Flight #: 7 Date: 3rd of February, 2002 Venue: Pete's Farm, Heckington, Lincolnshire R-DAS Type: R-DAS Compact R-DAS firmware: 3.1 R-DAS Recorded Altitude: 2352 feet (713 metres) Apogee - Charge Firing Delta-t: 0.7 seconds Apogee - Charge Firing Delta-h: 0 feet (0 metres) Total Time of Flight: 102 seconds Apogee - Charge Firing h Variance: 0% Descent Rate at Apogee Deployment: 0 feet per second (0 metres per second) R-DAS Flight Mode: Apogee & Main Ejection (breakwire launch detection & smart recovery) Launch Vehicle Diameter: 4 inches Launch Vehicle Length: 5 feet 6 inches Launch Vehicle Propulsion: Hypertek J-250 Hybrid 440/54-125-J (0.125 injector orifice) Fins: 4 clipped swept deltas (Aerofoiled) Launch System: Rail Launch Finish: Unfinished Ejection Method: Electronic Deployment using apogee charge in SafeEject canister, then main charge in SafeEject canister as backup Ejection Ignition Type: Daveyfire igniters (electric matches) Launch Vehicle Mass: 3.5 kg (vehicle with hybrid motor but no oxidiser loaded) Total Propellant Mass: 405 grams Total Loaded Motor Mass: 1294 grams Total Impulse: 737 Newton seconds
Comments The first flight of this rocket, launched on the Hypertek J-250 hybrid rocket motor (using a 440cc oxidiser tank). Launched in moderate winds (unusually moderate for this launch site!), the rocket followed a pretty straight trajectory. For this flight, single stage recovery was used, but due to the drift under chute, future flights will make use of 2-stage recovery. The ejection charges used were a bit agressive, and the chute bay tube ended up with a very nasty zipper, however, the descent, under a 44" PML parachute was quite gentle. The R-DAS used breakwire launch triggering with smart recovery. This option was chosen because the oscillation in Hypertek motor combustion has been known to result in irregular launch triggering of the R-DAS. The breakwire and smart recovery option worked perfectly, and both ejection channels fired on cue.
Thrust Section of Flight