and ten people launching rockets. When I arrived yesterday, there were probably close to fifty vehicles already there. Amazing and wonderful.
Lots of kids too. There were Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and a local school Physics club and several Team America student teams working on next year's challenge.
Since I had her repaired and ready to go, I grabbed the Hot Jets and headed for check in. While waiting in line, I was asked to do a shift at the check-in table (safety inspections and pad assignments) and I said "sure". I had just enough time to load the Hot Jets onto a pad before my shift started.
She launched beautifully on an F24-7, but the 7 second delay is just too long. When the ejection charge fired, she was well on her way down and although the nose cone came off, the chute didn't make it out of the tube. She went down behind a small rise and I headed over the see the damage.
Coming up to her, it was obvious that the soft grass had saved her. The rocket had a tiny crumple along the rim where she hit the ground, and it looks like she bounced and deployed the chute then too. Impact deployment of the parachute is hard on your rocket - just a tip from someone who's been there and done that. Not this time though, I got lucky. The chute had been driven into the ground a little ways by the body tube hitting, but all in all she's undamaged and ready to fly again.
Time for my shift as part of the range crew. It was mostly kids and all kinds of fun. The physics students all had identical egglofters and were flying raw egg payloads. The rockets were also a bit underpowered for the windy conditions which made for some, uh, interesting flight profiles. And a few scrambled eggs.
Early on I put my hand down to write something on a flight card and came down on a yellow jacket that had been sitting on the table. He did the famous yellow jacket ninja half-roll maneuver and buried his stinger into the meaty part of my right hand below the pinky. I felt the fire, and it took a shake or two to dislodge him. Mindfull of the little ones around, I didn't let out the string of swear words that were running around inside my head (good thing they couldn't read thought balloons). I contented myself with an "Ouch, that smarts!" and wishing it had been a bee instead so at least I'd have the satisfaction of knowing he'd die from it.
I'm not allergic to bee stings, so other than the painful throbbing in my hand all day, the day went on.
After my shift was over, I took the ground support equipment I needed out to the pads. It was time to launch Watch the Birdie, my hybrid-powered rocket that refused to fly last weekend. After getting everything set up and ready to go, I tried three times to launch, and three times had no joy.
I have a couple of ideas about what the problem might be, and the rocket (the motor half) is set up on a test stand right now. In a little while I'll head out to the backyard and run some tests to see if I can't pinpoint the exact trouble. When ignition failed, I didn't get a clean dump of the nitrous tank, but the entire motor section of the rocket frosted up. That tells me that the nitrous was escaping there somehow, instead of through the vent or back through the fill hose to the dump valve. Yes, it all sounds very complicated, you should be impressed. Especially the ladies.
So that was my day. I didn't fly anything else, preferring to visit with friends and talk rockets. I did visit Performance Hobbies to buy some stuff. Ken had his huge trailer full of rocket goodies there, which doesn't happen often enough, so I try to take advantage when he's there. Unfortunately he was out of stock on almost everything I wanted. I still bought a couple of things anyway (support the people who support you).
My hand was still hurting, so I said my goodbyes, packed up and headed home. It was still a beautiful day and I had a great time. Next launch is December 11th. I'll be there, y'all are welcome to come on out and join us.
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November 06, 2004
Before I go, I wanted to tease you with this little tidbit.
Doug Pratt was telling me about the solonoid valves he uses on the ground support equipment we use to fill hybrid rocket motors with nitrous oxide. Seems that early on, folks were using automobile-rated valves and burning them out because cars get a quick shot, whereas we hold the valves open for many seconds to complete the fill.
So Doug went out and found a source for custom solonoids, and it's the guy who did all the nitrous systems for movies like The Fast and the Furious. The guy is a complete loon, and his latest toy is a nitrous-injected chainsaw.
Rumor has it that there's a video out there showing this beast passing through a railroad tie like a light sabre through an Ewok. I'll try to get a link.
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November 01, 2004
Culpeper is a little better than an hour's drive from my place, and the last 40 miles is on smaller roads going through the Virginia countryside. It's a beautiful trip any time of year, but especially in the fall as the trees turn.
(continued in the extended entry) more...
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October 31, 2004
Fixed that little problem last night though, and it didn't keep me from flying other stuff.
The Hot Jets made a perfect flight, and once again many comments were made on the paint job and listing of all those ladies names. 
Gonna fly her again today on an F24 motor.
And the meaning of this post? Why, it gives me a chance to link to all of the Rocket Jones Hot Jets cheerleaders, best sideline squad in the Blogger Bowl fantasy football league!
The Hot Jets cheerleaders are:
Nic, of Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax!
Lemur Girl, of... uh, Lemur Girl!
LeeAnn, of The Cheese Stands Alone!
Blogoline, of Blogoline's Journal!
Gir, of Your Moosey Fate!
Tink, of Flitting Here and There!
Wegglywoo, of On the Beach at the End of the World!
Dawn of Dawn Enterprises!
Stevie, of Caught In The XFire!
Helen, of Everyday Stranger!
annika, of annika's journal!
Cindy, of Dusting My Brain!
Mookie, of MookieRiffic!
Denita, of Who Tends The Fires!
Lynn S., of Reflections in d minor!
Susie, of Practical Penumbra!
Sarah, of Trying To Grok!
Kat, of Mostly Fluff!
Big Hair, of Left & Right!
Jennifer, of Jennifer's History and Stuff!
Heather, of Angelweave!
Margi, of Margi Lowry!
Gotta run. Have a great Halloween!
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October 30, 2004
Links to directions here. Spectatin' free, kids launch free, adults pay a minimal fee.
If you go, look for the red Mazda pickup next to a red sun canopy. I'll be somewhere around there, and I'd love to meet you! I also have several kid-friendly rockets with me that the junior space cadets are welcome to fly and take home for their very own.
Pictures later.
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October 29, 2004
Probably the most anticipated flight of the day... Doug G, with Gerald R's assistance, launched the "Triton 2 Stage," a 50-pound, 13 1/2 foot, 6-inch diameter behemoth. The booster section was loaded with an L1300 staging to a K605 in the sustainer. The L1300 roared to life, lifting the Triton with ease. After booster burnout, the sections drag separated as intended, but the electronics failed to light the second stage igniter. The altimeters did their job and deployed the mains bringing all components down safely. It was still a very pretty flight despite the second stage issue.
This next rocket has a name that seems strangely familiar:
After passing his Level 2 exam, Blaine J brought a little spice with his rocket entitled "Democracy, Whiskey, Sexy." Just over five feet tall, and fire engine red, its multi-diameter body ended with aluminum air brakes at the base of the fins. The name fit the bill. He launched it on a J270 for a beautiful take-off. Unfortunately, both sections came down without recovery, resulting in damage to the air frame. I'm sure we'll see him next month for another attempt! UPDATE: During motor disassembly, Blaine discovered the exit cone portion of the nozzle was gone. The onboard RDAS data showed a drop in thrust 0.3 seconds into the flight, confirming the nozzle had failed.
Rocket science fer sure.
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October 27, 2004
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October 19, 2004
What follows is a brief explanation of the various types of organized hobby rocketry. Even the federal government weenies at the BATFE muddles the issue by confusing the terminology.
Hobby rocketry falls under three categories: model rocketry, high power rocketry (HPR), and experimental (EX). Model rocketry and HPR can also be described as "airframe engineering", because both include the use of commercially available motors. Model rocketry is up to and includes "G" motors, and HPR is "H" and above.
These motors are manufactured by companies like Estes, Quest, AeroTech, Ellis Mountain, Animal Works, Kosdon, RATT Works, Propulsion Polymers, SkyRipper, Cessaroni (and I'm sure I've forgotten a few). The motors are then tested by one of the national hobby rocketry organizations. The primary ones that in North America are the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA or just Tripoli), and the Canadian Association of Rocketry (CAR). There are others, but these three groups are the ones that do motor testing and have reciprocal agreements to honor each other's motor certifications.
The motor certifications are critical because it's what allows us to get affordable insurance.
As long as we launch under the guidelines of the organizations using approved motors, we're covered by the group insurance. That coverage also makes it possible to obtain permission from municipal facilities and private landowners to hold rocket launches.
Experimental rocketry is supported by Tripoli (and maybe the CAR, I'm not sure). EX is for those guys who manufacture their own motors. It's not cheap to manufacture homegrown propellant, the basic starter's library and safety equipment alone runs a pretty penny. The old term for those who ignore safety and common sense is "basement bomber" and you still hear about them once in a while when their house becomes a smoking hole in the middle of their neighborhood. Those clowns are *not* doing EX, because you inevitably hear about "large amounts of black powder" and other assorted explosive goodies. It drives us crazy because they get lumped under the "model rocket" umbrella by ignorant press and government officials who don't know the correct terminology, nor do they care who they slander with their inaccuracy.
If the explosion is small, basement bombers might be known afterwards as "lefty" or "two fingers".
EX launches are held around the country during the year, and most of the time what happens is a two or three-day launch is planned, with one day being strictly experimental, and the other day(s) being strictly commercial motors. EX motors don't neccessarily mean big motors either, they can be as small as common Estes-style "C" motors you find at hobby shops and WalMart.
Here's a nice video taken at the recent Whitakers Experimental Launch Days (WELD) in North Carolina. The rocket weighs in at 35lbs. Listen to the soundtrack on the video, and you'll hear some of the safety and technical discussion going on among the launch crew and folks watching.
So now you know more about the subject than the average BATFE agent (and newspaper reporter or Senator for that matter). Personally, I fly model rockets and HPR, I don't do EX. Maybe someday, but I'm in no hurry.
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October 15, 2004
As always, spectators are welcome (and it's free), and all sizes of rockets will be launched, from fun-sized Estes model rockets all the way up to big-honkin' serious-sized high power birds.
You may recall the spring launch was where the Air Munuviana met its end. This time around, I've got a new type of altimeter bay system I'm developing, along with more of the nitrous-based hybrid motors to fly (and a full 20lb tank - woohoo!). I'm also going to try my hand at a neat one-finned rocket design that I saw at NARAM this summer.
So if you're in the mood for a nice drive in some beautiful countryside, consider heading out to the piedmont of Northern Virginia on the last weekend of October. The launch will be going on both days, the 30th and 31st. I'll be there, look for the red Mazda truck and the red canopy.
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September 29, 2004
Courtesy of Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe, here's a look at four, and four more. Pretty cool. I'll be getting the complete collection.
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September 18, 2004
In fact, because I'm such a linking fool, here they are in the main column too:
Pratt Hobbies
Vertical Force Rocketry
Magnum Rockets, Hobbies & More
There's also a new link to the NowHybrids site, which is the place to learn all about hybrid rocket motors. Nitrous, baby! That's right, I pass gas for fun.
Also, it's been there a while, but John Coker's Intro to Rocketry is an outstanding place to become familiar with my hobby. Like I say:
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September 17, 2004
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September 08, 2004
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August 29, 2004
Great photo Rich!
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