Greg
10-05-2003, 01:56 PM
Saturday me and the kids went out for a few launches. It wasn't the bext experience, but we got a few off.
First launch was our six foot rocket. Everything went well. About a 600 foot flight and a safe return to the field we were in.
Second launch all seemed well till ignition. Seems the protective cap to the launch rod didn't want to yield. The cap bound the rocket to the rod and attempted it to take the launch pad airborne. It achived about 2-3 feet of altitude and fell on it's side remaining there till it's fuel was spent.
Third time was with a reload and prep of the same rocket. All went well at launch and during flight. Upon deployment of the chute the elastic band that holds the chute to the rocket broke. The rocket came back to earth very quickly and safely in the field and the chute and nose cone returned slowly to the ground and was recovered too.
Fourth launch was nothing to brag about either. The chute deployment puff from the rocket motor burnt everything, the chute, chute strings, and the elastic. The rocket was recovered, but the nose cone was lost and the chute completly destroyed.
I'm going to make some new chutes and try to use alot more wading to protect them on our future flights.
Despite the problems we had it was a fun outting and we can't wait till the next time.
First launch was our six foot rocket. Everything went well. About a 600 foot flight and a safe return to the field we were in.
Second launch all seemed well till ignition. Seems the protective cap to the launch rod didn't want to yield. The cap bound the rocket to the rod and attempted it to take the launch pad airborne. It achived about 2-3 feet of altitude and fell on it's side remaining there till it's fuel was spent.
Third time was with a reload and prep of the same rocket. All went well at launch and during flight. Upon deployment of the chute the elastic band that holds the chute to the rocket broke. The rocket came back to earth very quickly and safely in the field and the chute and nose cone returned slowly to the ground and was recovered too.
Fourth launch was nothing to brag about either. The chute deployment puff from the rocket motor burnt everything, the chute, chute strings, and the elastic. The rocket was recovered, but the nose cone was lost and the chute completly destroyed.
I'm going to make some new chutes and try to use alot more wading to protect them on our future flights.
Despite the problems we had it was a fun outting and we can't wait till the next time.