Chris LaPanse

I believe I have one that you can borrow (though I don’t want to sell it). I’ll check before I leave. I’d imagine Joe will have one too.

I’ll be there 😀

I’m going, but I’m still figuring out the details of my accomodations for the trip, so I can’t guarantee anything yet. I’ll let you know if I have room though.

X?Based on some rough calculations, I get that it’s an AE class motor (7 categories above X). This motor is to an X motor what a P motor is to an I.:D

Glad to hear it was found, and in perfect condition too :D(Steve’s right – the visibility was fantastic that day. I can’t believe I kept sight of it all the way up to 25k and back)

Heh – it’s a great example to use, and it does perfectly illustrate how often, the problem isn’t what you think could go wrong, but it is instead what you didn’t ever think could be a problem. I know I…   Read more»

… unknown cause, appears nose cone may have come apart at Mach 2.5.

Hmmm…. I wonder who that could be 😯

It’s a neat rocket, that’s for sure. I was part of a student team that had a payload on a Terrier-orion last year, and I went out to Wallops to watch the launch. It’s amazing to see that kind of…   Read more»

More brainstorming: Have you calculated the differential pressure that your nosecone shear pins would have to withstand? Was the nosecone shoulder seated firmly against the airframe, to prevent your shear pins from taking G loads during the boost? Did the…   Read more»

Definitely not. I looked at it fairly closely before flight, and it definitely wasn’t ready to fall apart.

Fiberglass, yes, but no reinforcement. It was just a glass nosecone stock from PR. It’s been up to ~M1.5 3 times before, and M1.8 once, and never had any issues. Apparently, 2.2 was too much though.

Did you get data? I wouldn’t have thought it possible for a nosecone to fail before a tube or coupler, but I guess anything is possible. Maybe we could see what altitude it was at, and look for wind shear…   Read more»

Did you get data? I wouldn’t have thought it possible for a nosecone to fail before a tube or coupler, but I guess anything is possible. Maybe we could see what altitude it was at, and look for wind shear…   Read more»

Warren: it shredded on the way up. Apparently, a PR 5 inch nosecone isn’t terribly happy at mach 2.2.(My fins stayed on though :D)

Absolutely. It would be good to have an up to date map of where exactly the boundaries are, and who owns the land beyond each (or is leasing it).

Warren,I really don’t see where the problem is to the east, and to the west, there’s a single, solitary, tiny patch of land. To the north, there’s quite a bit of private property, and to the south, there’s some, but…   Read more»

Looking at the map (http://telerover.com/rockets/NCR/NCR_NPawneePropertyOwners.pdf), east is actually relatively clear. To the north is the property people kept hitting last year.

80 knots is not bad (seriously). I’d forego the drogue chute, just breaking in half… which is how I always do it anyway.We need to stay off the private property this year…I don’t like foregoing the drogue – it leaves…   Read more»

Yep – I’ve been using both that site and weather.com, and they both seem to agree that on Saturday, we’ll be on the edge of the jet stream. Oh well – as long as I don’t dump the main at…   Read more»

Was it the CTI adhesive kit? If so, I know what you mean. The glue that came with my N5800 was a two part glue, but it dried very rubbery, not at all like epoxy.