While Rocketry Planet Forums and the Rocketry Forums are great places for rocketry information, the chatter is dominated by model- and mid-power rocketeers (nothing against that – I’m just more interested in high power) and high power wannabes (that’s me). On the other hand, the guys at Tripoli Quad Cities have some serious projects on their forums.
Here’s a great example: Terry Leright’s Gladys, a minimum diameter N-3180 to N-1100 two-stager. Terry documents the construction, including kevlar and carbon reinforcement on the tubes and fins, the stage coupler (the sustainer motor casing, which has a flush rear closure, extends backwards into the booster airframe). Here’s the interstage coupler:
The finished rocket (actually, he built two of them, but that’s another story):
On the launch pad at Black Rock Desert – I swear I’m gonna make it there someday:
And here’s the liftoff on the N3180 (photo by Ken Adams):
One of the coolest aspects of this flight is that Terry’s electronics – an R-DAS (the same unit I obliterated in my second USLI rocket) – maxed out on its pressure and flatlined the altitude. Terry knew the flight went a lot higher because the R-DAS data showed the rocket was still going 1200 feet per second when the altitude flatlined – that’s over 800 miles per hour.
Rocketeer and math whiz David Schultz took a look at the data and calculated that Gladys maxed out at about 70,000 feet. His methods are definitely worth a read!
Finally, here’s video of the flight, showing just how massive the acceleration was (Gladys flies around 3:40):
(Construction photos by Terry Leright, launch photos by Ken Adams)
There are a lot more awesome build threads at the TQC forums. Also recommended: Predator L3, Project Vertigo, and Ultimate Wildman build threads.
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