Launch

Well we launched on Saturday, however we ran into trouble once again. The recovery system went off on the pad. We had it set up so that there was a break wire on the first stage so when they separated the timer would start. After checking that the wire was continuous we packed the chute for the booster around it, in doing so we broke the the continuity of the wire. This caused the timer to start immediately after we armed the electronics, and seconds later the the charge went off with the rocket still on the pad. We were unable to reset the system and out of frustration (after so many setbacks) decided to launch the rocket without a recovery system with the nose cone and a extra piece of FTC tube to absorb the impact. We were in a very large field where the rocket would not present danger to anyone, otherwise we would not have launched.

The flight was fairly successful, however there was one glitch. The separation between the booster and the sustainer was not smooth. We are guessing that the booster chute got caught one the sustainer a bit causing it to take off at an angle, as you can see in the photo to the right. We also were unable to get video of the flight. But here are a few more still shots.

The impact with the ground did little damage to the rocket. The body of the sustainer was unscathed and the nose cone will only need a few touch up.