obnkenobi

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Apollo 440

I was asked recently just why I like to fire rockets up into the clear, blue yonder...

I've also been asked why I put soooooo much time into painting my rockets when, the possibility of them either getting lost, exploding or just combusting on the launch pad is so high...

I was also asked if this is a legal, safe hobby...

We can launch tomorrow if the wind is calm. We can launch tomorrow if the cloud ceiling is above 1000 feet. We can launch tomorrow if the rain isn't coming down in buckets. We CAN NOT launch tomorrow if there are people playing soccer or baseball in the neighbouring area...

OK, answer to the first question: I can see how air travels over a surface like an airplane wing or a rocket body much like Howard Hughes could. I can look at a surface and see just how air would react to it. Although I love aircraft and museums, I would gladly trade them all for a day at the airshow or just lying in the grass at the end of a runway watching the planes take off and land... I hope I'm not schizophrenic like Hughes...

Rockets make a grand sound as they shoot into the air. The bigger the engine, the better the sound! I also find that the anticipation of actually getting watching bystanders (usually kids) to scream out a count down raises the anticipation... There's fire and smoke and the idea that anything could happen... GLEE!

I like watching the air slip over the rocket.

I just can't field a rocket that looks like it was painted by an epileptic monkey... I have to build, sand, fill, prime, paint and then clear coat. No exceptions. I'm rather compulsive that way... I'm a Jedi, like my father before me... It matters not if they burn, crash or end up 1207209357 blocks away... At least they'll look great doing it.

Safe? I'm well prepared and ready for any contingiency... Legal? I measured out the launch site on a map and we are JUST outside of the circle defined as the Ottawa airport. We is legal.

Please, if you have any favours with those that control weather, I need a day without wind tomorrow.

"Thunderbirds are go..."

A Monkey off my back.

Last fall, I couldn't of HAD a worse launch day. Overcast, damp, late in the day... Bad wiring. 

Saturday was much better, Bright sunny day! Light winds out of the South West. Late afternoon... We fixed the wiring.

OK, First off the pad was a little "sounding" rocket that was painted bright pink and purple. This thing couldn't have been more than 6 inches top to bottom. The idea was to see it go up and then track it as it fell so that you can judge wind speed and direction. At least that was the plan! It launched, went up, blew its smoke charge and then disappeared off the face of the earth... No debris, no splinters, no NOTHING! I'm quite confident that it's still orbiting... F*** you NASA

The next little job was the Hobby Centre flier. Streamlined, lightweight and with the biggest freakin' engine I could cram into it. This one lit and proceeded to punch a hole in the clouds...  
 
A note. With the wind being at between 7-10 km, we had the long side of the field to play with... We had at LEAST 2000 feet downrange to shoot rockets and then have them land. The HC flier went SO high, it floated (on a half open parachute) the entire 2000 feet and THEN four blocks down wind.
Lessons learned #1 - Use smaller rocket engines.
 
Alright, rocket # three was the boost glider that I thought wasn't going to fly (the engineering and math didn't seem right) This two-ship rocket powered into the sky straight and level. So much for math. The separation was good and the glider (attached to the back of the booster) detached and glided in little circles down to the ground... A stunning success!

Oh yeah, a little side effect of launching rockets in a big, public field is that every kid within earshot came screaming "THAT GUY'S LAUNCHING ROCKETS!!!"... Not only that but by the third lift off, we had managed to fill the bleachers at the baseball diamond that we were using as a launch site. Another side note, little kids make great recovery crews because none of us wanted to chase after them...