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My boss's latest hobby!

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budperm View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budperm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/18/2012 at 08:42
Well damn if I didn't miss the launch of the BIG ONE!  But since this was a national event Discovery Channel was there and we have video!!!
 
This monster rocket was built because my boss got into an argument with another builder over weight versus strength.  Everybody else that had built a similar size rocket ended up with rockets that weight over 500 pounds launch ready.  My bosses rocket weight in at 189lbs.
 
 
 
Boss got smashed that evening, drank a whole bottle of Jammison by himself!!! Shocked
He said he had about $2500 into the rocket not counting the engine.  It was a total loss as eth nose cone feel back into the fire.
 
On a good note the engine manufacturer publically admitted it was a defective engine casing that cased the explosion and since teh engines are certified and guaranteed they will cover replacement costs of entire thing!
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
--Thomas Jefferson



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bigdaddy0381 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/18/2012 at 08:48
whoopsie. at-least he can do it again when the funds are sent. If he was going for best smoke on launch he WON it hands down.
I bet he was sick, man...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budperm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/18/2012 at 08:51
I'm sure he was sick too...
 
It doesn't really take much to get him to drink a whole bottle of Jamie!  Cool
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
--Thomas Jefferson



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bigdaddy0381 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/18/2012 at 08:55
LOL, working with you all day would have me doing it twice a day...J/K so dose he have to have any licenses to launch those things?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DCAMM94 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/18/2012 at 09:06
I used to love building the cardboard-tube Estes rockets when I lived outside of town.  What a blast(no pun unintended).  Fortunately for me, as a kid of about 10 years old, I lived on the outskirts of town, but there was a hobby shop about a 1/2 mile away.  Back in those days, folks still trusted one another, and my mom would let me walk--along the highway--to take my piggy bank cash to the hobby store to buy rocket supplies.  It was awesome.  I only ever lost one, and that was because of a faulty 'chute.  Please post a video of the rebuild, Bud.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bigdaddy0381 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/18/2012 at 09:18
I built a small rocket while I was in 4-H. I was maybe 10yrs old. I spent 3 weeks building working on it and painting it. All the other guys was building them also as a contest for something. well I was stoked as I slid it down the little metal launch pole. My heart pounded and I flip the ignite switch. it popped,smoked,whizzed and off it went. i ain't seen that damn rocket since. It was strolling when it left here. It was neat until it went out of sight straight up. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BeltFed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/18/2012 at 15:26
Reminds me of my brother, cousin, and their friend. They would all spend months building gas powered airplanes out of balsa wood and paper. They would all take their airplane out in a field next to our house, and proceed to fly them to distruction. Sometimes one of them would have enough of his plane left that he could take it home and repair it, but not often.
Months of work for maybe an hour of fun.
Life's concerns should be about the 120lb pack your trying to get to the top of the mountain, and not the rock in your boot.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budperm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/18/2012 at 22:07
Originally posted by Bigdaddy0381 Bigdaddy0381 wrote:

I built a small rocket while I was in 4-H. I was maybe 10yrs old. I spent 3 weeks building working on it and painting it. All the other guys was building them also as a contest for something. well I was stoked as I slid it down the little metal launch pole. My heart pounded and I flip the ignite switch. it popped,smoked,whizzed and off it went. i ain't seen that damn rocket since. It was strolling when it left here. It was neat until it went out of sight straight up. 
Thats teh problem with the cheaper rockets that pop chute at apogee, the wind carries them away.  Now they use two chutes.  A small one pops shortly after apogee to slow decent.  Then a second larger chute deploys at a couple hundred feet for a soft landing and minimized drift.
 
It's neat to watch ones that fail to deploy, they really auger in!
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DCAMM94 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/18/2012 at 23:40
Originally posted by budperm budperm wrote:


Originally posted by Bigdaddy0381 Bigdaddy0381 wrote:

I built a small rocket while I was in 4-H. I was maybe 10yrs old. I spent 3 weeks building working on it and painting it. All the other guys was building them also as a contest for something. well I was stoked as I slid it down the little metal launch pole. My heart pounded and I flip the ignite switch. it popped,smoked,whizzed and off it went. i ain't seen that damn rocket since. It was strolling when it left here. It was neat until it went out of sight straight up. 


It's neat to watch ones that fail to deploy, they really auger in!


Yes it is, Bud! Happened to me more than once, but it was entertaining.
Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement. -Winston Churchill
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budperm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/19/2012 at 05:47
I did a couple like brandon but after loosing all but one on their maiden voyage I gave it up!  Same thing with fly by wire or RC airplanes...  My first fly by wire trainer lastd one week.  It was a Cox that was held together by rubber bands.  I was landing it and the tail skid (no rear wheel) caught a crack on the pavement and ripped the end off the fuselage.  That same skid was also the hook for the rubberband that held the stabilizer on....  At least is wasn't an RC plane...thoses things are expensive!
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
--Thomas Jefferson



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budperm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/19/2012 at 05:54
This reminds me....  Had a R&D project a couple of years ago to try and develop a battery charger that ran off an RC engine.  Basically use it to spin a permanent magnet motor ie... a generator then use that power to charge dewalt packs out in the middle of nowhere.  Size the gas tank to provide runtime enough for a single charge.  Problem was noise levels and cost.
 
I got to keep the three engines after the project.  They were 0.5 to 1 HP...  I should dig them out and do something with them... Bucky   Hey Yall, watch this!!!
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BeltFed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/19/2012 at 09:22
I lost interest in model rocketry, when I found out that they couldn't be launched below certain angles, and couldn't have warheads (legally)Sad
Life's concerns should be about the 120lb pack your trying to get to the top of the mountain, and not the rock in your boot.
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