This was the second of two successful LOX-Propane propellant tests at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry test/launch facility in the Mojave Desert.Motor specs: 2.69 kN, was designed for 2.75 kN, a 5-second burn in the morning and 7-second in the afternoon (seen in this video) - full duration will be in the realm of 15-18 seconds. Propane and LOx, chamber pressure designed to be about 375, and was around 350 psi in the tests.
Genesis project at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry facility in the Mojave Desert. This was the first time we used our new control center for launching.
Less than 3 seconds into the flight, Embry-Riddle lost their video cam on their launch for the 2019 FAR-1030 competition. The Video Cam was found on January 1st while people out on recovery for their rocket found the video cam...if you find rocketry things please notify us so we can return them to the owners. I was able to identify the team from my announcement of the launch. This is the recording from that launch.
Successful launch and recovery of Robert Watzlavick's liquid bi-propellant rocket at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry facility in the Mojave Desert.
First two rocket motor propellant static tests with a new team of students.One eventually worked as planned and the other popped the nozzle when it overpressurized and blew the snap ring...a great unintended demonstration of how not to blow a motor case to pieces. Something is learned from every test or flight.
Last flight of the day, a 2-stage scratch-built rocket after a day of really successful and some not so successful flights and static motor tests. The 'old' 'FSI (?) F-100 motor in the sustainer CATOed but came down on chute.
LOX-Kero liquid bi-propellant test at the FAR facility. I was going through some external hard drives looking for a video and saw this from some time ago. Don't remember who's test it was but shows that things don't always go as planned.
Second firing of the Atlas LR-101Tests were conducted at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry facility, Mojave Desert.
Students from the Federal University of Santa Catarina first time entry in the ESRA 2022 Spaceport America Cup competition. Forty dollars KNSB 'sugar' propellant N-impulse student-developed motor. Rocket shred from possible fin delamination near the time of motor burnout from evidence found during recovery
Intro - 0:00Recovery Testing - 0:33Motor Retainer Error - 3:51Rocket Motor Assembly - 6:32Launch Day Prep - 10:07Integration For Flight - 11:23GPS Issues - 13:10Launch - 14:53Rocket Recovery - 16:36Onshape Ad - 19:10
4-inch minimum diameter two grain K-450 KNSB sugar propellant launch.Rocket airframe was made from a discarded 12-foot-long cardboard tube from a home improvement store, cut into 12 pieces to make the airframe, dual deployment av-bay, and fin can using Elmer's School Glue...no epoxy touched this rocket. A low-cost demonstrator rocket to show high-power rocketry doesn't have to be expensive, the goal was under $50 for the rocket. The entire project including the rocket, K-450 propellant reload and Eggtimer Apogee flight computer cost $24 minus the parachute and motor case. Those were also made at the cost of $8 for the parachute and $14 for the metal (both made for a previous project). The nose cone was the top of a Shasta soda bottle.This was the last rocket flown on this 110 F July day, thanks to those at FAR that helped.
STUCK THE LANDING! Didn't think it would take 7 years but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The 16th flight of the $24 Elmer 'School Glue' Cardboard low-cost High Power Rocket project. It began as a project to build a complete 4" high-power rocket capable of Mach flight for under $100.The rocket dual deploy airframe, nose cone, propellant grains, and avionics were built in 8 hours and for under $24 in the cost of materials. The motor case and parachute were already built from previous projects for an estimated $50 making the total cost under $100. Each successive flight costs between $4 and $8 depending on the motor used: 2-grain is $4 and 4-grain L-1150 is $8. This motor is actually a K-550, not a K-450 as the title says.Doing LCO is FAR Treasurer Mark Holthaus, RSO is Rick Maschek.Also shown in the video is the new FAR control center used for the UCLA hybrid launch previous to this launch.
Jan 11, 2023On Nov 13th 2022, Firebiter, an 6-inch diameter, 64-inch long P-class solid rocket motor, was successfully fired, becoming the team’s first successful static fire since Spring 2019. The motor delivered a total impulse of 15,674 lbf-s, producing a maximum thrust of 1632 lbs. Firebiter was fired in a carbon-epoxy motorcase with a carbon-phenolic nozzle, all of which were designed and fabricated by USC students.
Feb 19, 2023Evolution Space 3" test vehicle flight to ~48,000' AMSL at Mach 2.92, testing the first iteration of what will become Evolution's developed-in-house GNC system. Nominal flight, recovery, and data collection. Next flight test will be to space aboard Gold Chain Cowboy, April 22.
Feb 19, 2023A few students testing their liquid LOX ethanol motor at the RRS facility stooped by FAR a couple of weeks ago. I discussed with them that after having spent a lot of resources in the motor development for the up portion of the flight, what have they done for the down portion of the flight. I suggest to students that the recovery and avionics team should not only design and build that portion of the rocket but also do actual flight testing (not just ground tests) of the system...like NASA did in the Apollo days with the capsule and Little Joe 2. We agreed and I told them I would make a free motor and propellant for the test if they could build a lower section of a rocket with fins that would interface with their avionics and recovery system for their FAR Dollar Per Foot (DPF) of altitude challenge flight next month. This is that test flight we did yesterday at FAR. UCLA Rocket Project members Evy Haynes and Logan Cheney helped me assemble the motor (I wanted them to see how easy snap ring 'sugar' motors are) and they installed the motor and launched the rocket. I love working with students and after years of launching my own rockets, I now get satisfaction from helping students launch theirs.
