Rock Lake XVII - 27 June 2015

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Early morning, Rock Lake, Ab, <br />27 June 2015... sunrise... it's still early... safety meeting... Shaun helping Robert with <br />his large airframe... Rocket inspection table... a 54mm "K" motor... under ideal weather conditions... the morning launches <br />began in earnest... ignition... liftoff... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... there were several <br />beautiful flights... ignition... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... an event... and a slightly tangled chute... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... nice spiral... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Brad with his 5-element <br />tracking antennae... prepping our first rocket of <br />the day in the shade... Ian with the Firestorm 54, <br />flying on a 38mm J354... checking in at the RI table... the motor should put out around <br />115 lbs of peak thrust... lowering rail... sliding on the rocket... down to the standoff... the rails are tilted to the west so rockets <br />are launched into the "ballistic zone"... connecting igniter... starting the Raven altimeter <br />with a magnetic switch... ready to fly... looking back at the <br />spectator area... countdown... however, disaster!... in post-flight analysis, an unexpected over-pressure of the motor <br />casing appears to have blown out the lower retainer, the <br />airframe has also ruptured above the motor casing... the over-pressure blew the airframe into several pieces, <br />and sent the intact upper section into the air... the lower section remained attached to the rail, while the upper <br />section was blown free and the contents of the motor tube <br />were discharged out the bottom of the rocket... the aftermath. The propellant never ignited, all 6 grains were <br />scattered on the ground. This only left the igniter pellet <br />and a possibly plugged nozzle as likely culprits... Shane, acting RSO inspecting the damage. The lower motor retainer on the bottom <br />of the airframe was attached to the 54 to 38mm adapter by a threaded <br />fitting, and was completely torn off the bottom of the rocket... one of the highlights of the day was the next <br />flight, Jason's two stage rocket... however, the combined size of the motors required that spectators <br />had to move back to a safer viewing location... ignition of the "L" motor <br />first stage... clearing the rail... rapid acceleration... and climbing... under beautiful skies... still under thrust... the first stage begins <br />to burn out... a small puff of smoke appears <br />at the coupler... and the upper stage separates... the upper stage motor then ignited, and the <br />rocket climbed out of sight... an amazing flight to watch... a Red Lightning motor ... and a colourful flight... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... one of Maddy's large rockets... an "L" powered rocket that <br />roared skyward... on a column of fire... and climbed to a very <br />high altitude... still burning... coasting... but the best part was reserved <br />for the landing... when the rocket came down just <br />outside the parking area... which meant for an easy walk... Garrett with his attempt at <br />a Level 1 certification... Garretts rocket, flying <br />on an "H" motor... the small fins on the airframe meant that quite <br />a bit of weight needed to be added to the <br />nosecone to make the rocket stable... ignition... nice clean flight... climbing well.. near apogee... an event... chute deployed... and a nice landing <br />a short distance away... Richard examining Kevin's <br />next rocket... Al giving everyone the "heads up" <br />for the upcoming flight... another one of Kevin's rockets on the far pad, <br />powered by a single stage "L" motor... however, something went amiss... the rocket broke into several pieces and <br />flew a hundred feet into the air... this incident was eerily similar to <br />the earlier "J" motor failure... which, like this incident, may have been caused <br />by an over-pressured motor casing... the upper section... was the last piece to <br />fall to earth... Al informed everyone that the range <br />would remained closed... while the RSO and fire crew <br />inspected the remains... but before long rockets <br />were flying again... ignition... and liftoff... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Richard and Kevin examining <br />the failed motor casing... undaunted, Kevin was up again soon <br />after with another airframe... Richard and John doing <br />the inspection... this one also sports a <br />keychain camera... the rocket on the pad... ignition... on a "K" motor... the rocket leaned over as <br />it picked up speed... then got into a straight trajectory... a very nice flight to watch... nearing apogee... under chute... a nice clean canopy... which led to... yet another... parking lot landing... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... Rock Lake XVII... preparing for the next flight, a <br />GL Vertical Assault 54mm airframe... deployment charges ready... all the necessary components prepared. A Telemetrum GPS data tracker is in <br />the nosecone and a Raven dual-deployment altimeter is housed in the<br />central coupler. The K-400 motor is secured using a Slimline <br />retainer and held in place with a retaining ring... Madison's "J" powered <br />rocket is up next... ignition... and liftoff... something goes awry... the rocket separates <br />at the coupler... a possible failure of the <br />forward closure... which caused burning <br />propellant to spew out... from the upper end... this caused the rocket <br />to spin wildly... until it finally began to free-fall<br />back to the ground... still burning... followed by the <br />upper section... a puff of smoke appeared<br />at the nosecone... the deployment charge went off, <br />causing the main chute to deploy... which slowed down <br />the upper section... while the burning lower <br />section flattened out... and finally pancaked<br />into the ground... followed by the upper section... which floated down gently... to end a rather <br />spectacular failure... the fire crew wasted no <br />time responding... to put out any <br />remaining fires... our flight was up next. For this launch the tower was used. This offered <br />a slightly more efficient trajectory given that rail buttons were not required... the rocket is loaded up, <br />and ignitor attached... the tailcone rests on a standoff bolt to <br />elevate it above the blast plate... Ian and the GL Vertical Assault with K400 motor. The laptop and <br />antennae were used to reboot the Telemetrum once <br />the rocket was oriented vertically... ready to fly... Mary-Ann holding the 3-element Yagi which provided a <br />real-time datalink to the Telemetrum during flight... ignition... liftoff... on a Green K-400 producing <br />over 100lbs of thrust... accelerating... the rocket reached <br />maximum speed... about 3 seconds into the flight... at a velocity of <br />about 330 m/s... which works out to about 740 mph, <br />or very close to the speed of sound... the rocket arced over, and was joined in a rare <br />convergence with a 737 on its way to Vancouver, <br />not something you see everyday... fortunately, they were separated <br />by about 20,000 ft... main deployed around 600ft... and settled in for a soft landing... about a half-kilometer from <br />the launch site... the last launch of the day was Garret,<br />with his Level 2 attempt... with an "I" motor, <br />on the same rocket... and with even more weight <br />packed into the nosecone... nice flight... and even nicer landing... the range opened, and it was now time to find where our rocket landed. <br />Using the last known location sent from the Telemetrum, the Lat/Long <br />was entered into Google maps. This provided a bearing, so I headed off <br />in that direction while my current location continuously updated. <br />The two locations gradually converged... until the rocket finally came into view, a successful test of<br />a system that will be very useful for future flights... textbook landing... the tailcone ate a little grass... everything was intact... launch site in the distance... the streamer got tangled as usual... but a very satisfying flight... Telemetrum flight summary, max speed of 332 m/s at 3 seconds, <br />max altitude 2,865m (9,400ft)... Raven altimeter flight record <br />for comparison... a max speed of 332 m/s, (740 mph) <br />was recorded by the Telemetrum... which is the speed of sound... However, the Raven altimeter recorded a slightly lower set of values, <br />Max speed: 903 ft/s (275 m/s) or 615 mph,<br />Max altitude: 9,383ft or 2,860m...<br /><br />Averaged out:<br />Final max velocity = 678 mph<br />Final max altitude = 9,395 ft the GPS site map and trajectory... sunset... Rock Lake XVII.