I couldn't agree less--if recriminations are made re a builders skill--ie he had several failures before getting it right, andinsodoing, maybe making it sound much more difficult than it is, and therefore potentially discouraging others from trying, I believe setting the record straight is absolutely the right thing to do.

It was not meant to embarrass anyone, just let a guy who reportedly had failed several L3 attempts, share his experiences/thoughts with high altitude flights. As it turns out he has several L3 successful flights before this one (under sponsorship--but didn't feel he was there yet--talk about a class act!)

Otherwise a lot of misinformation with no basis in fact just keeps going around.

Is it not the spirit and intention of these forums to entertain while advancing the state of the art, both personally and collectively? Rather than attack my post for brushing up against some line of decency, why not say thanks John for setting the record straight re Jim's flight, Interesting to see what he had to say about wind, etc.

In any scientific enterprise in which I have been involved, the highest calling is that of accuracy.

There I'm done with my rant for the day. Lets move on.
John

I couldn't agree less--if recriminations are made re a builders skill--ie he had several failures before getting it right, andinsodoing, maybe making it sound much more difficult than it is, and therefore potentially discouraging others from trying, I believe setting the record straight is absolutely the right thing to do.

It was not meant to embarrass anyone, just let a guy who reportedly had failed several L3 attempts, share his experiences/thoughts with high altitude flights. As it turns out he has several L3 successful flights before this one (under sponsorship--but didn't feel he was there yet--talk about a class act!)

Otherwise a lot of misinformation with no basis in fact just keeps going around.

Is it not the spirit and intention of these forums to entertain while advancing the state of the art, both personally and collectively? Rather than attack my post for brushing up against some line of decency, why not say thanks John for setting the record straight re Jim's flight, Interesting to see what he had to say about wind, etc.

In any scientific enterprise in which I have been involved, the highest calling is that of accuracy.

There I'm done with my rant for the day. Lets move on.
John

John-

You bring up valid points, as does Conway.

That being said, my job is not to judge the technical content of the posts here, but the overall tone and take into consideration the audience that the NCR forums attract.

I agree 100% with you in that NCR members should use this forum for the exchange of information and strive to ensure that the highest accuracy possible is in that exchange.

But- that is not what this threads original intention was. It was started to explore the various interests of members for the Oktoberfest event.

If it is a technical discussion you or anyone else wants, or a discussion of the rules and regs of the Tripoli or NAR charter, by all means please start another thread for said topics.

Thanks for your understanding.

k9,

Hey I just said I wanted to shoot for 30K at Balls and if I got the rocket back, fly some big commercial motors at O'fest, and that this was part of a grander plan to hit 100K w/in 10 years. That was 4 pages ago, and not a single post has explicitly referred to an LDRS project since--so where are we going back to?? What would have been said instead? Maybe nothing.

I never once went off on a tangent--simply responded directly to other posts. So I'm pretty offended by this cry foul charge and a need to get back on topic.

This thread like most has been all over the place, like most, it has wandered in very interesting ways as any good conversation will. Truly, if you scroll thru it, the mods have taken it further afield than any of the regular posters. But in very interesting ways!!!

I have been a huge supporter of Warrens and an active contributor from the beginning, even when this forum seemed on the brink of death. For the longest time there were only 4 of us doing sort of a round table, but for any number of reasons, the forum has flourished. Probably because we have very talented flyers and some great projects--Event Horizon for one comes to mind. But maybe also because of the forum contributors?

I participate in 6 forums, our sticking to topic is as good as any. People like twists and turns, we aren't here to produce an encyclopedia, just inform and entertain. If lurkers want to follow along they can, but to change the "riules" on account of 200 of them makes little sense to me.

I'm thinking maybe time to take some time off from any participation here, and maybe build a few rockets instead of talk about them to death...
🙂

John

PS: still taking steak dinner bets!

Now, now boys... I would like folks to stick to forum thread topics and to create new threads if the topic substantively changes... but we don't have to be topic nazi's here... Best if our moderators (and we could use more of them) just split the thread into a new one as needed and an occasional mellow reminder to stay on topic or create a new one.

Warren

John,

Please don't take offense or feel singled out here, that wasnt my intention. I just wanted to see the thread get back on track, and like Warren said, I should have probably split the topic into a new thread.

Truth be told, I was kind of hoping you would start a new thread on the 30k topic- It was something you were putting a lot of thought into and honestly I was interested (still am) in reading it. So, cmon, go start it!

As far as taking some time off, thats a crappy solution. While I'm not a newb to running forums and such, I am a newb BAR and I know for a fact that I read every one of your posts, Conways, CJL's- anyone who contributes to this forum and can teach me something.

Don't be goin' anywhere because people like me and the lurkers around here will be missing out on your experience.

Tim

Oh and thanks for the input Warren- and what the heck are you doing on here? Is your laptop waterproof?? 😛

At the beginning of the thread, some projects stand out. One, Doug G.'s Freeze Frame: http://www.rocketryphotography.com/rockets/RocketsFreezeframe.html
How's that going, Doug? And Ed Dawson's 12.5 " Saturn V. Ed, will it be ready for Oktoberfest? Both of these look really, really good. And Tim and Dave Way's 5-motor cluster buster; how's that comin' along, Tim?

It's going well, everything is on track. I tested the dropping the booster and video taped it but the link doesn't seem to work. Once it gets repaired I'll post it here. I nearly finished with the cowling for the nose cone which was a major obstacle to overcome. I'm working on the electronic bays and pretty soon I should be sanding, sealing, painting, and finishing. I also have more pictures to post of the cowling and payload section to post.

Doug

Good to hear from you Warren. and yea... you must have one heck of a wireless net connection and a waterproof laptop to.. Thanks for the input. In fact I have some questions for you when you have time and get back.. just shoot me a Pm or whatever.

I really hope to see many big and fun projects from several members as long as we get the much needed rain for it. Im pretty excited myself for some good flying weather with no fire ban. beings that since the last 3 years have passed I have attended 1 launch wich was the last CERG launch at the north site. Im working feverishly to get my L3 ready and done so I can paint it in september as that is when the release of the new Planet Color paint (simular to House of kolor but less expensive I belive)

Doug, hope you get that link to work. I'm really interested to see how that looks visually when the strap-on's fall free. That is one well-built rocket.

OK it appears to be working on my site. I went home at lunch for a quick update. It is near the bottom of Freeze Frame page http://www.rocketryphotography.com/rockets/RocketsFreezeframe.html and once you click on the thumbnail it goes to the video. The thumbnail is the photograph of the set up for the test. I'll try to do another update soon.

Doug

Man, those break away clean! 8)

Yes, but in slow motion they are staggered very slightly. It took 5 frames from first to last at 400 frames per second so about 12 msec but i'm not complaining. Hell, I'm happy if they come off period. I forgot to mention the boosters are just over 5 pounds each. I'll show the high speed camera footage at Oktoberfest as well, sort of "preview of coming attractions".

Doug

Doug I am just starting to get into the whole video/photgraphy rocketry thing myself. I look foreward to getting the chance to see your work and maybe learning a few tricks. Inherantly I am terrible at personally running a video camera or even a still pic camera. but I figure on board video cant be all that hard cause my shakey hands aint holding it. LOL. But for my L3 project I will have my first attempt at on board video. I did it probably the easy way using a small digital camera that records to a SD memory card in Mpeg4 format wich I will convert later. I have plans to eventually do 2 of these with one upward facing and one facing down. Im pretty stoked about it and cant wait to see my results from my cert flight at Octoberfest when i fly it on the N2020. I know its not like to cool video you do but its a start...

5 pounds each? And I was worried about my whole rocket aft end being 10 pounds! Your camera must be heavy enough to keep it stable. Hey, it's 12.5 ms, not 12. 🙂 With those healthy fins, a VERY slight stagger won't affect anything, even at the speed they'll be traveling at breakaway. That's a definite clean separation; in fact, a precise one. It's NASA good. I really can't wait to see it fly.

I know its not like to cool video you do but its a start...

technically its not video.

5 pounds each? And I was worried about my whole rocket aft end being 10 pounds! Your camera must be heavy enough to keep it stable.

The camera/payload section is about 20 pounds and its 11 feet tall.

Hey, it's 12.5 ms, not 12.

I did say "about" 😉

With those healthy fins, a VERY slight stagger won't affect anything, even at the speed they'll be traveling at breakaway.

The rocket will be about 60 to 70 pounds, I'm not worried if they don't come off at the same time. I'm more concerned about overall stability. It is heavy back aft, but I'll make sure before flying.

Doug