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Two milestones

Hi,

Just started back into this great hobby last August and am proud to anounce two milestones. Though I haven't made it to a place where I can certify, (and I am working on a level 1 to 2 rocket. Just have to do the TTW fins, seal, sand, primer paint etc.:) ) I was able to achieve Mach 1 with an Apogee Aspire on April 9th at the Peoria Area Rocketry Society launch in Metamora, Illinois. I put all of the numbers as accurately as possible into Rocksim 7.x and got 832mph. I think this is quite a decent margin. I did lose the model at the time though. Tim Lehr from Wildman Rocketry announced, "You did use an SU motor on that one Kurt, didn't you?" Yes I did an SU G80-10.

Man it blasted off of the close pad so fast that nobody, including myself could track it. Well, I thought it went up so high and my workmanship was so good that God decided to keep it. Little did I know that it is good to go to a launch weekend and launch on the first day. A fellow found it 3/4 to a mile away on the SECOND day of the launch. I couldn't make it back for the second day. Note that I did launch a bunch of other mid-power models off on April 9th and got them back so I was actually quite satisfied.

That Saturday night, I emailed the president of the club that I had a great time at the launch, enjoyed watching about 6 greater than K engine launches (some of which hit 16,500 feet!) and I just slightly lamented that I lost the Aspire and would build a new one. Told him of the color pattern and the fact that Rocksim predicted Mach 1. I get an email on tuesday the 12th of April that a fellow modeler returned a model that matched the description of the one I lost!!! Is that kewl or what!!

Went to a launch in May where the weather was very cold and had the model returned to me.

Well today, June 26th, I stuck an F10-8 Medalist engine into the same model and BLASTED it over a mile high! I thought I was going to lose it so I stuck a return address label on it, taped it down, and fired it off. My goodness, that almost 8 second burn is incredible. It kept going, and going, and going and going. The winds were 5 to 9 MPG on my Kestrel wingmeter and I had the danged launch pad pointed a bit too far to the south. Next time, I have to stand back and look and see which way the ground is pitched before I launch!

Oh my gosh. It disappeared and a female spectator asked, "Is that a bottle rocket?" I just kept looking skyward and ignored her as I was very close to muttering a bunch of obscenities at her. After all the work I put into that thing and all of the trouble getting it back to me...............

Just when I was about to turn away and go about launching another model, I begin to hear, what I think is the flap of a mylar streamer. I look up and could not see the thing for the longest time. Eventually, I was able to fixate on the Aspire with a beautifully deployed 10 foot silver mylar streamer coming down a looooooonnnnnnggggg way away. I mentally marked the spot and went out to the area, which was in tall grass. I couldn't find the model.

Well I launched a bunch of other models, including a hacked Estes Mean Machine with oversized fins that I painted to look like an American flag on an F21-6. That model went up great to over 1000' and I got her back. She is a story herself of how I built her. Neat flight and Rocksim saved the day as far as my choice of engine for her.

Dumped off my 11 year old son who was getting overheated, watered up myself and went back to the field. I forgot to mention that my launch site is a 2 minutes drive from my house. See why I got back into the hobby? :)

Spent 20 minutes searching in the tall grass and I FOUND THE ASPIRE!!!! Boy, it did land quite a distance away and if I would have fired it a couple of degrees further to the north, it would have have landed onfield. I figured the rocket body would land deeper in the grass and the silver mylar streamer would lay on top of the grass. I was absolutely right and found the model as soon as I walked behind where it came down and scanned to see the silver mylar streamer glinting in the sunlight.

So, I am happy to report a Mach one speed and over a mile high flight on stuff that one doesn't have to be "certified" to do. Don't get me wrong. I am going to go for higher power but am absolutely amazed at what I was able to achieve with the tools available to me. Didn't have to be "certified" to do it.:)

Besides certifying I want to do a G power or lower dual deployment so I can launch at my local field. I just think it looks neat.

Kurt Savegnago

Reply to
Kurt
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COOL!

Randy

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Reply to
<randyolb

Go for it! Not only is it cool, but get some practise and do it on your L1 and certify 'in style' :) With a G (or even F) motor, as I'm sure you know, you can get high enough that two-stage recovery and radio trackers become neccessary!

Niall

Reply to
niall

Man...wish I could have been there to experience all the joy of the adventures and misadventures. Tell us what you think of the Apogee Aspire. I have been eyeballing that kit a lot, lately.

Reply to
Greg Heilers

way cool kurt...

yes there are a variety of missions a person can perform at the FG level...

shockie B)

Reply to
shockwaveriderz

Cool!!! Sounds like somebody's been having fun :-) How high do you think it went?

Cheers, Clint

(Now worried about launching my Estes Patriot on G's)

Reply to
CJC

In that regard, am trying to learn the rules of amateur radio,including Morse code and would like to launch an automated HF transmitter and see if any morse code friends could pick it up. That is on the back burner as I would like to get the dual deploy thing going. Have a USR Banshee and an electronics section designed by Xavien I'd like to use. Just need to get an FOI card just to make the gunpowder possession legal and I'll be all set for the ejection charges.

Kurt Savegnago

Reply to
Kurt

The Aspire is a lightweight model that weighs 125gms.with the supplied streamer and painted no less. I laminated the fins with 3/4oz. fiberglass matte and resin. That was overkill and I suspect the model would have survived Mach with a paper lamination of the fins. With the impregnated fiberglass, I was able to sand the fins to near razor sharp. Any old ex F-104 driver would tell you that is how they like their fins to be. I ran the numbers at a variety of launch rod angles and as far as I can tell, I probably hit 4000' on the Mach 1 run. It actually came out

3998' on Rocksim. Now if someone would come up with a launch pad you could perfectly level and set the angles on we could really get accurate! Don't be afraid of the G. The motor is overkill for the Aspire and is a sure thing to stick it out of sight and possibly never to see again. I was lucky. If the weight is right with your model things should go fine. Try to find someone with an accurate scale to measure it and a computer with a simulator to run it through some flights.

I expected the Aspire to go OOS with the Apogee F10-8 as it is a lower thrust, long firing motor at 7.8 seconds thrust duration. The maximum lift-off weight according to Apogee is 170gms.

Kurt Savegnago

Reply to
Kurt

The Aspire reminds me of a javelin with vestigial fins. I have another one on the shelf to build and I will probably build it but not to do crazy stuff anymore.

If I recall correctly, I didn't like the motor adapter supplied by Apogee and made my own. I set my Aspire to be able to take a G80-10 but then be able to use an adapter so I could fire it on D12-5's. In actuality, one could use a C6 probably 3 or 5 and get a good launch on it. It is such a lightweight model. The only problem would be constructing a 29 to 18mm adapter. :)

I saw in the advertisments where the model could go over a mile high and Mach 1 and built it for a one time Mach 1 launch. I eventually got it back and then had to do the mile high thing on the F10-8. :) Am now going to retire the model to the motor adapter for more sedate D12-5 flights. I think it deserves it.

Kurt Savegnago

Reply to
Kurt

I'm not a fan of using the same bird for L1 and L2. The reason being, is once you're L1, there can be a lot to be learned. You might have a L1 bird that can handle a big I and fly it on a small J, but that doesn't indicate a great deal of skill. There's a bunch to be learned (IMHO) between L1 and L2, as L1 is H-I and L2 is J-L. And Trust me.. K-L is a bit different than a small J!

Those that try to use the same bird for L1 and L2, to me, are open to questioning for both certs. It was either way overbuilt it for L1 or way underbuilt it for L2. Neither is good in my eyes...

View the certs as a journey and not a merit badge, and enjoy the journey... Fly a few different L1 birds, and see what works. Then plan your L2. You'll enjoy the journey!

Reply to
AZ Woody

I launched a LOC Lil, Nuke on Saturday with a 29mm G240-10 from USR. That was one of the fastest launches I've seen. It was in fact, much faster than a MachBuster. Recovery was by streamer {plastic grocery bag..don't ask} later, I launcher a Vaughn Brothers Extream 29 on a G008 from USR. Ignition was very very slow but the rocket went straight up for over 8 seconds of burn and had not yet nosed over when the deployment charge fired. We almost lost it but did manage to recover it almost a mile from the launch site. That was at El Mirage dry lake in the Mojave. This is fun stuff isn't it!

Reply to
Reece Talley

Kurt wrote in news:FOFve.180$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com:

Just make sure it doesnt catch fire. Jail for you.

Reply to
GD

The USR motors sound cool. Where can I buy some?

Reply to
Phil Stein

Reece, do you think it is wise, as a school teacher, to associate with a known felon and purchase illegally manufactured explosives from same.

Wouldn't that be grounds to strip You of Your teaching credentials, maybe even jail time?

Reply to
Dave Grayvis

snip

Sa-Weet! Way to go, Kurt. Back in '98 I did the same trick with a fortified Estes Black Brant II and a G125 motor. I flew it twice from the Monroe field and got it back both times. Over a mile high and mach plus. Talk about a fast lift off! It basically disapeared from the launch pad. I used lots of tracking powder and located the rocket with binoculars after focusing on the powder cloud.

steve

Reply to
default

Actually no.

It is not considered an American flag with just a single red stripe looking like a barber pole and a blue field with stars. Actually put over 65 stars on it because I didn't think it would hold 50 and kept putting them on because they looked cool. I counted aferwards and found I did a higher number. If you read the rules about the treatment of the flag, it is actually proper to burn it in a private place to dispose of a worn out flag. I borrowed the idea from a fellow who posted the instructions how to do the paint job at the Essence rocketry site.

Kurt Savegnago

Reply to
Kurt

ROTFL!

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

Well, technically, you need more than a computer simulation to back up either one of these claims. PROVING that you've done it is harder than doing it.

But as long as you're just out to have fun, nice job on both. I've had rockets I never expected to see again land 100' from the pad.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

Reply to
shockwaveriderz

All I can say is way to go! Part of my return to the hobby is based on doing what you just did, put the excitement back into rockets and aerospace for others. In one respect model rockets fall short on that because they're seen as "kids stuff". But most people won't spend the time and money for high power, and being good little citizens wouldn't want the BATF breathing down their necks either, so it's mentally marked down as "inaccessable" (I remember one time going out just for fun and meeting a scout pack doing the same thing. When I mentioned being Level

1 and good to I motors, the scout leader told me they didn't make them that big!). But, slap in an F or a G....heck, even only an E.....and watch the light start to come into eyes. My one LMR prototype likely could manage the same things you did and it's successor will pack dual deploy. All the fun, none of the paperwpork. What more could you ask for?!

Chuck

Reply to
Zathras of the Great Machine

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