[I guess I have basically two types of posts around here -> ones about the cool stuff I'm building/flying, and ones about the really cool stuff other people are flying. This is the latter.]
I’m slowing going through YouTube and the interwebs to find all the awesome projects that were flown somewhere, sometime that I’ve never heard of before. First, check out the Pershing flown at LDRS 27 in Argonia, Kansas. Interestingly, the put the frame on the pad, installed the motor, and then installed the skin over the frame. Some answers about why they built it they way they did (without any structural carbon fiber or fiberglass) are in this ROL Forum discussion. The description of the flight is great too: “there was an issue and the landing was hard.” Pretty cool project, but I still think the Pershing is an ugly rocket.
And here’s a video of a Q-powered flight at BALLS 2004 in the Black Rock Desert. Shadow Aero has this to say about the project in its gallery:
“Dave Triano of ShadowAero designed and built the amazing ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ Q motor project for Mike Hobbs and Randy Helmonds. The rocket was powered by a 8′ ‘Q’ motor by Frank Kosdon, and flew September 11, 2004, to an altitude of 100,000′. The minimum diameter rocket was a study in simplicity and efficiency, using an all-carbon fin can and nosecone created with special resin systems and ablative coatings. The deployment system worked as designed. It was composed of redundant XTime units intiating dual patent pending gas generators designed by Dave Triano.”
And here’s a bit on the recovery from an MDRA newsletter:
“The Frank Kosdon, Mike Hobbs, Dave Triano Q motor rocket was one of the most memorable flights. The 325 pound rocket was flown out of a halo tower and had about a 14 second burn with a long delay grain. Due to the extreme altitude that the rocket was flown to it looked like it was on a long arc, even though it was still climbing to well over 88,000 feet. In typical Balls fashion and typical Fran Kosdon fashion the rocket was only recovered on a 6 chute. They figured it would come back at about 135 MPH and they weren t worried about the condition after it landed, they just wanted it back. The Q project choose #1, they lost the rocket. Speaking with Dave Triano after the flight was interesting, the bottom line is that s how we do it out here . He had a track on it for over seven minutes and knows it is out there, someplace. He did say that they have a way of turning up again. We wish him luck.”
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