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Volume 4, Issue 4
October 2009
MAGAZINE
MILE HIGH MAYHEM
2009
Custom Building
Performance Rocketry’s
9.25” Honest John
Gap Staging
Making Things
a Bit Cooler
Advanced Flight Electronics
for High-Power Rocketry
News and Review
$6.95 US
$8.95 Canada
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The University of Texas at
Arlington and the
Battle of the Rockets
Williams “Wildfire”
Westernationals
Photo by Mark Canepa
Fred Sanford Seismic rocket
at RocStock 29
October 2009
Volume 4 Issue 4
4
EDITORIAL
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ROCKETRY PLANET NEWS
34
By Thomas Miller
Basic concepts for flight computers
By Darrell Mobley
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THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT
ARLINGTON AND THE BATTLE OF
THE ROCKETS
By Jason Brown
Photos by Neil McGilvray
How this team came together and built
a rocket that won.
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12
CUSTOM BUILDING PERFORMANCE ROCKETS
9.25” HONEST JOHN
By Dan Michael
Photos by Andrew Michael
How Dan builds a bullet-proof rocket
GAP STAGING - MAKING THINGS
A BIT COOLER
By Wes Oleszewski
Photos by Neil McGilvray
One way to stage black-powder motors
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ROCSTOCK 29: THREE DAYS IN THE
SOUTHERN CALIFORMIA DESERT
By Mark Canepa
Photos by Mark Canepa
Launch at ROC next year’s LDRS
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MILE HIGH MAYHEM 2009
By Neil McGilvray
Photos by Nadine Kinney, Ray LaPanse
and Neil McGilvray
Flying rockets in Colorado’s thin air.
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WILLIAMS “WILDFIRE” WESTERNATIONALS
By David Cozen
Photos by Neil Streeter
A downunder rocket launch
ADVANCED FLIGHT ELECTRONICS FOR
HIGH-POWER ROCKETRY
REVIEW: ROUSE-TECH CD3
RECOVERY SYSTEM
By Glenn Davis
Using clean CO2 over black-powder in
recovery
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LAUNCH SCHEDULE
The University of Texas at Arlington
and the Battle of the Rockets
By Jason Brown
Photos by Neil McGilvray
left to right
Shawn Edwards,
Jason Brown and
Josh McGuire
with their award
The Beginnings
Before I tell you how we did, let me give
you a little background on how we got
here. Everything started when a group
of us decided to start the first rocketry
organization for the University of Texas
at Arlington (UTA). After looking we
decided that the best initial competition
for us to partake in was the Battle of
the Rockets. There are two events in
the Battle of the Rockets. The first is
the Mars Lander event, where teams
must design a rocket to launch a lander
as close to 1200 feet as possible then
eject the lander to land separately. The
second event is the H-Class Altitude
event, where teams launch a 54mm
diameter rocket as high as possible on
an H class motor.
Funding was extremely hard to get
and we were not sure how much we
would get until one month before the
competition. All expenses came out of
our own pockets until we were able to
get reimbursed after the competition.
The only thing more difficult to acquire
than funding was finding a location to
build. After 2 months of searching, we
could not acquire any lab area to build
in and the team ended up using a small
room with a 4-foot table.
Due to our limited resources, we
decided to focus on the H-Altitude
event and if we had time, we would
go for the Mars Lander event. Slowly
gaining interest and support, we started
designing the H-Altitude rocket. In
January, we started ordering materials
and parts; soon after we started building.
About mid-way through building the
H-Altitude rocket, we decided to go
ahead with designing and building the
rocket for the Mars Lander event. Most
of the components for both rockets
were custom made by our team. We
also decided to make a custom launch
tower for our rockets so we would not
have any drag due to external rail guide
or buttons.
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Test Launch and Trip
Once the rockets were built, we took
them out to the first launch that was
not canceled due to wind, rain, or a
burn ban. For the H-Altitude rocket we
wanted to give it a good test to prove
flight stability but keep it under 2000
feet because at that time we had not
finished building the receiver for our
transmitter. We decided to launch it
on a RoadRunner F60 to a simulated
altitude of 1540 feet. The launch was
perfect and straight, and we were within
40ft of our simulated altitude.
However, we could not get the
motor we were going to use in the
competition (AT-I357) so we ended up
launching it on a Loki I316. Sadly, the
actual lander portion of the rocket was
not complete for the test launch so we
used a dummy nose cone with added
weights to simulate the lander. The
launch and recovery went perfect and
was recovered without any damage.
Williams “Wildfire”
Westernationals
By David Couzens
Photos by Neil Streeter
Over the weekend of 30–31 May, 2009,
Tripoli Western Australia, Prefecture
#125, conducted its inaugural Williams
“Wildfire” Westernationals. While this
event would be considered small by
many standards, Down Under in the
state of Western Australia, the world’s
most isolated rocketeers strived to
make it something of a spectacle.
The history surrounding Tripoli
Western Australia is short, as it has
only been in existence since 2008. The
membership of this prefecture is small
but very dedicated.
HPR in Western Australia was really
only in its infancy until the formation of
this prefecture.
Up until very recently, the only
commercial reloads available to
enthusiasts were the Aerotech Easy
Access Hobbyline series and the odd
H- or I-impulse HPR loads.
With formation of the prefecture, local
regulatory authorities have welcomed
discussion on using much higher
impulse motors, and enthusiasts can
now enjoy similar access to HPR
reloads as in the USA. The Williams
“Wildfire” Westernationals was the
first event ever to be able to launch
a commercial M-impulse motor in the
state of Western Australia.
Coincidentally, the Tripoli Western
Australia guys were also the first to
launch K-impulse motors in Western
Australia, and the first to conduct
composite two-stage launches.
Local Prefect Dave Couzens had
this to say regarding the weekend’s
The pit area from the flight line.
launch:
“This weekend’s launch has been the
culmination of a couple of years’ work,
and I would like to take this opportunity
to thank all of those that had a hand in
it. And when I say all, I mean it stretches
across the world.
“It all began a few years back when
I travelled to Florida on vacation and
managed to certify L1 and L2. I returned
again the following year to successfully
gain my L3 certification at the FWN
2008.
“Later that same year, I returned to
the USA to attend LDRS 27 in Argonia,
where I flew the rocket on an AMW M2200SK.
“During those trips to the USA, I formed
many friendships, and a lot of those
people helped to make this happen. I
look forward to once again catching up
with those folks in the future to share a
congratulatory beer!”
The town site of Williams is located
some two hours’ drive south of Perth,
the capital city of Western Australia,
and the range is located on familyowned private property a further ten
miles from the town site.
The range currently has an 18,000foot waiver, with plenty of open spaces
for recovery. As the property is familyowned, there is the luxury of storage
of equipment on site; however, as the
Prefecture operates over two ranges,
some of the infrastructure is shared
between ranges.
Friday was used as the setup day,
and some of the members took the day
10
off work and loaded the trailers to make
the trek south from Perth.
Upon arrival, the range was set up,
along with some suitable camping
facilities before the night set in.
Saturday morning dawned clear
and warm, and the final touches were
added to the range setup. The hours
of operation for the range are from
9:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. each day, and
launching commenced promptly at the
start time.
Early starters got some smaller
rockets away, consisting of mostly G
launches, with Corie Millett putting up
his Cosmodrome Black Brant II on a
G-53J, and Dean Streeter setting his
scratch-built Lawn Dart off on a G64W.
As other members arrived and
commenced launching, the interest
levels sparked, and while it could never
be considered frenetic, the launches
continued at regular intervals.
The first HPR launch up was Mark
Haslam’s PML Matrix on an I-211W,
followed by Dean Streeter’s Batwing
on an H-128W. Dean rapidly followed
with launches of his GLR Talon 2 on an
H-128W, an H-165R, an H-220T, and
an I-200W.
Dean also used an H-165R and an
H-128W to launch his scratch-built
creations to eye-straining altitudes,
including his Star Dart on a G-77R,
which used a streamer to recover from
around 3,600 feet.
Mark Haslam got in on the action,
launching his uniquely painted PML
MILE HIGH MAYHEM
2009
BY NEIL MCGILVRAY
PHOTOS BY NADINE KINNEY , RAY LAPANSE AND NEIL MCGILVRAY
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Custom Building
Performance Rocketry’s
9.25” Honest John
By Dan Michael
Photos by Andrew Michael
All the parts that come with the kit
ROCKETS MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2009
Advanced Flight Electronics for
High-Power Rocketry
By Thomas Miller
Part I: Flight Electronics Basics
In the four decades since the inception of the Tripoli
Rocketry Association (TRA) amateur high-power rocketry
has grown in both performance and complexity as has
the electronics to support it. Any Level 3–certified flyer
is well familiar with flight electronics, as are most Level 2
flyers. High-end Research (or Experimental) rocketeers
are pushing the limits of performance with motor thrusts of
hundreds or even thousands of pounds and altitudes well
over 100,000’. In 2009 the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) increased the maximum ceiling these flyers can
pursue to 150 kilometers (93 miles) and total system
energy to 200,000 pound-seconds.
For most amateur flyers the demands on the electronics
are fairly simple and basic:
• Record and report maximum altitude attained
•
These systems are generally based on 8- or 16-bit single
chip microcomputers operating at low speed for power
savings and using generally available and low-cost
sensors.
The advanced flyer will want more control and data on their
flight including:
Time/Altitude plot
•
Time/Acceleration plot
•
Dual-deployment recovery (Drogue/Main Chute)
Additional pyro channels for motor air-starts
•
One-way telemetry
•
On-board GPS
The latter not only provides a three-dimensional plot of the
rocket’s course, but the last GPS coordinate received by
telemetry also provides an accurate location for recovery.
Provide for parachute recovery through a
pyrotechnic device triggered at apogee and/or a
specific altitude during descent
•
•
A popular computer at this level is the AED RDAS Tiny,
selling for $300 for the basic unit. It has four pyro outputs,
2.9–15.2 psi barometric altimeter, ±50g accelerometer
(0.1g resolution), and it samples data at up to 200 times per
second for 30 minutes.
But the demands of advanced high-performance rocketry
are exceeding the capabilities of most flight electronics
systems available today. In part it is a matter of cost, as the
electronics can become quite expensive. However, when
large projects take months or years to design and build
and cost thousands of dollars, the additional investment
to improve the reliability, safety, and data recovered from
flights is worthwhile.
Another limiting factor is the flexibility of most currently
available hardware and its supporting software. Most flight
computers are single-board designs with limited options
and configurations. A user may have to buy more then
they want to get what they need, or may simply not be able
to buy the features they need off the shelf. Rocketry has
become so complex it is not practical for a single individual
to perform all forms of design needed themselves,
especially complex electronics hardware and software.
This has unfortunately placed serious restrictions and
limitations on what kind of research and development the
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ROCKETS MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2009
Gap Staging
Making Things a Bit Cooler
By Wes Oleszewski
Photos by Neil McGilvray
In this cut-away drawing the sequence of “direct” staging is illustrated.
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ROCKETS MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2009
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REVIEW
Rouse-Tech CD3 Recovery System
By Glenn Davis
Remember those bygone days of picking out your Estes
motors and figuring out the best delay time for your rocket
and feeling all scientific about it? All of that careful folding
of the plastic parachute and packing of the wadding that you
labored over meant that you were some great rocketeer.
Launching your rocket at the ballfield, you wait for that fivesecond delay and bang, ejection charge.
Good pack job, and you live to fly again. Bad job and it’s
a quiet walk home.
Well, now, you are all grown up and need to fly with FAA
waivers . . . but despite all of the fancy altimeters, drogues,
and main chutes, you still have that old-time big bang of
deployment. The only difference is the vastly increased
amount of powder and the greatly accentuated risks
associated with explosive separation. But, hey, you’re used
to it, right? You got it down by now, right ?
The folks at Rouse-Tech did a rethink on this method and
figured that there might be another way to provide expanding
gases within an airframe to separate selected sections during
recovery. What about CO2 cartridges? Like that pistol you
used to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting neighborhood . . .
remember?
The Rouse-Tech CD3 Recovery System changes the bang
into a hiss with a kit so user-friendly that within a half hour
of opening the package we were static-testing the unit, with
excellent results. The instructions are well illustrated and
clearly written, and the whole thing comes in a large plastic
case with dividers that keep everything well organized.
Rouse-Tech provides four sizes of CO2 cartridges to
accommodate different sizes of airframes. Just use the
simple diameter–to-length cross-reference chart to select
the proper size. This is almost too easy.
Now, don’t chuck your altimeters and trusty e-matches
just yet, for they are set up just the same, except that the
match will touch off a tiny powder charge in the assembly,
which fires a pin, piercing the CO2 cartridge. This assembly
is simple and can be mounted as part of your altimeter bay
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Instructions above, the complete kit reviewed below
LAUNCH SCHEDULE
October 30 - November 1
Midwest Power VII
www.tripoliquadcities39.com
December 5
Mohave Area Rocket Society (MARS)
www.kingmanrockets.com
November 5 - 8
Plaster Blaster
www.tripolisandiego.org
December 5
Northern Colorado Rocketry
www.ncrocketry.org
November 7
Northern Colorado Rocketry
www.ncrocketry.org
December 5 - 6
Valley Aerospace Team
www.valleyaerospace.com
November 7
Mohave Area Rocket Society (MARS)
www.kingmanrockets.com
December 12
Southern Arizona Rocketry Association
www.sararocketry.org
November 7 - 8
Valley Aerospace Team
www.valleyaerospace.com
December 13
Tripoli Indiana #132
www.tripoliindiana.com
November 15
Southern Arizona Rocketry Association
www.sararocketry.org
December 26
Michiana Rocketry
www.michianarocketry.com
November 21 - 22
Tripoli Indiana #132
tripoliindiana.com
Photo by Mark Canepa
Arve Tokhelm Level Three flight at
RocStock 29
November 28 - 29
Michiana Rocketry
www.michianarocketry.org
If you would like to have your club’s
launches listed on this page, please send a
launch schedule to:
editor@libertylaunchsystems.com.
ROCKETS Magazine is offering 1/8 page
advertising space free for two issues to
clubs that have large/special/regional/national launches. This is for launches above
and beyond your monthly launches that are
listed on this page
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