|
 |
Standard Missile Flight 4
GHS2004
How many times will we fly this rocket? At least until we get it right.
This two-stage rocket continues to be one of our all-time favorites. It is a beautiful design and fun to work on. Good thing -- we've done a lot of work on it.
This, the fourth flight, was not completely successful, nor was it a complete disaster. The flight was stabile, the sustainer motor lit, and the parachutes deployed.
But there was one problem, and the cause can be found in the manual for the G-Wiz MC Flight Computer:
From the G-Wiz MC Easy User guide, page 7:
Set the system to either stage or cluster. Staging (JP4 OFF) fires a motor (or motors) when the booster burns out. Set it to stage by removing the JP4 twin pin jumper. When Cluster firing (JP4 ON) motor(s) the igniters will fire at 0.5 seconds after the rocket begins moving (the ignition of motors usually lags behind this). Set the altimeter for clusters by putting the jumper ON the JP4 twin pins.
From the G-Wiz MC Users Manual, page 2:
Cluster motor ignition or second stage ignition is selected via the 2-pin jumper, JP4. When configured for staging (JP4 shorted), MC will fire Pyro Channel 1 upon detection of booster burnout. (NOTE: The Cluster/Staging Configuration jumper is read by the microprocessor ONCE at power up. Changing the jumper position after power-up has no affect.) When configuring for cluster motor ignition (JP4 open), remember to allow MC to fire the smaller motor(s). MC will fire Pyro Channel 1 upon detection and confirmation of launch state. Detection and confirmation occurs approximately 0.5 second from first movement of the rocket.
As you can guess, I read the manual with the WRONG instructions. The sustainer motor ignited just as the rocket left the rail. The good news was that we got a great look at the ignition of the second stage.
The trek to the pad
|
Aligning the fins of the booster and sustainer
|
Climbing down after arming the electronics
|
The 2004 Rocket Team Vatsaas
|
The motor chuffed once before pressurizing
|
The motor finally comes up to pressure
|
The blast off the pad was awesome
|
The view from a different angle
|
The G-Wiz, set for CLUSTERING ignites the upper stage
|
The blast from the sustainer motor redirects the booster
|
Thankfully, both the sustainer and booster flew well independently.
Photo by Nadine Kinney of Photos by Nadine.
Click [HERE!] to go to the Standard Missile Index!
|
|
|