Launh Day 5 - HHWRSA

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thampson
Current WRA2 Dragster Speed & Distance Record Holder
Current WRA2 Dragster Speed & Distance Record Holder
Posts: 232
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:19 am

Launh Day 5 - HHWRSA

Post by thampson »

Hey guys, just wanted to report in on our launch day yesterday with H1 our new 2 bottle wrocket. We had some success and some failure.

The success was that H1 flew great, really high, much much higher than our previous rocket SFT III. We had 4 good straight launches with it, with the highest pressure being 100psi, our highest launch pressure yet. Running the stats through the simulators we were somewhere between 250-290ft. The mods I made to the launcher to stabilize it helped as well.

The failure we had was with the parachute deployment. Didnt deploy. From what we saw after the crash and looking at the video frame by frame, it appears the speed flap that detects launch worked, the timer looks like it worked as the elastic band looked like it had released form the arm of the timer, however the elastic band which was supposed to unwind and allow the door to release got hung up on the handle of the timer as it was working its way around the PPNC (Ping Pong Nose Cone) and didnt allow the door on the PPNC to open.

I will build another PPNC using a proper Tomy timer (that a fellow water rocketeer sent me) and make a few modifications to eliminate this issue. I am already looking at flying an altimeter but need to make sure the parachute deployment works properly first :)

We had some kids come over and join in, they got to launch one of the wrockets too, they had a ball, as did we. Even had one family stop and watch and take a few videos of the launches.

All in all a fun afternoon of water rockets :) I have done a write up on the HHWRSA Blog site and added a some pics and a video of the 100psi launch.

cya
-todd-
HHWRSA
Hornsby Heights Water Rocket Space Agency
http://wrocket.hampson.net.au
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U.S. Water Rockets1
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Re: Launh Day 5 - HHWRSA

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

thampson wrote:Hey guys, just wanted to report in on our launch day yesterday with H1 our new 2 bottle wrocket. We had some success and some failure.

The success was that H1 flew great, really high, much much higher than our previous rocket SFT III. We had 4 good straight launches with it, with the highest pressure being 100psi, our highest launch pressure yet. Running the stats through the simulators we were somewhere between 250-290ft. The mods I made to the launcher to stabilize it helped as well.

The failure we had was with the parachute deployment. Didnt deploy. From what we saw after the crash and looking at the video frame by frame, it appears the speed flap that detects launch worked, the timer looks like it worked as the elastic band looked like it had released form the arm of the timer, however the elastic band which was supposed to unwind and allow the door to release got hung up on the handle of the timer as it was working its way around the PPNC (Ping Pong Nose Cone) and didnt allow the door on the PPNC to open.

I will build another PPNC using a proper Tomy timer (that a fellow water rocketeer sent me) and make a few modifications to eliminate this issue. I am already looking at flying an altimeter but need to make sure the parachute deployment works properly first :)

We had some kids come over and join in, they got to launch one of the wrockets too, they had a ball, as did we. Even had one family stop and watch and take a few videos of the launches.

All in all a fun afternoon of water rockets :) I have done a write up on the HHWRSA Blog site and added a some pics and a video of the 100psi launch.

cya
-todd-
Hello, Todd.
Good to see your progress in the sport and you're improving each time out. Sorry about the crash. Those parachute deploy lines seem to be the most vulnerable part of the system. A couple of years ago we had a similar failure except the parachute eventually deployed while the rocket was falling at full speed and it ripped right off without slowing the rocket one bit. The rocket wound up stuck a foot into the ground. We learned to be a lot more careful with the moving parts of the deploy system after that. Here's a tip: use talcum powder liberally on the parachute and lines and mechanism. It acts as a very good dry lubricant.
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thampson
Current WRA2 Dragster Speed & Distance Record Holder
Current WRA2 Dragster Speed & Distance Record Holder
Posts: 232
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:19 am

Re: Launh Day 5 - HHWRSA

Post by thampson »

thanks for the tip. I will give that a try as well on the next launch day :)

-todd-
HHWRSA
Hornsby Heights Water Rocket Space Agency
http://wrocket.hampson.net.au