ROC March 2015

For the shakedown flight of the Darkstar, I went for a CTI blue load I had yet to see very many of: the P54-3G. Rick Magee called out the count and hit the button, and the new rocket powered into the sky atop a blue flame, weathercocking gently into the wind. At burnout, it disappeared against the spotty clouds, but all seemed well. However, the tracker died a lot sooner than I expected: no main deployment? After a quick search downwind, I located the rocket laying intact with the main still in place. Turns out cheaping out and using a centering ring on the forward end of a same-end dual deploy setup is a no-go--the ejection charge will blow the bulkhead apart instead of blowing the chute out. No matter: no damage, and after swapping out bulkheads, ready to fly again in no time!