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8 Ball
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Named for the Underworld song, this rocket was
almost an afterthought. Constructed entirely in the two days before the
RocKEXShots launch in June of 2005, it's about as basic as basic gets: a
1-caliber stable, minimum diameter, all paper, single deployment rocket.
But it's built with a purpose. Read on to learn all about this unique
"test tube" rocket.
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| Flight
Log |
Flight
Details |
RockSim
File |
Flight Log
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Flight #
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Motor
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Electronics
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Performance
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Comments
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| 1 |
J130S |
G-Wiz LC |
9something |
Nice quick boost with a slight
spiral developing towards the end of the burn. Successful recovery
amongst cows. |
Flight 1, June 2005
| Well, having torched the big neon rocket two
days before, I was doing a bad job representing California rocketeers.
So I decided that, even with the wind, it would be a good time to put up
8 Ball for its first flight. The motor was an obvious choice: a
one-grain 80% solids slow motor I'd had for a while and wanted to
burn. Not being totally sure of the thrust characteristics, I
opted to put the rocket on a 12 foot rail that the POTROCS had. This
turned out to be more than enough guidance for the flight, as the
regressive motor took the rocket right off the pad into the 10 mph
breeze on a teardrop orange flame. It weathercocked just a bit and
headed off on an awesome long burn. The 1" diameter delay
smoke worked like a charm, drawing a line across the sky. Most
other rockets launched without smoke simply disappeared. Finally,
the line terminated in a puff as the G-Wiz detected apogee and fired the
chute. Man I'm getting another one of those, it has been SO
reliable. In the breeze, you'd think that a single deploy rocket
with a large parachute at 8000 feet would drift a ways. And you'd
be right. Thankfully, the Walston transmitter (thanks to Pat G for
letting me borrow it!) was putting out a signal all the way down as the
rocket landed in the pastures of Texas. We drove out after it, and
walked out following the signal. We stopped before a bend in the
road, in front of a nice grassy pasture for walking. I kept doing
directional sweeps that took us in a big right turning arc, passing a
herd of cows. After battling giant mosquitoes and being chased by
said cows, we picked up the rocket... right next to the road.
Oops, gotta drive farther next time. But all's well that ends
well... and she's ready for another flight. Blue motor next time! |
 
 
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