The LOC/ Telstar Logistics Expediter Rocket with strap-on-video launches to one mile up, recording video all the way up and down. You can see the cars and the launch area as the rocket comes spinning back to earth dangling by parachute. The on-board computer recorded a max speed of 387MPH as it pulled 14 g’s.
I posted a ground shot of this blastoff earlier.
This maiden flight was on a Aerotech J315 Redline motor that I built right before launch. Parachute deployment was 1g of black powder ignited by a low-current DaveyFire igniter triggered by the on-board computer.
Readings from the G-Wiz LCX on-board computer with accelerometer and barometric pressure sensors:
Acceleration: 455.6 f/s/s = 14 g’s
Max Speed: 567.3 ft/s = 387 MPH
Max Alt: 5,186 ft.
(full video)
Tags: LUNAR.org video frame grab NAR rocket launch Snow Ranch LUNAR strap-on Video-cam HPR LOC Expediter Telstar Logistics maiden flight mile-high club atc2k Oregon Scientific
I hope to see you again
(More Sledgehammer Shots)
Tags: LUNAR.org NAR rocket launch Snow Ranch LUNAR Mavericks ROCKETS airborne GLR Sledgehammer Aerotech M1550 Redline blastoff ignition see ya
A bright moment at apogee during the Brighthawk’s swan song…
Here is the on-board video and more frame grabs below.
This video makes me a bit motion sick during the free fall spin back to Earth. But at least it kept the rocket from becoming a ballistic lawn dart… So the video cam and HCX flight computer were unharmed, as were the three solid AP motors.
The fiberglassed airframe snapped apart in four places, but I can rebuild her… better and stronger than she was before…
Tags: LUNAR.org Artsy Leaving the Planet NAR rocket Snow Ranch LUNAR strap-on video rocketcam ATC-2K Phoenix BH-2000 fiberglass airstart mods HCX cluster Brighthawk I200 dual outboard H128 motors launch strap-on-video blastoff failure crash spin free fall Oregon Scientific videocam
My son's custom rocket on a perfect maiden launch today at the LUNAR Snow Ranch launch event.
With a bit more work, the next launch should add three more motors, and the sparky plume will we as wide as the outer fin tips.
Video
Tags: Rocket LUNAR Snow Ranch Event Sunny Saturday Fun Blastoff Scratch Design Maiden Launch
Just the perfect venue, with thematic drive-up appeal… The kids loved it.
Silicon Valley boasts the largest rocketry club in the world. Yet, there is no "legal" launch site anywhere in the Bay Area, a situation that has become endemic across America.
Kids (of all ages) have launched over 500 million Estes rockets. It's not for safety that rocketry has been pushed out of suburban areas; it's fear of the unknown. Local communities would rather forbid launches in their backyard than think about the systemic effect once all communities do so. This recently happened here, when Livermore shut down the last Silicon Valley site for launches.
LUNAR (the Livermore Unit of the National Association of Rocketry) has been working diligently with NASA Ames for months to get the permissions and policies in place to allow periodic group launches at NASA. Today was a test launch to see that everything works out.
Hangar One behind us is the second largest indoor space in America. See below for a peek inside…
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