There
is no better way to spend Father’s Day weekend then to fly rockets. Ben
and I packed some rockets into the Highlander and snuck across the Bay
Bridge ahead of the Ocean City traffic. We enjoyed breakfast at Hollys
before piddling some time away at the various antique shops. We headed
to the sod farm at 11:00 AM and enlisted those willing to help us set up
the field.
The weather was gorgeous with low humidity, low temperatures, low winds,
and clear blue skies. The team made quick work setting up the field and
soon flyers were taking their rockets to the pads. We watched these
early flights to judge the upper breezes and once satisfied, we started
our preparations.
Shaken, Not Stirred was prepped and a new CTI H225 inserted for propulsion.
Shaken, Not Stirred was taken to the pad where she waited for her final countdown towards her 56th flight.
Shaken, Not Stirred
leapt off the pad when the button was pushed and soon proceeded to
perform some sky writing. This is never a good sign. She split apart due
to the excessive G-Forces. The drogue came out and then the main
ejection fired releasing the main. Shaken, Not Stirred descended from
her max altitude of 324 feet with her smoking sustainer dangling under
full mains. This was not her best flight.
See Shaken, Not Stirred shaken and not flown here.
Post flight analysis revealed that the nozzle O-Ring failed that lead to
blow by once the motor came up to pressure. The blow by separated
Shaken, Not Stirred soon
after takeoff causing the fiberglass sustainer to zipper. The heat of
the blow by fused the motor casing and the 54-38mm motor adapter
together. The main fiberglass sustainer began to burn and melted the
fiberglass at the aft end of the sustainer. Worse of all,
Shaken, Not Stirred
failed in full view of the spectators thus causing irrevocable damage
to my reputation. Luckily the motor failure appeared to be caused by a
defect in manufacturing and not by user error.
I took the damaged motor to Animal Motor Works (AMW) where they will
send the failed motor to CTI for further post analysis. AMW readily
replaced the motor, the engine casing, and the 54-38mm adapter. However,
I still had a damaged rocket and now must contemplate another repair or
even possibly retiring
Shaken, Not Stirred.
Ben was next with his
Legend of Zelda. Ben chose a Loki I405 for propulsion.
Legend of Zelda had a flawless takeoff and deployed her drogue at 1,820 feet.
Legend of Zelda danced while it descended and ejected her mains at 700 feet. However, her mains never inflated and
Legend of Zelda took a hard landing in the soft green sod. Final inspection revealed electronic bay damaged.
See Legend of Zelda less than stellar flight here.
I filmed some other flights and helped where I could while Ben did some
LCOing. Ben and I headed home late in the evening contemplating how we
would make our repairs.
Sunday morning brought a new day and Toni and I headed back to the sod
farm. We did not fly but assisted where we could and spectated at the
other flights when time permitted. The returning Ocean City traffic had
caused its normal backup on the Bay Bridge so we joined others at Ledo’s
to enjoy dinner while the traffic dissipated. Hopefully
Shaken, Not Stirred and
Legend of Zelda can live to fly another day. Until the next launch . . .