Activity

Joe Hinton also gave it a good try on Friday. I’d like to thank Both Joe and Greg for taking the time and putting forth the effort in looking for the fin can. I think (according to Art) that its…   Read more»

Mike got sick on sat and I pulled a newbie stunt and didn’t cross the fence about 1.2 mi to the west. So no luck on my trek.

Adrian [and Jim A. if you happen to read this]. Do you concur with my findings?

Yep, I think you nailed it. Good sleuthing, Mike. Any luck finding the fin can yet?

I want Slipstick on My side.

Give me DIP switches or jumper blocks any day!Ken

I made a vacuum chamber tonight, to test the rocket controllers, using a 2-1/2 gallon “Montana” Jar from Target $19.95. After modifying the top, which has a seal in it, I connected it to my little 1.5hp shop-vac and was…   Read more»

If you look at the ignition of the sustainer trail (in pic 2) vs the flight to that point, there is a definite change in angle of flight. I would say roughly 20*, is this the delay in ignition you…   Read more»

Good luck, guys!

If you look at the ignition of the sustainer trail (in pic 2) vs the flight to that point, there is a definite change in angle of flight. I would say roughly 20*, is this the delay in ignition you…   Read more»

Adrian, Here’s a better chart (below). It different because I remembered getting rid of the coast between stages.I set the mach delay on both the RRC2X and mini to 12 seconds. That’s the maximum allowed time for the X (but…   Read more»

According to your Rocksim plot, the sustainer would have been supersonic from somewhere around 12 seconds after liftoff to 14 seconds after liftoff. Could you zoom in on the first 20 seconds and re-post? In the rocksim plot preferences you…   Read more»

Here’s the Rocksim flight profile showing Mach 1.17http://www.telerover.com/rockets/MS/Slipstick_IV_FlightProfile.pdfThe boost section of the sustainer weighed 6 pounds and the rest was 4 pounds. The booster itself was also 6 pounds.All orifices in the avbay bulkheads were sealed sealed with hot glue….   Read more»

Nice job with the preflight closeout pictures. That’s what we do in the spacecraft industry; I should do that myself.I’m a little skeptical about the pressure separation, because it would have to overcome the following factors:-The sustainer’s thrust was compressing…   Read more»

Mike,OOPS, just saw the picture for my question….Where did the tear actually occur? Did it pull away at the stitching opening the loop up or where?I was told years ago in a search and rescue class that looping a cord…   Read more»

Awesome photo analysis. Very interesting. So I guess it boils down to: Why did the sustainer separate prematurely?The separation happened with the sustainer under thrust, so drag separation should be ruled out.Could a lack of venting cause enough pressure to…   Read more»

Here’s a picture of the fin can. You can see how much overlap I have on the coupler containing the igniter timer. The coupler was attached to the fin can with 3 4-40 steel screws, and three 4-4- nylon screws…   Read more»

Well this explains what I saw when I thought I saw a fin had shredded off. It wasn’t the fin the sustainer BT and NC falling off. I hope your able to find all the part so you can figure…   Read more»

Awesome photo analysis. Very interesting. So I guess it boils down to: Why did the sustainer separate prematurely?The separation happened with the sustainer under thrust, so drag separation should be ruled out.Could a lack of venting cause enough pressure to…   Read more»

Bert sent me some high resolution pictures whiuch I was able to zoom in on and get some revealing information, Thanks Bert! It appears the boost section of the sustainer was aerodynamic for a while after it came apart from…   Read more»

… And folding at the joints happens often on two stages because of the length. That was a major design consideration. Thanks for bringing it up. In order to improve the longitudinal stability, the coupler/airframe interfaces in the middle of…   Read more»