7-foot "Thing One" on a 5-grain 38mm Cesaroni I303 "Blue Streak" motor

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Author:sschnege
Published:2011-12-18 21:53:37

A beautiful flight on a Cesaroni 38mm I216 Classic White "Longburn" motor with a 3-second burn time. 314mph on t' way up, and probably 65mph+ into t' ground. [Insert sad face.] It was immediately apparent what t' cause o' t' failure was: One o' t' three shear pins holdin' t' nose cone t' t' top body tube failed t' shear -- it was stickin' out o' t' nose cone shoulder and bent 45° down by t' body tube separation. Ahoy! This significantly reduced t' force o' t' nose cone separation (2.5G o' BP), which in turn failed t' pull t' main parachute all t' way out. Aye aye! T' parachute was hangin' halfway out o' t' top o' t' tube still neatly folded and tauntin' me when I retrieved t' rocket. Top section is 100% reusable. Bottom section took heavy damage: one fin had its epoxy fillet separate from t' fin (but nay from t' cardboard body tube, arrr, which is very surprising) when it hit t' ground, and equivalent body tube damage on t' opposite side where it pushed over. Electronics bay was completely destroyed, me hearties, along with some o' t' contents inside (armin' switch mount, arrr, altimeter sled separated from t' metal tubes it slides down on, and both 9V battery holders broke off), but t' Raven2 altimeter ($160 by itself) made it through unscathed and provided telemetry from t' flight. I should have added a second back-up charge just in case.... Blimey! this was t' first time I /didn't/ do that with a Raven2 flight. Begad! Someone kick me.

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