The skies above the cracked runways of the Gananoque airport in eastern Ontario came alive Thursday afternoon (October 17th,2013) after Wilfred Ashley McIsaac launched a large two stage solid fuel hybrid (composite and black powder) high powered rocket. In the rocketry world McIsaac is best known for his October 31st, 2011 rocket launch which carried Canadian mail on board including never before flown ‘First Canadian Rocket-Flight’ postage stamps from 1936.
The Astrobee D IV © High Powered Rocket was launched and recovered yesterday (10-17-13) at the Gananoque Airport in eastern Ontario after completing its second successful test flight in the past eleven months. The solid fueled hybrid rocket was powered by twin black powdered integral side boosters as well as a much more powerful composite solid fuel main engine.
Last November this same rocket completed the fourth and final flight of McIsaac’s rocket mail program although the launch was only partially successful. During the flight the twin side boosters failed to ignite however the launch proved the rockets design to be sound. During Thursday's launch attempt the Astrobee D IV © carried the SPAK science package blasting a hundred grams of reflective powder into the atmosphere. The line-of-sight experiment was inconclusive however the experiment itself was deployed properly and on time.
Seconds after the rocket roared off the launch pad, the left integral side boosters nose cone detached from the vehicle and fell to the ground. After analyzing the telemetry as well as examining the rocket the cause of this booster malfunction has already been determined.
A vent hole located near the forward end of the left integral booster was accidentally covered up resulting in a buildup of high pressure gasses. The increased internal air pressure inside the smaller booster (caused by gases released from the black powder motor) forced the nose cone, which may not have been properly secured, to pop off early in the flight. Once the nose cone was separated and when the black powder rocket fuel in the booster was consumed, the high wind speeds being squeezed through the now uncovered or exposed body tube ripped the motor casing out of the aft end along with the engine hook which usually helps keep the motor secure. Flight data recovered from the Astrobee D IV © rocket support these findings.
Although the nose cone incident reduced the apogee or peak altitude of the rocket, both the main booster and upper stage payload returned to the ground safely under their own recovery systems approximately 1500 feet north east of the launch pad. Electronics Bay #1 (nose cone) and Electronics Bay #2 (aft booster) performed flawlessly during the flight including recording important telemetry or on board flight data.
The next launch of the Astrobee D IV © high powered rocket is scheduled for late November or early December. The on board flight cameras used on previous launches will return when the Astrobee D IV flies again..
ASTROBEE D IV(C) OCTOBER 17TH, 2013 FLIGHT DATA
FLIGHT #: 2
WEIGHT: 3.55 lbs
TOTAL MAX. THRUST: 38.4 lbs
STAGES: 1 ½
ALTITUDE: 600-700 feet (expected altitude was 1000 feet)
VELOCITY: 160 feet per second
ACCELERATION: 7.07 g’s
MAIN MOTOR BURNOUT: 2.6 seconds
AVERAGE ON BOARD TEMPERATURE: 63.8 f
KALMAN FILTER APOGEE: 6.2 seconds
NOTES: The G77-7 redline motor was designed to have a 7 second delay. However, during Thursday’s launch
the delay was recorded at only 3.6 seconds. This resulted in a 3.4 second loss in flight time or 544 feet in
altitude.
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