Launch, Page 2

I'm Norm, This page is about rocket science generally and specifically about amateur high power rocketry involving hybrid rocket motors. I got into this by accident when I agreed to launch my friend Karl's ashes in the event of his death and he agreed to launch mine.  Karl McManus died on 14th July 2010 and his ashes were lofted to 12000ft in June 2013. In order to launch to that height Tripoli Level 3 certification in High Power Rocketry will be required.  I had a couple of attempts in 2011 to get along the certification process and found that I wasn't as much of a rocket scientist as I thought.  The rocket I built while well-constructed was overweight and underpowered.  There were many details I hadn't taken care of or was just unaware I needed to take care of. As Karl would have said "The devil is in the detail".   I got my L1 and L2 certification in May2012.  I previously had a backup plan to go to Williams in Western Australia in June and attempt my L1 and or L2 certification if there were any problems in May.  I was now in the situation of just going to Williams for fun. So I decided to attempt my level 3 certification. The magnitude of work involved in attempting L3 certification is massive.  While previously I had to pay attention to every detail, I now had to document every detail and have it scrutinised by 2 very experienced rocketeers called TAP's.   They had to accept my design, construction materials, methods, the type of batteries I used and assembly and preparation procedures.  At the same time they were preparing their rockets for the WA launch and Dave was preparing the event itself too. I shipped as much as I could to Western Australia 2 weeks before the event, but even then there was still a possibility I could have been asked to make changes to the final design by the TAP's so some large rocket bits had to be flown with me to Perth.  The TAP's had a few final questions and then the paperwork was done. (I was up till 1am 3 times, and 2am on The Williams launch was a 2 day event.  The first day was foggy till about 11am.  My rocket now named K3 was assembled and ready to launch by about 1pm.  The conditions were perfect.  There was a glitch with the Nitrous fill system and Paul (PK) made the decision to go back to Perth and get some bits to make a new fill hose.  Thanks Paul. I launched the next day in the mid afternoon.  And the TAP's signed the paperwork to send to Tripoli USA.  My L1 and L2 certification arrived a couple of days before I got my L3 through. I launched at Thunda down Under in March 2015 with a RattWorks M900 motor in a minimum diamater configuration rocket.  7:1 Von Karman nosecone.  Apart from a small paperwork glitch the flight was flawless.  Flew to 26,220ft and recovered 5 miles away 45 minutes later.  I didn't get an on board camera fitted for the launch.   Had I known there was no standing Hybrid record for an M class motor, I would have put the application in and have it.  Hey ho...  Next time. [caption id="attachment_229" align="aligncenter" width="480"] RATTWorks M900 min dia to 26,220 feet Above Ground Level landed safely.[/caption] [embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sluGB9Tn_k[/embed] [easy_sign_up title="If you'd like full size copies of any photo.  Send me your details below." phone="1" fnln="1" esu_label="Photo Request" esu_class="your-class-here"]