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Zeus-cat

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  18. Model rocket launch

    in Jim's Place

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    Here are a few photos of my recent rocket launch. I used my digital camera in rapid fire mode to get 7 or 8 photos of each launch. I then selected the best photos.

    The first launch was to test the rocket. It worked fine, but my parachute was too small and the rocket was damaged slightly. A bit of super glue and she was ready to fly a few minutes later. Here are two photos of the first launch on a pair of Estes B4-4 motors.

    Flight_1A.jpg

    Flight_1B.jpg

    For the second launch I added an altimeter to the payload bay. The specs say it takes 10 samples a second and is accurate to 4 feet at sea level and is good to 15,000 feet.

    Altimeter.jpg

    The wind died down so I eliminated the angle on the launch pad and launched straight up for the next two flights. The second flight was also on a pair of B4-4 motors. The altimeter popped out of the payload bay somewhere on descent, but was undamaged. The altimeter recorded a max altitude of only 135 feet. Apparently, a pair of B4 engines wasn't going to cut it. I inserted a pair of C6-5 motors and prepared the altimeter. I reinforced the payload bay couplings to make sure the altimeter wouldn't come out.

    Both motors lit up and the rocket made a very nice flight. The altimeter recorded an apogee of 397 feet. I later discarded the two highest readings as errors induced by the parachute deployment and determined that the rocket actually reached about 380 feet. You can see some of the data I plotted from the altimeter.

    Flight_2A.jpg

    Flight_2B.jpg

    Flight_2C.jpg

    AltimeterData.jpg

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