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LS, you may have over-estimated our going above the calculated charge, four miles? Dude, even JW who set off car alarms for miles may even frown on that. Scale that puppy back! 🙂

combined with a bit of science.Having over charged my Little Dog Dual Deploy, I got so much velocity from the apogee deployment charge on my booster section that it sped away from the rest of the rocket with enough energy…   Read more»

And, I agree with both of the previous posts. I AM NOT a piston guy, Warren is and JW is; we have all had different experiences. There are SO MANY VARIABLES at work. Do, as JW says, “Dance with the…   Read more»

Most powder calculators are not calibrated for our launch platform altitudes so an extra little helps assure deployment. In my humble opinion, it is still best or wisest to GROUND TEST flight configurations as much as possible for deployment with…   Read more»

I know there is lots of response that seems to favor “blow it up, or blow it apart”, but I tend to be a bit cautious of over pressurising when using pistons. I have had a couple failures that I…   Read more»

My 4″ bird with carbon/glass on a phenolic tube and 3 layers of tip to tip has impacted from over 8K via a flat spin and flown multiple times since then.

Flat spins w/o chute are repairable. I’ve even had one rather large rocket remain undamaged from this.Ballistic recoveries usually involve a trash bag…

The only tube I ever blew up in ground testing was a 3″ phenolic tube using a little over 2 grams, which is why I converted to convolute fiberglass soley. I’ve yet to blow that up. With the PR fiberglass,…   Read more»

With that particular rocket, I would personally use 1.5-2g, and I would tend to ground test. It will almost definitely separate with less, but I like to be sure. On a paper or phenolic rocket, I would be a little…   Read more»

I tend towards beefy charges… in my similar 4″ bird I use 1.5g for the drogue (4″x12″) and 2 or 2.5g for the main (4″ x 24″). With composite birds, I rarely worry about overpowering things so long as the…   Read more»

I’ve got a similar size (though much lower and slower than yours). 4″ LOC paper tube (based on Fantom EXL).Drogue:24″ drogueabout 12″ space (very loosely packed)no shear pins1.1g chargeMain:78″ mainabout 10″ space3x 2-56 nylon shear pins1.5g chargeBoth charges extend the…   Read more»

that’s the universal Red Neck emergency room response:All he said was: “Hold my beer and getta load of this!”My one neighbor was worried I was going to send the rocket up from my back yard. I told them our launch…   Read more»

When you did the ‘splainin did you by chance say…hold my beer and watch this

When car alarms go off in the neighborhood it might be time to re-calculate the ratio of charge needed for air frame space pressurization. Deployment with attitude at altitude is an unknown variable that commands attention and testing. Lots of…   Read more»

I live about 15 miles due south of the launch area and it is raining pretty good here. Well enough to have puddles on my land. Finally!

It has been raining very well here all day. Cool and Wet.

The radar is showing a nice-looking band of showers streaming over the launch site now. The Cheyenne radar is estimating over 1″ so far.

I will take a drive. (less that 30 minutes away) a week before the launch.I will post pictures and opinion.We have received 0.35″ rain fall this month. Most last week.The first in a long time.Yesturday they were still warning of…   Read more»

A buddy of mine who lives in Ault says they have gotten almost no rain whatsoever. There has been a trivial amount in the Windsor area. I’d say if we had a launch this weekend, it’d be doubtful conditions-wise…A few…   Read more»

Don’t hold your breath for the 50K happening – Denver Center wasn’t in favor of the 35K windows we’ve been provided with – too much air traffic in our neck of the woods. IF we are go for launch in…   Read more»