Dan Crank
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The parade of unfinished #ModelRocketry projects continues...but I am really trying to get this one ready to fly two weeks from today. This is an upscale of an #Estes Torellian Invader, a kit from the 80s, made out of a Super Neon XL kit. I got the fins cut and sanded this morning and just glued the first one on. 10 fins in all.
My Torellian Invader is the only finished rocket I built as a kid that I still have today. :)
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I bench tested Black Widow's new electronics last week, and only three of the four channels fired. I went through the connections and they seemed OK, so I set up another test, moving the unburned match to another channel. This time, the altimeter showed that channel with no continuity, confirming that it was a bad match.
With a good match on that channel, all four channels fired just fine. Onward!
Video of test, showing the BlueRaven app: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTlh-1UFDhk
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I flew #modelRockets in the park again yesterday with St. Louis #Rocketry Association. My scale model Gemini-Titan had another poor outing.
The first motor lit, and it had just started to arc over about 150 feet overhead when the second motor, somehow, lit. The rocket went a few hundred feet sideways, and I think the ejection charge from the first motor must have fired while the second motor was under thrust, with no effect. The second ejection didn't fire until it had already lawn darted.
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OK, I found some 1S 380mAH batteries rated 25C with current protection, so they should be able to deliver 9.5A if I'm capable of arithmetic on a Sunday. And they have Molex connectors, not JST-PH. Back in business in a couple of days. #rocketry #HighPowerRocketry
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Awww... #EngineeringFail on my part. My overkill battery will in fact kill my altimeter.
"The largest lithium polymer battery that should be used with the Raven is 1S, 300 mAhrs, because larger lipo batteries can produce currents well in excess of the 22 Amp rating of the deployment channels in the event of an output short circuit, which can permanently damage the altimeter."
Better to find out now, but that's back to the drawing board on my sled. #rocketry #HighPowerRocketry #RocketSurgery
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The battery is a 7.4V 1200mAH quadcopter battery, which is definitely overkill, but my motto appears to be "anything worth doing is worth overdoing" and I'm leaning into it. #rocketry #HighPowerRocketry #RocketSurgery
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It's getting a new sled (which itself took 5 or 6 iterations to get right) and a new altimeter, the brand new Featherweight BlueRaven. I'm waiting on some wiring connectors which should arrive today. Also has my new favorite switch, the Lab Rat Rocketry pull-pin switch. #rocketry #HighPowerRocketry #RocketSurgery
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My current project, since I've decided to stop feeling guilty about jumping around between projects, and just do what makes me happy at the moment. I'm refurbishing an old (~7 years old) rocket, Black Widow. This is my favorite kind of rocket to fly, 54mm motor in a 75mm tube. But it's had some usability issues that required some more iteration. #rocketry #HighPowerRocketry #RocketSurgery
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Okay, I think we've successfully set the ball rolling for getting white supremacists to adopt #Dilbert t-shirts as their new official uniform. What's next on the #WokeAgenda?
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This should be good enough. They only have to stay on for a few seconds. #rocketry #highPowerRocketry #rocketSurgery
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I'm about halfway through my holiday break from work, and getting started on a new #rocketry project. This will be a (slightly nonstandard) LOC Forte and will be a testbed for the new radio-controlled gliding parachute system from Apogee Components. I'd like to eventually make an autonomously homing system out of it (as I think Apogee originally intended this product to be) but that's a very complex project further down the road.
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A day late for #caturday but I have to say that one good lap nap makes up for a lot of "play-biting" kitten rampage.
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I've already messed up my reverse-chronological-order idea, so here's today's #highPowerRocketry #project post: Buster, my level 3 certification build from 2016. It's named after the crash test dummy from Mythbusters. This is the biggest rocket I've built, and the biggest one I'm likely to build. It's a lot of work (and expense) to fly! The launch photo was taken by my L3CC's wife, and unfortunately I don't know her name to give her proper credit.
More info on my wiki at https://danno.org/RocketWiki/index.php/Buster
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This is my most recent #HighPowerRocket build, from last year. This is my first attempt at a two-stage rocket - a Wildman Shapeshifter Jr. named "Gravity's Just a Habit" after the OK Go lyric.
The first flight was underpowered and under-stable, and thus the second stage did not ignite. I'm hoping to get another chance to fly it soon, with a higher-thrust booster motor and some added nose weight.
First flight: https://youtu.be/51VxrD8TOVA
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Here's a thread of my recent projects, starting with the most recent and working backwards until I get tired of it. 😀 Most of these will be #rocketry related.
St. Louis Rocketry Association has a night launch around Halloween. This year I brought "Ghost Goblin," an #Estes Goblin with an #LED lit skull in place of a nose cone. Unfortunately, the wind carried it into the trees far out of reach of the Poking Stick. (Second photo by Carmelo Turdo, The Aero Experience Blog.)