Project
8/31 Flight

Post-flight Analysis

• This flight was a very ambitious project with five engines, three stages and on-board video. The biggest hurtle was the simultaneous air start of the two engine second and the two engine third stage. Every effort was made to ensure that the outboard engine igniters would fire at exactly the same time. Igniters were checked for similar resistance to a very tight tolerance, wire length was kept identical and extra voltage was used to provide a quick ignition of the igniter pyrogen. A split second delay between the second stage outboard engines caused the rocket to roll on it's side resulting in stresses that caused the active engine to rupture. The two third stage engines were blown off the rocket and the remaining booster took the now off balance rocket spinning upward. A short from the torn engine wire harness caused the parachute to fire which started bringing down the rocket. Several seconds later the parachute cord snapped and the rocket began it's terminal drop to the ground.
• See the sequence of events here.

Construction

• 4 K450 engines were used clustered around a single L950.
• Total take-off weight was 80 lbs.
• 3" ABS was used for the rocket body.

Pros

• The L950 is an awesome engine using the same flexible fuel and construction techniques as the K450 engine.

Cons

• Not the best rocket design. Too much rested on the simultaneous ignition of the second and third stage outboard engines.

Pictures

Video

• 8/31 Flight

Drawings

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