Re: Sky Ripper flight report

Doug
Make sure to put some CA in the holes when drilling cardboard to reinforce -
expecially for shear pin use - it helps to spread the thin stuff all around
the area too.. I have seen folks glue in razor blades because they are thin
but I have not tried that - not sure if I would myself - the CA really
helps.

Barry

"plano-doug" <doug_man_sams@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1190838223.518820.308760@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Since it seems so quiet, I thought I'd post a quick launch report...

I flew my second ever hybrid Saturday, a Sky Ripper H155. Other than
forgetting to install the vent tube, the launch went very smoothly.
After futzing around for a bit at the pad to get the vent in place,
the fill and ignition were textbook perfect - it went on the first
attempt!

I really like the Sky Rippers and their AP grain ignition system. It
is very reliable and works with any 12V system.

It was my first ever dual deploy, and it gets a passing grade, but I
lost the fin can to my stretched HiTech H45 in the process :( The
apogee event was a bit hot and fried the nylon cord tethering the fin
can to the rest of the rocket resulting in a fubar'd fin can. But the
motor case was unscathed.

The main fired as intended at 500 feet and brought the rest of the
rocket down in reasonably good shape. The two shear pins in the
nosecone tore the airframe a bit - next time I'll add a wrap of glass
instead of just CA'ing the holes in the LOC tube. And the main charge
was also a bit hot resulting in the chute needing some holes patched :
(

But I consider it mostly a success. I'll build a new fin can, this
one a bit longer to take the next longer SRS 38mm case - maybe even
the longest (36") case - and be back in business.

I hate losing the old unit; it was my L1 bird. But it's pretty much
beyond hope with two breaks in the 2.6" airframe.

I also used only a single switch on the altimeter this time. In the
past, I've had one switch for power plus one per charge, but this
time, having accumulated some experience with the RRC2, I kept the
arming sequence simple and just had one screw switch to turn after
getting the rocket on the pad.

I'm really getting to like the hybrids. These SRS motors jump off the
pad. With the apparently lower average thrust than comparable impulse
solids, I tend to envision slow liftoffs - and potentially harmful
weathercocking - but that's just not the case. They have no problem
building good rod speed.

And, after having prepped them a couple times, there's really no more
complexity than assembling a 38mm AT case. In fact, building the SRS
case might even be easier. Having the added hose hookup at the pad
increases the challenge, but the sum total of it isn't really much
different than solids.

I'm already getting psyched for the next one.

Doug
The difficulty of learning curves is more perceived than actual...



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