HELLFIRE 16

Hellfire 16 was great. We headed up at about 7 am and got there about 10am on friday. Friday morning was quiet with the largest motor being an N. I was LCO for a while before I was kicked off because it was a Research launch and anyone under 18 was not allowed past the flight line. After flying we checked into the hotel and got dinner at a small Mexican restaurant.
The next day was a Sport launch. We arrived at the site at about 9 to catch the morning safety meeting. Our first flight was our Mongoose 18 on a D21-7T. The sims showed that it would break mach but I have no Idea if it did because we dont have the budget or space for a flight computer. It went pretty darn fast though. Flying continued throughout the day and there were tons of great flights. Simon an Dad had Igniter problems with the "You Got JIMMERED" so they couldn't fly it until later in the day.  Next we flew the Mach Mobile on a G75metalstorm. IT had a perfect flight and simon got a great photo of it as it left the pads. Next was my Certification flight. I chose the H163-7 and bought it from Jeffery at Giant Leap Rocketry for about $21. The rocket flew perfectly straight and was recovered without a scratch. Then Simon and Dad got the YOU GOT JIMMERED off the pads, this time on a G78 mojave green. It was recovered without a scratch as well.
                     Simon and I bought more components for a new rocket. Ill make a seprate post about that.
now for some photos.....

 The Flight Line

 Group Photo

Mach Mobile on a G75M

Mission Acomplished

I got mt L1 certification at Hellfire 16. Worked perfectly.
HERE IT IS!!!

 On The Pads

Onboard footage crash!!!

I wont say anything more, just click HERE

Mach Mobile

O.K I just finished my 29mm Minimum diameter rocket. It will get about about mach 1.05 on the G75 Metalstorm Motor I'm Planning to use.

Rocket finished!!!

My L1 certification rocket was just finished today. The build went smoothly with no problems. I am expecting to fly it on a Cti H163-7WT at Hellfire 16. It should get about 1600 feet. The only thing Im worried about is the parachute not opening or the parachute getting tangled. Here is the stats so far...
Diameter: 4.0in
Est. Weight unloaded: 30 oz
Height: I'm to lazy to measure
Parachute: Either a 36in or a 46in, depending on conditions
Fins: 1/8in plywood with Fiberglass reinforcement
Shock cord: 2 pieces of 400lb Kevlar cord.

I still no not have a name for it yet.

L1 BUILD COMING SOON!!!

Im about to start work on my L1 certification rocket. all the parts get here safely and all I need is the Epoxy. I am using a combination of 30min epoxy, 5min epoxy, wood glue and fiberglass to build the rocket.

New Youtube Channel!!!

So i was tires of mashing both our "movies" and our rocket videos on just one channel so I just made my AKS rocket's official Youtube channel. Check it out HERE. We plan to put up more videos, more often, especially since I just bought the camera for onboard flights. It does not have anything on it yet but that will soon change.

New hardware!!!

New Camera!!!

I bought a keychain camera from Ebay recently. It can be taped to the side of rockets for on board flights. It should be fun to play with. Im going to do some testing at the park with my Big Daddy rocket on a C11-3 just to see if the camera works. if it does then I will post a video on the blog.
Here is a photo of it.

March sport launch

Really great launch. Weather was perfect, hardly any cloud coverage, low winds. We flew our Cosmodrome Nike smoke on a F52 Blue thunder. It was a great flight but the parachute didn't come out. The only damage was a fin that popped out of it's slot and a dent in the balsa nosecone. There was a lot of other great flights there to. Most of the flights were on the close pads and the far pad was never full. We saw one cato as one motor in a cluster of D12s exploded. It sent the rocket smashing into the ground as the other engines lit. Very fun to watch but not so fun to be the builder. Here is some pictures and a video. For more pictures go to UROC for a video CLick HereFlight LineBefore CatoAfter CatoV2 Taking offSimon with the Nike SmokeByu's Rocket

Level one certification plans

Kaelan and I are trying to get a level one certification this year. We purchased a 4.0in nose cone and body tube and tip from a Uroc member at the March sport launch for $20. We will fly it on a low H to about 1600', should be a good flight. Apogee components (actualy cesaroni) is having a deal where if you buy a reload kit, you get a casing free. With the Haz-Mat shipping and everything, the price is about $95. The deal ends July 1st so we hope to buy before then. If you have any ideas on how we could earn money leave them in the comments.
Thanks,
Alex.

Steve

Steve is so far our biggest rocket it is 3in wide and about as tall as the gladiator. It weighs about 25oz and takes 29mm motors (mostly Gs). It was short lived though, We launched it Saturday in about 15mph winds on a G76-7G. It flew perfectly and instead of weather-cocking, it flew in the same direction as the wind. It landed 1.5miles away, but before we could recover it the wind dragged it along the ground and pulled off two of the six fins. It is still repairable but it will take some work. 1st time with the new 29/40-120 case though. The video is in the post below.
Thanks to Mr. Pratt & Mr. Black for helping cut the fins.

March Sport launch

There were hardly any flights here. There was 2 K550s, our G76, several As Bs and Cs.
We took a lot of pictures. Most of the people didn't fly because the winds were gusting over 30mph. VIDEO HERE
Here is some photos though.

High power vs Model rockets

You can see why we want to hurry up and get licensed. We feel so puny next to the 7 foot tall rockets that hit 10,000 feet and have a sound that shakes the ground. Compared to our Estes rockets that will hit 800 feet and make a sound like a faucet being turned on for two seconds.
Click here to watch the video

Mid power Nike Smoke

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Simon and I got a Cosmodrome Nike Smoke for Christmas. It's heavenly building from a kit and not scratch building because everything is there and I don't have to worry about ordering the parachute or the engine mount. The parts were good quality. The fins and centering rings 1/4in aircraft plywood and the nose cone was an impressive 14in of balsa. The body tube was a little weak but since its a shorter rocket it's fine to have a little bit of a flimsy tube. We painted it to scale but had some problems with crappy paint.We plan to fly it on a F engine. It will go about 1600'

Zero to eight hundred in .5 seconds

As shocking as the title is, it's true. At the rocket's fastest speed it will be flying faster that buckshot fired from a shotgun. The small rocket is practically bullet-proof. It's less than an inch in diameter and about 10 inches tall. Originally, the rocket had balsa fins and a stubby plastic nose cone. Simon and I knew it was going to shred, but we didn't care. After we thought about it we decided we were at least going to try. We replaced the plastic nose cone with a taller balsa nose cone and the fins with 1/16in high-impact plastic fins sanded to a point.We used a combination of plastic cement and epoxy clay. We gave the body tube a light glaze of plastic cement for added strength. We plan to fly it on a Aerotech D21-7. It will hit about 3000 feet in about nine seconds and have a maximum speed 850mph (that's twice as fast as our old record.) It's meant for speed and not beauty as you can see in the pictures below. I haven't heard of anyone flying supersonic on a D so as far as I'm concerned it's a world record. This looks ugly but its really strongCompared to the Big Daddy