Launch postponed

The NSWRA launch has been cancelled for this weekend due to the continued slightly damp conditions. This means we need to postpone the launch of the Shadow again until the next launch window opportunity. NSWRA is having a "show-and-tell" day instead which should be fun since we normally don't get a chance to talk to people at length during a regular launch day.

The extra time should give us an opportunity to do a little more testing before the launch.

Progress update

It's been mostly quiet on the rocket development side over the last few weeks with the school holidays, and being busy at work. But progress has been continuing on the Shadow. I've mostly been working on the payload bay that carries the batteries, altimeter and camera. That's now mostly complete and just needs to be secured in the rocket. I still need to drill access holes for all the electronics.

Dad and I discussed an issue yesterday about how the uMAD behaves. Due to the magnetic inclination in Sydney being about -64 degrees the uMAD detects apogee differently in different directions as you would expect. While in the "good" directions it detects apogee just as the rocket turns below horizontal, but in the worst case scenario the rocket needs to be near vertical (inverted) to detect apogee. If the rocket were to weather cock in the "bad" direction (and Murphy says it will) and flew in an arc, it may never reach the near vertical flight path in relation to the magnetic field. So we decided to include a timer back up for parachute deployment. Since there really isn't a whole lot of room for a fully redundant system, we decided to do a firmware update for the servo timer, so that it will handle both the external uMAD input as well as it's internal timer.

We are going to use the break wire option again to trigger the timer. The servo timer firmware has now been updated so that which ever event fires first the servo will be activated. The firmware listens to the uMAD even if there is a problem with triggering the timer.

We've also been looking at the Polaron G2 - Phase 2 development. One of the things that is evident in releasing the clustered rocket from a common point is that there will be about 2000N pulling on the neck of the central bottle while on the pad. This would likely damage it, and so we are re-designing how the nozzle will be attached, and likely include struts to distribute the load from the boosters.

We've had several requests now for a tutorial on how we fold our parachutes, so earlier in the month we posted a how-to fold a parachute tutorial to add to the myriad of others already on the net. http://www.aircommandrockets.com/parachutes.htm

I've also spent some time this month re-editing some of the old videos, removing boring bits, improving the colour, and re-uploading them in higher resolution to the new YT channel. This process will take a while though before all the videos are processed.

The Shadow is currently scheduled for its maiden flight on the 28th January if the weather and winds are good. Initial launch pressure will be 330psi (~23 bar) and if the rocket survives we will try again at a higher pressure.

The Shadow - Launcher video

With Christmas celebrations mostly over, dad and I put together a short video today that describes how the Shadow's launcher works and how the rocket is loaded onto the launcher. I've added the video to the latest Shadow update here:

http://www.aircommandrockets.com/shadow.htm#_171211

Other than that there really hasn't been much happening with all the lead up to the holidays. I've added a few links to Facebook and Google+ from our main website. These will be updated regularly with latest developments as well so if you prefer to receive updates that way or just want to chat about rockets then those should make it easier.

Here is The Shadow with a fresh coat of paint:

Merry Christmas!!!

We all know we want one of these for Christmas

We wish you and your family all the best for Christmas and also into the new year!

Unfortunately we've run out of time to launch The Shadow this year, but we should get a chance to launch it at the next NSWRA launch in January. The quiet time over Christmas should allow us to also complete a couple of other projects that we've been working on. I'll post more on those when done.

Now where is my helmet? ... I'm pretty sure I saw a rocket sled sized box under the tree.....

The Shadow - coming together

We've been flat out over the last couple of weeks, but have had time to work a little on the Shadow. We've now finished the launcher, and the fins are now also attached to the rocket. The nosecone and payload bay have been painted which will make them easier to find should they separate from the rocket.

In the next week or so we should have the rest of the payload bay complete with the camera, altimeter and batteries still to be mounted. The rocket at least is now starting to look like a real rocket. :)

I've update the build log with a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.
http://www.aircommandrockets.com/shadow.htm#_061211

Reefing Parachutes

This weekend we went down to the local park to fly a pair of smaller rockets to test a couple of techniques for reefing a parachute to stop it opening too quickly during high speed deploys. The first technique used the old reefing ring approach and for the second experiment we simply twisted the shroud lines. We managed to fit in a total of 6 flights before the wind picked up.

We’ve written up the results from the experiments here:

http://www.AirCommandRockets.com/day114.htm

The update includes a video that shows how the reefing works in flight.

 Reefing ring preventing the parachute from opening too quickly.

Simple break-wire trigger

We've had a number of requests now for how to add an external trigger to the Servo Timer II for the very slow launches that the built-in G-switch may have trouble detecting. I've added a tutorial on how to add a simple break-wire option to trigger the timer on launch. In most instances it should not cost anything.

http://www.aircommandrockets.com/servo_timer_V2_0.htm#_tip5

Shadow pressure test, and deployment mechanism

We have been making good progress on the Shadow. During the week we tested the deployment mechanism and made a short video of how it works.

Today we pressure tested the launcher and rocket to the full initial launch pressure. This was the first time we had the rocket and launcher up to this pressure, so we were happy when everything worked. We even tried to see how hard it will be to launch the rocket at the full pressure. This was nice and easy and shouldn't be an issue on launch day.

 
The recent updates from the last week have been posted to our main website with photos here:
 http://www.aircommandrockets.com/shadow.htm#_171111

The update also includes the deployment mechanism video.

Alternative Fuels

This weekend we flew with some “alternative” fuels in our water rockets. OK so technically they weren’t “water” rockets, but hey still it was a bit of fun with the kids. From a scientific point of view it was interesting to see how these fuels behaved.

Fuels Tested:
    - Bread crumbs (dry)
    - 100’s and 1000’s (dry)
    - Sugar (dry) - the other kind of “Candy” motor :)
    - 2 minute noodles (cooked and in broth)

So how did they go? … read on:

http://www.AirCommandRockets.com/day113.htm

 

Shadow Launcher work

We’ve had a busy week in the workshop working on the Shadow. We’ve been mostly focusing on getting the launcher complete, so we can pressure test it and the rocket. We want to test the pressure chamber before we attach the payload bay and fins, because if it bursts, it would be wasted effort. However, we can only test the pressure chamber with the launcher.

The latest set of updates with photos is available here:
http://www.aircommandrockets.com/shadow.htm#_061111


Here is a progress photo of the launcher release mechanism. This launcher is being built for 500+ psi pressures.

11/11/11

This post has no purpose other than being posted at 11:11:11 on 11/11/11 .... Happy Binary Day. :)

From The Web #1

As you trawl through the interwebs, you often find interesting things that are relevant to water rockets. As I collect these, I'll try to post them here.

• Rocket Electronics Info
  Although this covers mostly pyro rocket electronics, there are many good bits of information relevant to water rockets, especially the altimeters section.
  http://www.rocstock.org/wizards/rocket.electronics101.pdf

• Build Your Own Servo Controller
  Here is a tiny PICAXE-08M board that's very affordable and should be fairly easy to adapt to make a simple servo controller for parachute deployment.
  http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=1056
  You could do all your configuration through it's serial port so there would be need for only minimal external components. You could also solder one of those small Assemtech G-switches directly to the board to detect launch.

• PL Premium in Oz
  Water rocketeer Voytek Szapirko contacted us last month with the news that he was able to find PL Premium for sale at his local hardware store Bowens in Melbourne/Hallam for $6.99 a tube.Thanks for the tip Voytek! :) If you are from Victoria keep a look out at your store. We don't have the chain here in NSW, but hopefully other stores here will catch on with the need for PL.
  
• Retro Water Rockets from 1959
  Apparently you need to wear a tie to launch these: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=KdwDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA54&pg=PA94#v=onepage&q&f=false

Looking Up

I've uploaded the flight report from last weekend to our main website here:
http://www.AirCommandRockets.com/day112.htm
On this flight day we flew with the out-rigger boom again but this time looking up at the rocket to watch the parachute deploy mechanism in action. The update also contains photos and a highlights video from the day.

Migrating Videos to New YouTube channel

As we did a couple of years ago with the website, we’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and start migrating all the videos from the current YouTube channel to a specific Air Command Water Rockets Channel. I’ve been wanting to do this for quite a while since the existing channel was only ever a temporary one. With the normal slow down over the Christmas period, it will be a good opportunity to do so. We have a number of videos spread across Vimeo, MySpace, YouTube and several other hosts so we will consolidate all these into the single channel. It will be easier to make up playlists of related videos and keep them all organised, especially as they relate to each project. I’m also hoping to upgrade the YouTube channel so we can provide extra features.

The biggest drawback is that the comments from people will be lost, links to the videos will be broken, but if I don’t do the migration now, it would just get worse into the future. I am backing up the comments though. Expect videos to start disappearing over the coming weeks/months from our current channel, and they will be re-uploaded to the new channel over time. I will also update the links to the video from our website, or where I can.

Some of the older videos were also uploaded only in lower resolution, so where I can I will re-compress these again at higher resolution before uploading.

If you have been subscribed to our youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/gk123434534 channel and wish to continue receiving subscription updates please subscribe to our new channel here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AirCommandRockets

All new videos from now on will also be uploaded to the new channel.

Thanks everyone for your support

Rockets - Dawn 'til dusk

We had a very busy rocket day yesterday with our regular NSWRA launch at Doonside from early morning until noon, and then in the evening we had our NSWRA display at the Macquarie University Astronomy open night. We had lots and lots of people come up and ask questions about rocketry, and I'm sure there will be a few people that will come to the launches as a result of it. I'd say close to a couple of hundred people came to look at the display and have a chat. We had the G2 on display as well. I didn't get home until after 11:30pm last night.

I'll write up a full flight report and info about the Uni display in the next few days.

NSWRA at Mac Uni Astronomy Open Night

NSWRA (NSW Rocketry Association) is going to have a stall at the Macquarie University Astronomy Open Night this weekend Saturday October 29th from 6:30pm. If you want to find out more about rocketry and haven't had a chance to come to one of our NSWRA launches at Doonside, then why not stop by and have a chat.

There will be a number of NSWRA members to talk to. We'll be there as well for a part of the night.

Find out more here:
http://www.nswrocketry.org.au/PublicPages/Public_Mac_Uni_Open_Night.html

So how big is The Shadow?

Now that we have most of the components made, we are in the process of assembling them into the actual rocket. Here is a picture of the pressure chamber with payload bay and nosecone fitted on top. The entire rocket is 2580mm tall (~8.5 feet).

 I've added some more progress photos from the last week of construction here:
http://www.aircommandrockets.com/shadow.htm#_151011

There is still lots to do on this rocket, but it's good to see it finally in context so that we can finish designing the launcher and figure out how we fill it with water and launch it. We're hoping to assemble the pressure chamber over the next week and pressure test it. For the pressure test we are going to need to finish the launcher, as it will be the only thing that will seal against the nozzle.

Otherwise progress on other projects is on the back burner for now as my regular daytime work has been extra busy lately.

Shadow progress update

We've been busy this week making good progress on The Shadow. We now have a new set of fin guides that will be used to align the fins. We made a new coupler mandrel and have made a number of fiberglass couplers for joining tubes. We also started working on the business end of the rocket today and machined the nozzle and the nozzle seat it will sit on. We are having to build a completely new launcher for this rocket to handle the higher pressures.

Updates from the last several days are here:
http://www.aircommandrockets.com/shadow.htm#_270911

(NOTE: You may need to refresh the page as sometimes it gets cached and you won't see the updates.)

Nozzle seat and nozzle

 Fin guides to align fins

Casual flights

While we still work on the bigger rockets, we took the opportunity last weekend to do a few casual flights at the NSWRA launch day. It's always nice to get out and launch a few without having to do a lot of preparation. These rockets were quickly assembled from the set of spare parts we have on hand. We flew the HD camera again on all the flights.

Here is the update: http://www.AirCommandRockets.com/day111.htm

Panorama taken from the last flight

The Shadow

Rocket build progress has been continuing at a good pace. We currently have a number of concurrent builds under way. These include the Acceleron V high pressure sustainer upgrade, the Polaron G2 phase 2 booster development and our newest project called "The Shadow".

We have actually been working on The Shadow for a number of months, but hadn't published details about it yet, though we have been taking pictures and keeping a build log of the rocket development. We have now uploaded the build log to our website so you too can follow along with the development. So far it's been an interesting project to work on and has consumed perhaps 60% of our build time.

The project now has its own build page rather than scattering bits of information about it in the various flight log updates. We'll keep the page updated as we go and post the flight reports in the regular updates.

http://www.AirCommandRockets.com/shadow.htm