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Model Forum / General / Rockets / April 2005From the Launch Pad of...
Wow! What a blast from the past! Somebody handed me an opened "Flying Model Rocketry Range Operations" box at our Scout meeting last night. They were cleaning a relative's closet, and figured that since we're in the midst of our SpaceEx merit badge, the stuff might be useful. It contains the complete Estes Aerospace Club materials along with a Big Foot launcher, and a Blast Off Flight pack. We're talkin' the "flying saucer T-shirt iron-on", the stationary, the certificates and ID card, the whole kit and kaboodle. I'm guessing it's from '83 'cause of the copyright on the Model Rocket News is 1983, although the Skylark "design of the month" on the back of it is from March 1980, and there's an '86 Estes catalog along with everything else. Main feature of the MRN is the first launch of the Space Shuttle. Article by Matt Steele called "Secrets of Parachute Duration"... You can almost perfectly recreate what happened... Empty "Astro Bee" bag with complete with perfectly sharpened pencil, paint brush, and remnants of the balsa from the fins... Decals still in the bag.. jeez he couldn't even wait to put them on... <g> Wear on the launcher's alligator clips barely noticeable... One bag of ignitors open from the Flight Pack with one ignitor missing... One C6-5 missing from the Flight Pack... <vbg> The remaining motors look to be in great shape, and apparently have been stored well. A question though: I noticed that the remaining ignitors are half "red" and half "black". Was this the time that Estes switched over? Also, the "red" one's pyrogen appear to be really crumbly. Still a nice find for the price of $0... Tod "Wonder if I'm a Red Thrust Bar yet?" Hilty -- Tod A. Hilty Hilty Information Systems Do not look in the direction of the flash... Curl up in a ball as you hit the ground... CAUTION: The Mass of This Product Contains the Energy Equivalent of 85 Million Tons of TNT per Net Ounce of Weight Please replace weinerboy dot org with adelphia dot net for reply. Red crumbly "Solar" igniters tend to break apart at the bridge wire. The pyrogen corroded - possibly in combination with moisture from the air and the iron in the heavy wires that lead up to the bridge. If you're launching without time constraints, try them out. If they fail, use some nichrome wire (I wonder who's selling that these days???) or other igniters. Continuity tests before and after installation in the motor are always a good idea with old igniters. The BOFP must have 1/2A6-2 motors, A8-3, B6-4 and C6-5. They later switched to A8-3, B6-4, C6-5 and C6-7. Fnally (with the coming of the heavy plastic rockets and a suggestion letter from me after seeing too many people crash rockets) they switched the C6-7 motors for C6-3 motors. The Big Foot was great - only flaw was the internal battery contacts not being springs or heat treated. They bent flat and lost contact too easily. -Fred Shecter NAR 20117 http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQsassZshreadvector > Red crumbly "Solar" igniters tend to break apart at the bridge wire. > The pyrogen corroded - possibly in combination with moisture from the > air and the iron in the heavy wires that lead up to the bridge. Ugghhhh....I always had that problem, even with *fresh* ones. > The Big Foot was great - only flaw was the internal battery contacts > not being springs or heat treated. They bent flat and lost contact too > easily. Very nice design, and stable. But that battery configuration! Quite annoying to have a rocket set up, and wired up...only to find you need to "jiggle" the batteries back into contact....  SignatureGreg Heilers Registered Linux user #328317 - SlackWare 10.1 (2.6.10) ..... "Democracy, is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty, is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." -- Benjamin Franklin I've used nichrome matchhead igniters exclusively for 12 years now and never had one fail, I got a roll for $6 at an online surplus shop, and lots left. > Red crumbly "Solar" igniters tend to break apart at the bridge wire. > The pyrogen corroded - possibly in combination with moisture from the [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > -Fred Shecter NAR 20117 http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQsassZshreadvector Matchheads spit out while still burning and are a serious fire hazard (unless you launch on a dry lake bed or a concrete pad). Bare nichrome with a loop at the tip is almost 100% sucessful with good clips and a good battery. >Matchheads spit out while still burning and are a serious fire hazard >(unless you launch on a dry lake bed or a concrete pad). > >Bare nichrome with a loop at the tip is almost 100% sucessful with good >clips and a good battery. Out of the hundreds, and hundreds of flights I've had with Solar ignitors, I'll bet I've had less than 10 misfires. Plus, since as of late I've been tending toward multistage flights, I've got oodles of spare Solars lying around. I'll keep that nichrome in mind, though, Fred... <g> tah -- Tod A. Hilty Hilty Information Systems Do not look in the direction of the flash... Curl up in a ball as you hit the ground... CAUTION: The Mass of This Product Contains the Energy Equivalent of 85 Million Tons of TNT per Net Ounce of Weight Please replace weinerboy dot org with adelphia dot net for reply. > >Matchheads spit out while still burning and are a serious fire hazard > >(unless you launch on a dry lake bed or a concrete pad). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > late I've been tending toward multistage flights, I've got oodles of > spare Solars lying around. Double drop-stage clusters and have sagans of them. > I'll keep that nichrome in mind, though, Fred... SignatureJerry Irvine, Box 1242, Claremont, California 91711 USA Opinion, the whole thing. <mail to:01rocket@gte.net> Please bring common sense back to rocketry administration. (too late) Produce then publish. http://www.usrockets.com Ebay. http://tinyurl.com/6wlp8 >> >Matchheads spit out while still burning and are a serious fire hazard >> >(unless you launch on a dry lake bed or a concrete pad). [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Double drop-stage clusters and have sagans of them. Even better, stage quickmatched clusters...even if you use one to ignite the first stage, for 6 motors to 4 motors that's 9 spares per flight. I have tons of them! To think I ever bought 6 in a packet for 3 quid ($6!) SignatureNiall Oswald ================================ http://www.bits.bris.ac.uk/niall UKRA 1345 EARS 1151 MARS Not like the rockets exhaust is a fire hazard ;) > Matchheads spit out while still burning and are a serious fire hazard > (unless you launch on a dry lake bed or a concrete pad). > > Bare nichrome with a loop at the tip is almost 100% sucessful with good > clips and a good battery. > Not like the rockets exhaust is a fire hazard ;) Ironically it is low. The rocket is propelled directly into the air rapidly and part of fire ignition and spread factors are temperature vs time. That's why you can wave your finger through a candle flame. Keep it moving! Be the rocket :) > > Matchheads spit out while still burning and are a serious fire hazard > > (unless you launch on a dry lake bed or a concrete pad). > > > > Bare nichrome with a loop at the tip is almost 100% sucessful with good > > clips and a good battery. SignatureJerry Irvine, Box 1242, Claremont, California 91711 USA Opinion, the whole thing. <mail to:01rocket@gte.net> Please bring common sense back to rocketry administration. (too late) Produce then publish. http://www.usrockets.com Ebay. http://tinyurl.com/6wlp8 >> Not like the rockets exhaust is a fire hazard ;) > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >Keep it moving! Be the rocket :) Hey Jerry I'll drag out my test stand and light a motor so you can prove this is true with rocket motors. No. The rocket exhaust does not hit the ground. there is a deflector. Chunks of flaming bits do not hit the ground. If you have match heads in your igniter, the match head will still be a flaming chunk as it is spit out of the nozzle and it will be able to start a ground fire. snip MAJOR cool, Tod! Is your monitor green? Mine is ; ) I'd think the red is rust, I've had quite a few do that still sealed in the package, I assume from humidity packed in at the factory. Nice find! Randy http://vernarockets.com/ >snip > >MAJOR cool, Tod! Is your monitor green? Mine is ; ) LOL! Wow, being the quntessential non-conformist, my first monitor (for my PC XT-286) was an Amdek amber colored one.... Always have to be a little different... <g> >I'd think the red is rust, I've had quite a few do that still sealed in the >package, I assume from humidity packed in at the factory. Well, after a closer look, you're partially right. The pyrogen is most definitely a brownish-red, but there *is* what appears to be rust coming down the leads from the bridgewire... funny, I don't remember those... The Astron ignitors, yeah, but I can't seem to remember when those were superceded... The reddish ones are in white baggies with a fluorescent pink label, while the black ones are in grey baggies with a black/orange label... both the same part number... I'll have to pop off a few in a test, and see what they do... tah -- Tod A. Hilty Hilty Information Systems Do not look in the direction of the flash... Curl up in a ball as you hit the ground... CAUTION: The Mass of This Product Contains the Energy Equivalent of 85 Million Tons of TNT per Net Ounce of Weight Please replace weinerboy dot org with adelphia dot net for reply. snip I still use the ones that appear rusted as you describe, BUT only with a single engine rocket. I get really picky when it comes to clustering. Sometimes while installing an igniter that's seemingly perfect, if it doesn't "feel right" when the plug seats, I remove it and toss it in my maybe compartment. Randy http://vernarockets.com/ |
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