ROC August 2002

August 2002

/ Lucerne Dry Lake

1 flight, 208 N-sec burned

The ROC August launch was the first time I got to fly my new RATT hybrid motor, and it was awesome. The weather was clear and the winds were calm, though the temperatures were up a bit - the desert in summer, what do you expect.

Flight 1: Legacy, RATT H70

The Legacy was a natural fit for my new RATT H70 hybrid motor, since it just barely fit in the booster tube, and it has a large payload for avionics. Upon arrival at the site, we found no wind (score!) and warm temperatures. After asking hybrid guru Wayne Mrazek about a million questions, I finally had the motor prepped and ready. I came up with a motor retention scheme of 2 washers, a 10-32 bolt, and some Kevlar attached to the shock cord mount. It would all fit, but very tightly. I packed the booster with chutes and motor, and then began work on the altimeter. This rocket has holes for an ALTACC in the payload. Murphy struck when I realized that I left the ALTACC at home. OK, rig up a mount for the RRC2. I stuffed some electronics-safe foam in the coupler, and more foam in the payload. It worked, kinda. The altimeter already was a pretty tight fit in the section, so no board was required. To arm it, I would take apart the payload at the pad and twist some wires. Everything was ready to go and I proudly marched up the flight line. I got 1/2 way to the pad when I realized that I forgot to drill a vent hole. Back to camp, take out the motor, measure and drill, repack booster. 30 minutes later we were ready again. By this time, there was a line for the hybrid pads. I was second in line, after a freaky 2-stage thing. Then I loaded my rocket on Joe Mullin's awesome rail. I armed the altimeter, and we raised it. The fill began, but it wasn't working too well. We tried everything- switch the solenoids, check the connections, everything seemed fine. It was no use. Then Wayne had one last thought. I pulled the vent tube out, and just let the motor vent directly to the outside. It worked. We filled the tank and off she went. Beautiful straight up flight. We lost track of it at burnout (grey rocket, blue sky), but one person had a track on it. We were watching it come down and it landed less than 50 feet from where I was standing. The perfect flight. I'm gonna do that again next month!

Altitude: 2,833 ft

I like to design, build, and fly rockets. PostFlight started as a project to help me keep track of them. Now I've opened it up so you can follow along, too.
I fly with:
Indiana Rocketry, Inc. MDRA
Hey! What are you doing down here? The rocket stuff (yea, it's © 2024 David Reese) is up there!