The Rocket Doc
LOC IV Dual Deploy Series
The LOC IV Dual Deploy project grew out of my Level I Certification rocket, The LOC-Precision LOC IV that I'll call V1.0). After that flight, I began work on the dual deploy (V2.0). I needed to extend the body, lengthening the upper and lower body tubes to accommodate the parachutes and the altimeter bay. I used a small nylon drogue from the Aerotech Initiater and a Public Missle (PML) 60 inch chute with spill hole.The bay was a LOC 4" bay. The build produced the LOC IV V2.0 shown below. The airframes were fairly short, and the first launch was just to test the basic design. It was a motor deploy on an I245G-10. The climb out was flawless on the I 245G-10. Unfortunately, on deploy at about 1600', the booster flew into the lower body tube shearing off a fin.
The LOC IV Dual Deploy project grew out of my Level I Certification rocket, The LOC-Precision LOC IV that I'll call V1.0). After that flight, I began work on the dual deploy (V2.0). I needed to extend the body, lengthening the upper and lower body tubes to accommodate the parachutes and the altimeter bay. I used a small nylon drogue from the Aerotech Initiater and a Public Missle (PML) 60 inch chute with spill hole.The bay was a LOC 4" bay. The build produced the LOC IV V2.0 shown below. The airframes were fairly short, and the first launch was just to test the basic design. It was a motor deploy on an I245G-10. The climb out was flawless on the I 245G-10. Unfortunately, on deploy at about 1600', the booster flew into the lower body tube shearing off a fin.
LOC IV Dual Deploy V2.0
LOC IV Dual Deploy V3.0
This
was my first fully instrumented launch and recovery. The first shot is
of me next to the LOC IV V3.0 Dual Deploy before the altimeter was
turned on and before loading the igniter (altimeter first, then
igniter; if the rocket launches by accident, at least I would still
have the altimeter for the recovery). It went up December 12 at
Not bad. So I tried it again a month later
The second flight of the LOC IV Dual V3.0 was on December 26 at Rainbow
Valley. It started out perfectly, The ignition and lift-off were
spectacular on the I600R. The drogue deployed at apogee. But, the main did not deploy at the
expected 500'. At the crash site, the rocket was surprisingly intact.
Aeromoe and I removed the upper body tube from the altimeter bay to fin
that the main deploy charge had not ignited. We cut the wired to it and
took everything back to the field rocket hospital for examination. After
carefully taking everything apart, we looked inside the altimeter bay
to find that the battery had dislodged. The debate centered on when that
could have occurred. Terry O'Brien thought the altimeter switch might
have been faulty and that after drogue deploy, the switch turned off
power, so the main could not deploy. He felt that the battery could have
simply dislodged on impact. I tested the switch back at the lab. No
problem. I suspected that the force of the drogue charge dislodged the
battery turning the altimeter off. So no main. Take a look at the
Repairs page for the fix.
The Death of the LOC IV Dual Deploy
August 14, 2010
Go to Crash Analysis tab
The Death of the LOC IV Dual Deploy
August 14, 2010
Go to Crash Analysis tab
