Indiana Rocketry January 2013
January 2013
/ Ash Grove Site
1 flight, 7600 N-sec burned
I didn't start prepping my rocket until nearly 2:00, so arrival at the launch site was late, as things were wrapping up. I missed Dennis Watkins' awesome 98mm sparky flight, among other things. Luckily, the winds were still calm and the sky was still clear (at least per Purdue's ASOS) - good to go until the sun set on this unexpectedly warm January day!
Flight 1: IQSY Tomahawk, PPL M1800
As always with a first flight, prep was slow as the build process was finished completely (install nose cone eyebolt, drill shear pin holes, double check motor retention). But everything went smoothly and I showed up to the launch site at about 4:00 with the rocket ready to go -- turn on the tracker, make an igniter, and put in the booster shear pins and it was time for the pad. Brian Perry and Tom McFee helped put it on the tower and raise it into the starting position, and we were all set by 4:30. Ignition was smooth, aided by the clean grain faces (o-rings + tape on the glue job) and beefy blue propellant-augmented igniter, and the rocket clawed up the tower at 8 gees on a nice 10 foot white flame. The boost was arrow straight with about 1 complete roll during the motor's burn -- not bad for fins aligned by eye, and I think Justin's pro beveling job helped a lot too -- and with a puff of slag, the motor shut down smoothly. We all heard the apogee event and reacquired visual a few seconds later; main was on time at 1000' thanks to the Raven (the ARTS didn't fire its backup charge - humm). Touchdown was nominal just a few feet from the next road to the north. Descent rate was a little high on the R14C main so I'll probably switch to an R16 next time around, but other than that, I couldn't ask for a better first flight. Thanks to Brian, Tom, and Creighton for all the help!
