Nike Smoke Videos

I fought off a cold last week, and then on Saturday I had a big launch to attend, so I took some time off from building and #Rocketober posting.

But I've finished a couple videos in the mean time, so I'm sharing them here.

The Estes Pro Series II Nike Smoke, seen above, is a great rocket. It took me far too long to build - nearly a year - because I had too many projects on the table at once. But it came out looking great, and I've now flown it twice.

The first flight was on September 17, in Berwick, Maine, the same day I successfully did my high power rocketry level 1 certification flight.

My new NAR card with the certification on it came last week in the mail, by the way.

Very exciting!

The Pro Series II Nike Smoke (you have to make that distinction, because Estes now has a smaller, low power, BT-60 Nike Smoke) has a 29mm motor tube, which means you can fly a wide variety of larger motors in it. For these flights, I selected an Estes G40-7 composite motor. These motors were manufactured for Estes by AeroTech, who makes mid and high power rocket motors, both reloadable ones and single-use.

The G40 is a single use motor. It's a really fun one, with plenty of thrust, but a decent burn time of just under 2.5 seconds.

Compare this with the G80, another popular motor. The G80 is much higher thrust than a G40, is much louder, and burns out much faster. Both AeroTech and Cesaroni make G80 motors. The AeroTech motor burns out at about 1.5 seconds, and the Cesaroni at about 1.2.

AeroTech G80 thrust curve

Cesaroni G80 Thrust Curve

G80's are fast, fun, and loud. But for the money, I like a little extra burn time, so I was glad to get my hands on a few G40's.

The weather in Berwick was nice and sunny, but a rather windy. To keep my rockets on the field, I used a Jolly Logic Chute Release, set to open at 400 feet above ground.

The second flight was this past weekend, on October 15, in Amesbury, Massachusetts. The Amesbury field is smaller than the Maine field, and even though the winds were lighter, we had to be more cautious. With winds blowing out of the east, all rocket flights had to be kept to a lower altitude, to avoid rockets getting caught on the large power lines to the west of the field.

Again, I flew the Nike Smoke on an Estes G40-7 motor, and again, I used the Jolly Logic Chute Release, this time set to open at 300 feet. On the advice of the Range Safety Officer (or RSO - the person who's responsible for safe operations on the field), I angled the launch rail ever so slightly upwind.

Unfortunately, this time, I had my handheld camera on a lower resolution setting all day, so my video footage came out a little grainy. But on this flight of the Nike Smoke, I taped a small camera to the side of the rocket.

A cheap and easy way to get fun POV flight footage is to use a small keychain spy camera, called an 808 camera. These are (usually) very cheap little cameras which look like a car key fob. Some are of higher quality than others. Since they sometimes just stop working, I bought several of them for about $6 a piece.

Attaching the camera to the rocket is easy. Simply wrap some electrical tape around the rocket and over the camera.

The Quest Magnum Sport Loader with an 808 camera taped to the side

Here's the video.

You can probably hear the loud howling sound over the music. You hear that in a lot of 808 camera rocket videos, and it's from the electrical tape. The wind rushes over the tape and causes it to vibrate, acting like a large reed.

What I find funny about this footage is that, at first, it sounds like someone excitedly yelling "Whoo!" but as the rocket accelerates, it changes into a sound resembling a scream of unmitigated terror.

But I got a nice view of the fall colors on the ground.

I'll be back up in Maine this weekend. I hope to have some more video soon.

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Level 1 Certification - Rocket Prep

I did it! I got my Level 1 high power rocketry certification! This means that I can now purchase and fly H and I impulse rocket motors!

Yesterday's 14th Annual FlisKits Anniversary Launch in Berwick, Maine, was incredible. The field is huge and flat, and despite the breeze, most people got all their rockets back.

I took a total of 10 rockets with me, but only flew three. Those three flights, however, were spectacular. I flew the Estes Nike Smoke and the Ventris on Estes G40 composite motors.

But my first flight of the day was the certification flight, which I did with the Estes Leviathan. I decided to do that one first, so I could get over my nerves and just have fun the rest of the day.

I'm still waiting for some pictures, and need to edit video, but here are the photos of the preparation I did for flight.

The motor I used was a Cesaroni H133 composite reload. The motor comes with a 14-second delay.

The H133 burns for about 1.2 seconds. Its average thrust is 133 newtons, but its peak thrust is around 200 newtons.

Cesaroni reloads are really easy to assemble, but you should always
read the instructions. They come wrapped around the motor.

Siting on the folder is the delay grain. Next to the folder is a delay drilling tool. 14 seconds is too long a delay for this flight. I need about 9 seconds' delay between motor burnout and ejection of the recovery system.

I set the delay drilling tool to remove 5 seconds from the delay grain. I then put the tool against
the delay grain and twist and twist, drilling out material until the tool won't go any further.

I've removed just enough material from the center of the delay grain to make it burn for only 9 seconds.

After returning the delay grain to the motor liner, I insert the whole reload - delay grain first - into the aluminum casing.

Closing up the motor with the aft closure

Uncoiling the igniter wire

Next, I insert the motor into the rocket and screw on the Quick Release motor retainer.

Then I tape the igniter to the rocket so I won't lose it on the way to the launch pad.

With high power motors, you're not supposed to insert the igniter until the rocket is on the pad.

I pull off the nose cone and unpack the recovery system, so that I can re-pack it properly.

Folding the parachute on the table proved an impossible task in the wind, so I moved to the ground for this step.

After folding the chute, I attached the Jolly Logic Chute Release. My simulations told me the rocket would fly between 2010 and 2090 feet high. I don't want the chute to open at apogee, or I might have a long walk to recover the rocket.

I set the Chute Release to open at 400 feet.

Finally, I re-pack the recovery system.

Although I've packed a little cellulose insulation into the rocket as wadding - rocketeers commonly refer to this as "dog barf" - I use added protection for the parachute and Jolly Logic Chute Release. This is a flame-retardant Nomex parachute protector. I wrap the chute and Chute Release in what rocketeers refer to as a "burrito."

It's not the most neatly-folded burrito, but it will do the trick. Some rocketeers rely solely on a Nomex sheet. While it does work, Nomex can burn through after a few flights. A combination of Nomex and cellulose "dog barf" wadding increases chances of a successful recovery.

I used a dowel to push the recovery system down into the rocket so I could get the nose cone all the way on.

Waiting in line for the safety check-in, with my filled-out flight card,
Level 1 certification application, and Ron, one of my flight witnesses.

The Leviathan is a nice, big kit. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out!

It looks great on the pad!

Ready and awaiting countdown and launch!

 Video and photos of launch and recovery coming soon!

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Micropost: PSII Ready To Go

Due to drought, the fire marshal in Amesbury has said we cannot launch there. Too much dry grass.

Good news is, the FlisKits Anniversary launch has been moved up to Berwick, Maine, thanks to the Maine Missile Math and Science Club. They have a much larger field, much larger recovery area, and a 10,000 foot ceiling for HPR. That's twice as high as our permitted flight ceiling. They also launch on motors up to M impulse, which means I may see some mind-blowing stuff this weekend. I've wanted to get up there for a year now.

I finally finished Ventris.

This rocket is tall and beautiful, and I can't stop staring at it.

All three of the Estes Pro Series II rockets I wanted to finish are done. I'll be doing a level 1 HPR certification attempt with the Leviathan.

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