Hard-Earned Level 1 Certification!

It has been a very long day. But I am happy to announce my successful level 1 high-power certification!

It actually took me two attempts. The reason is that the motor failed on the first attempt. It was rather frustrating. I only brought enough money for two reloads, so I had to skip my level 2 attempt for now. But at least I did eventually get my level 1.

The rocket sims to 4500 feet on an I285, but the altimeter recorded only 3400 feet. Even then it drifted far away and over the edge of some trees. I NEVER would have found the rocket if one of the rocketeers hadn't lent me his transmitter. It was fun learning how to use it, and it saved my rocket.

But unfortunately... it did not elude the clutches of the rocket-eating trees. It dangled about 30 feet high in a tall oak. It took a lot of thinking, but eventually I suggested finding a long stick in the woods and attaching the pruning device with duct tape, sort of like a long extention. The pruning pole had a hook on it that we tried to snag on the edge of the body tube. It was tedious, but we finally got it down.

What an interesting day.

I set the altimeter to deploy only the main. The drogue was deployed with the motor based ejection charge. The black powder goes into the pvc section on the forward bulkhead.

I taped the rocket hunter right to the nose cone, with the antenna up inside it.

Silly me, I designed the arming switch inside the altimeter bay, so I had to carefully take the rocket apart once it was upright on the pad in order to arm the altimeter. You don't want black powder going off in your face.

Ready to rock.

Very little damage after the fateful first flight. The main chute ripped off and drifted away. My dad found it.

Looking good on the pad, ready for its second flight.

Oh boy.

Where's Waldo?

Here's a shot of the pruning pole hooked onto the body tube.

Suprisingly, this was the only damage. And it was caused after it landed from yanking on the pruning pole.

Now I am looking forward to level 2!

Certification Attempt Tomorrow: Gulp.

Tomorrow is my one shot at certification until next year. I hope to use Stinger for my L1 cert on a Cesaroni I285. If I pass L1, I'm hoping to try L2 on a J285. If everything goes correctly, I should go from level 0 to level 2 in just one day! If I pass, I'll come back next year with an L motor!

I've been doing a lot of ground testing, since I've never tried altimeter based ejection charges before. Today I put one gram of black powder in the ejection charge, used a longer shock cord, and a lot more wadding. I think that one gram was just a bit too weak, and somehow the parachute still got a wee bit singed. What I need is Nomex cloth. Too bad I don't have any.

I HOPE I PASS!!!

You can expect a very peppy launch report tomorrow.

Ejection Charge Ground Test

Yesterday I pretty much finished all the details that were left to finish on Stinger, so he was officially ready to fly. But I knew that I had to test the ejection charges, considering I had never used anything but motor ejection. The test was a success! The ejection charge system really was a success, but I learned two very important lessons (the kind that you want to learn while ground testing, not flying!):

1. 
   
   2 grams of black powder is a bit much.
2. 
   
   6 feet of shock cord is a bit short.

Somehow this resulted in a severed shock cord. This was 1" wide braided nylon! Yikes, I'm glad I found this out the easy way, a failure like that would cost me my certification:

Stinger's Completed Paint Job

Wow. (Even if I do say so myself!)

Stinger

This is it! The picture above is the actual rocket, but the paint scheme is just a concept. I edited the picture on the computer.

I've never actually done a flame job before, but it seemed like it would be a fun thing to try.

The rocket is almost done. I just have to fix the electronics bay (that I stupidly broke), and finish the paint job.

I'm hoping to get level 1 and level 2 certified on this rocket, all in one day. Level 1 will be on an I285 and level 2 will be on a J285. It should do about 5500 feet on the J!

I'm so excited!!!

What I've Been Doing Lately

Not rocketry per se, but I've been working a lot lately to earn money for rocketry. Very soon I will purchase all the supplies I need to build my certification rocket!

Here's a video I made (a commercial, actually) that shows a little of what I've been doing lately:



As for the rocket I'm planning to build, I'm trying to save money by building a rocket that could be used to certify on both level 1 and level 2. I also bought a 38mm 6-grain Cesaroni casing that can be used with both I and J motors, so I won't have to buy two casings for both certifications. It's a basic 3FNC (three fins and a nose cone) design. I'm taking the KISS approach for once in my life (keep it simple, stupid!).

EARLY tomorrow morning we are driving down to Iowa for my freshmen orientation at Iowa State. I have this sinking feeling that it is going to be very disorienting. But better than no orientation.

Yeah. Life's been busy.

Going to Join the NAR...

It's hard to believe June is already upon us, but it's going to be an excellent summer for rocketry. I can just feel it.

To fly some of my larger project this summer, I've got a bit of a problem. There's no way to get HPR motors until you're 18... unless you join the NAR.

The NAR has a special program for kids wanting to get a head start in high-power rocketry. With limited provisions and close adult supervision you can get level 1 certified before you turn 18. With a level 1 certification you can fly H and I motors (an I motor has as much impulse as four G motors). So it's my goal to get my Junior Level 1 certification before the end of the summer!

High-5 Taking Shape

The past few days I've been working on my big project, High-5. I'm hoping to get it finished by this summer, and perhaps I'll even be able to get junior level-1 certified on it!

It's a fairly complex design, and employs such gizmos as airstart electronics (already installed) and altimeter-activated parachute charges (which I'm still figuring out). I like to set my goals high, because I have to exert more of myself to attain them, and as a result get stronger. (Like a muscle).