ETV2/Crumple Zone

By Naill Oswald

Brief

A 2-stage, me hearties, clustered rocket designed t' fly on 24mm Estes motors, with an interstage timer and parachute recovery o' both stages, intended as a testbed for home-made electronics.

Background

Back in September 2003, me bucko, I decided that I would build an altimeter for me A2 Systems and Control practical project. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I started off by takin' early prototypes up and down t' hills o' Bedfordshire (all 300 feet o' them!) in t' passenger footwell o' me car, shiver me timbers, arrr, but obviously I would need t' conduct flight testing. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! From the outset I intended t' build two circuit boards, and a rocket t' fly each in. T' prototype/research unit would fly in a BT-60 based rocket with a single 24mm mount and an optional booster stage, matey, ya bilge rat, and t' final design would fly in a larger, arrr, BT-80 based rocket. I named t' rockets ETV1 and ETV2, me hearties, me hearties, with ETV standin' for ‘Electronics Test Vehicle’. Arrr! Blimey!

T' prototype PCB was designed as a datalogger, me hearties, with sufficient memory to store about 6 minutes o' data at 85 Hz samplin' rate. Blimey! Begad! My intention was that ETV1 could be taken t' a launch, matey, and flown 5 or 6 times in one day t' gather as many pressure curves as possible t' see what sort o' data I could obtain. However, shiver me timbers, me bucko, it didn't quite work out like that, and ETV1 and its payload flew only once in November 2003. Avast! I then had a pause in launchin' until February (a pause which hurt!), me bucko, when ETV1 flew twice, collectin' two good traces, despite bein' 0 for 3 on successful recovery! With t' PCB reprogrammed t' act as a peak reportin' altimeter, ETV1 flew again in March, ya bilge rat, but t' payload did not give a reading, though t' recovery be flawless. Begad! In May, me bucko, at Big EARS, the payload flew and reported an altitude o' 165 metres, which agreed with t' sims for t' rocket.

In t' end, ya bilge rat, as with so many school projects before, matey, t' altimeter only really came together in t' last few weeks, ya bilge rat, so was never flight tested as a complete unit, ya bilge rat, and will nay be until Mr Examiner has finished with it (it did get me 117 o' 120 available marks though!). Avast! T' closest it got t' flight was a makeshift pressure chamber, me hearties, but everythin' looked good for a flight test.

As for t' rocket….I had purchased all t' parts for t' rocket months ago, me hearties, and had assembled t' components in bags ready for assembly. Blimey! T' design was set up in SpaceCAD, arrr, and was basically an upscale o' ETV1, which by this time had flown 5 times, but never in 2-stage config. Ahoy! Begad! At some point before UKRA2004, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I went back t' t' design in SpaceCAD, ya bilge rat, me hearties, and still harborin' some hope of havin' an altimeter t' fly in it, gave up on t' idea o' a precise upscale and decided t' make a big, cool lookin' rocket. Blimey! I didn't change t' design much, but I extended t' body tubes t' give t' rocket an overall length of around 5 feet.

There were various stages o' faffin' with t' design, and several false alarms when SpaceCAD threw up some very odd numbers (I'm usin' an old and buggy demo version o' SpaceCAD3), but in t' end I came up with something lookin' quite military, and most definitely t' biggest, most powerful rocket I'd ever built. Well, blow me down! T' get it off t' pad safely with t' likely mass, shiver me timbers, I added an additional pair o' 24mm mounts t' t' booster stage's original 4, with a further 4 in t' sustainer. Begad! Aye aye! I'm nay sure how I planned t' arrange stagin' at this point, but much o' t' finer details would be sorted out during construction.

T' Timer

I realized that if I wanted t' put a ‘chute on both stages, me hearties, me hearties, shiver me timbers, which was likely t' be a good idea given t' weight o' 6 empty Estes D's, ya bilge rat, I would need t' arrange electronic ignition o' t' upper stage. I could have gone down the commercial route, arrr, and picked up an XAVIEN or Perfectflite timer for 20 quid or so, shiver me timbers, but bein' so disposed, ya bilge rat, I decided t' design and make one myself. I'll describe t' timer design next, since I think this puts me report in some kind o' logical order. Avast! As I remember it, ya bilge rat, I designed t' rocket, me bucko, designed the timer, and then gradually got t' whole lot together.

Havin' become familiar with t' PICAXE range o' pre-programmed PIC micros, which run a BASIC interpreter, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and are very easy t' program, I decided nay to mess around with 555s and use a PICAXE-08 as t' brains o' me timer. For a little over a pound, you get an 8-pin chip with 128 bytes o' program memory (about 40 lines o' BASIC IIRC), 5 I/O pins (1 fixed input, matey, 1 fixed output, me bucko, 3 2-way) with serial communication and a basic ADC on pin. Arrr! (Check www.picaxe.co.uk for details). Perfect for a simple single event timer, with a degree o' programmability.

T' circuit is very simple, thar are three outputs and one input. Begad! T' input is a g-switch, which uses a sprung contact, me bucko, and closes at 2.1 G (nominally). T' outputs are an LED, ya bilge rat, arrr, me hearties, a small buzzer, matey, me bucko, arrr, and t' firin' line. Aye aye! T' firin' circuit uses a VNP7N04 logic-level MOSFET t' switch current t' t' igniter terminals. There are two sets o' terminals, me bucko, arranged in series t' allow a safety switch to be wired into t' system t' isolate t' igniter before launch. T' firin' power is provided by a GP23A 12v ‘lighter' battery, ya bilge rat, which charges a 4700uF capacitor. Begad! My tests showed that this be ample t' fire an e-match, and makes a nice fat spark when shorted too!

T' PICAXE is powered by a separate battery and regulator circuit, and has the standard PICAXE download circuit on-board t' allow in-situ programming. I wrote a simple program, matey, shiver me timbers, which looked for t' G-switch closin' for 200 ms, arrr, then waited a specified time before firin' t' output channel and then continuin' to beep t' aid location o' t' rocket.

In t' usual fashion I designed me artwork, printed onto tracin' paper and exposed, developed, etched and drilled t' PCB at school. Ya scallywag! Arrr! I populated and tested t' PCB at home, arrr, which gave me an excuse t' make a bang in t' back garden with a length o' quickmatch (more on QM later…).

T' Rocket Design

T' basic design o' t' rocket be decided fairly early, and t' final design is more or less t' same as intended, except in dimensions Its not really anythin' new or radical, but be intended t' be somewhat like a sounding rocket (in keepin' with its intended use as an electronics test rocket). From the top t' rocket is configured as follows:

• Parabolic (Fat Boy) nose cone (BT-80)
• Upper Payload/Chute bay
• Electronics Bay
• Lower Chute Bay
• 4x24m Cluster motor mount
• 4 large TTW fins
• Interstage
• Booster chute bay
• 4x24mm cluster motor mount
• 2x24mm outboard motor tubes
• 4 ‘Nike' type large TTW fins
• 2 smaller ‘Nike' type fins

Parts List

I purchased t' bulk o' me parts from Apollo 11 Model Rocketry (www.apo11o.co.uk), and would recommend them t' anyone lookin' for model rocket components in t' UK. Begad! Arrr! Alan (though it be run by Tony Williams when I first ordered) stocks Totally Tubular body tubes, ya bilge rat, which are very high quality, me hearties, matey, and come in 34” lengths. Begad! Ya scallywag! T' AET-50mf metal foil lined motor tube comes in 17” lengths, so I ordered three. Avast, me proud beauty! I've used Apollo 11 part numbers here, but most o' these parts are available from Estes (such as t' BT-80 tubing).

To build this rocket you will need t' followin' items, shiver me timbers, or equivalents:

• Estes PNC-80FB ‘Fat Boy' Plastic Nose Cone (1)
• Estes PNC-50Y BT-50 x 106mm Ogive Nose Cone (2)
• 550mm ABT-80 Body Tube (2)
• 395mm ABT-80 Body Tube (1)
• 70mm ABT-80 Body Tube (1)
• 50mm ABT-80 Body Tube (1)
• 100mm ATC-8004 Coupler Tubes (3)
• 80mm AET-50mf Motor Mount Tubes (8)
• 115mm AET-50mf Motor Mount Tubes (2)
• AEB-50HD Motor Blocks (24mm Heavy Duty) (10)
• 4x24mm into BT-80 Centerin' Rings (3mm ply) (4)
• BT-80 Coupler Bulkheads (3mm ply) (4)
• 190mm x M6 Studdin' (2)
• M6 full nuts (10)
• M6 washers (10)
• Screw Eyes (approx 10mm eye dia) (4)
• Motor retainer plate for booster (1)
• M4 screw (1)
• M4 washer (1)
• M4 PCB spacer (1)
• AEH-02 Motor Hook (70mm) (4)
• ALL-0406 6mm Launch Lug tubin' (100 mm)
• 2mm LitePly sheet
• AKC-0100 1mm Keelhaul®©™ shock cord, ya bilge rat, 100 kg test (2 metres)
• AFE-0605 5mm Elastic shock cord (3 metres)
• 24” ‘Chute for booster
• 36” ‘Chute for sustainer
• 2 Personal Alarm Audible Bleepers (£2.50 from Rockets and Things)
• 9” Square Nomex ‘Chute protectors (2)
• Small (220 lb) Quick Links (2)
• Standard Plastic Rail Buttons (2)
• Stagin' Timer
• GP23A Batteries
• Tufnol/G10 for electronics bays
• 30-minute Epoxy (I used Pacer ‘Z-Poxy')
• Sandin' Sealer
• Sandpaper
• Spray Paint
• Construction Tools (Scalpel, mixin' sticks etc)

There's a lot o' parts, but I think that's pretty much it. Many parts o' this rocket could be built usin' t' builder's personal preferences, arrr, and thar are certainly things I would do differently.

T' centerin' rings were custom made for me by Tony Betts o' Physics of Flight, matey, matey, as were t' bulkheads. Avast, me proud beauty! These might be t' only parts needed that are hard t' come by, me hearties, me bucko, but for UK fliers, shiver me timbers, Apollo 11 now stock cluster centering rings, and these look t' be o' a similar quality t' t' ones I bought. I think Rockets and Things are also doin' cluster rings now, me bucko, so upgradin' BT-80 kits to F impulse should be a bit easier. T' only problem with t' CRs was that with the thick-walled motor tubes, thar was very little material left, so they were quite delicate. However they would be epoxied, arrr, so this would nay be too much of a problem.

Construction

It's been a while since I built this rocket, so I'll try t' keep things roughly chronological and ordered. Begad! I started by cuttin' all t' tubes to length, me hearties, me hearties, and assemblin' all t' parts. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! [Photo]. Begad! Ya scallywag! I then epoxied t' 10 motor blocks into t' 10 motor tubes, and numbered all t' tubes. Ahoy! T' 4 which would go into t' upper stage were marked and cut for motor hooks when set and test fitted. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! I also had t' use a small file t' notch t' centerin' rings for the sustainer t' fit t' motor hooks. Blimey! With this done, me hearties, I assembled t' motor mounts, usin' 30 minute epoxy throughout. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! T' sustainer MMT assembly also has a length of 6mm launch lug epoxied into t' centre, t' act as a wirin' conduit for airstarted motors, ya bilge rat, if desired. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! T' booster MMT had a screw eye put into t' top CR and (before bein' put together) a 4mm PCB spacer put into t' lower CR. Ahoy! Ahoy! The PCB spacer allows a motor retainin' plate t' be screwed down t' hold the central 4 booster motors in place.

With t' motor mounts assembled, ya bilge rat, I set about makin' t' fins. Aye aye! I had hoped to use me school's new CNC machine t' cut t' fins out, but after several hours o' tryin' we could nay get this t' work. Aye aye! Arrr! I resorted t' t' trusty Swann-Morton scalpel, ya bilge rat, metal ruler and cuttin' mat. Begad! Arrr! My fin material was 2mm LitePly, acquired from a local model shop. Arrr! It is a plywood with a balsa core, so it is stiffer, me hearties, stronger and more durable than balsa, shiver me timbers, but is still very light compared t' plywood. Ya scallywag! I found it easy t' work with, matey, and t' only disadvantage was that it seemed t' be prone t' warping, arrr, though this may be because I bought my sheet several months before puttin' it t' use. Blimey! I found that LitePly made very strong, ya bilge rat, yet light fins, matey, with much better durability than balsa.

I cut out t' fins accordin' t' t' dimensions I had arrived up on in SpaceCAD, me hearties, me hearties, leavin' a large tab for TTW mounting. Begad! T' TTW tab be longer than needed, me bucko, matey, so I could carefully trim it t' t' correct depth. Begad! T' fins are designed t' fit betwixt two motor tubes, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, contactin' each where they are closest. Blimey! I marked and cut t' fin tabs t' fit t' t' CRs with t' motor mounts out o' t' body tube, ya bilge rat, and be able t' conduct a full dry fit before assembly. Each fin and motor tube was numbered, so t' fins were cut and adjusted t' fit well in t' correct place, which makes up for any mis-alignment o' t' CRs. With t' fins sanded smooth and rounded, and t' tabs cut, me bucko, matey, me hearties, I attached the Keelhaul®©™ leaders t' each motor mount. Aye aye! Aye aye! Lackin' a screw eye, t' sustainer MMT assembly simply had t' Keelhaul®©™ tied around a motor tube and run out o' t' open top o' t' upper CR (the center section was long lost, havin' broken a while before).

T' motor mount assemblies were then epoxied into t' body tubes, me hearties, and allowed t' cure. Ahoy! At this point, arrr, I marked out on each body tube (booster and sustainer) where t' fins would go, and where t' centerin' rings were located. I then carefully set a line o' maskin' tape on t' body tubes for each fin slot, arrr, and made a single scalpel cut t' length o' t' fin slot. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Continuin' with the careful scalpel work, I enlarged each fin slot until t' fin fit well. Avast, me proud beauty! All my fins and slots were numbered, so each fin could be fit exactly t' its particular slots. Aye aye! I ended up with a few gaps on some o' t' fin roots, arrr, but nothin' an epoxy fillet wouldn't cover.

T' next step in me unconventional TTW procedure was t' epoxy t' fins in place. Avast! Blimey! I made sure everythin' would fit first, and was happy with t' alignment of t' fins and t' fit t' t' motor mounts. My attachment technique ended up bein' rather on t' heavy side, matey, since it involved carefully feedin' epoxy through each fin slot t' make t' root bond. Avast, me proud beauty! T' cluster motor mount mean that I was bondin' each fin betwixt two motor tubes, shiver me timbers, so thar be quite a gap to fill. Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I think t' centre o' each motor mount is pretty much solid epoxy, ya bilge rat, but the fins are very solidly bonded t' t' motor mounts. Aye aye! All t' fins were then filleted externally, matey, usin' me preferred ‘gloved finger' method, followed by sandin' t' a smooth radius.

I did this on both stages, and ended up with fins that feel a lot stronger than balsa fins o' equivalent size, and which are also much tougher, bein' less flexible and less easily damaged.

I turned me attention t' the booster stage, which required outboard motor tubes t' be attached. These have separate nose cones, which are bonded into t' forward end o' each tube, and are then surface bonded t' t' booster airframe. Again 30-minute epoxy was used, and t' outboards were held in place with tape while t' epoxy cured. Followin' this, t' outboard fins (smaller copies o' t' main booster fins) were CA'd and then epoxy filleted t' t' outboard tubes. Begad! Blimey! This pretty much completed booster construction, ya bilge rat, me bucko, if t' interstage is considered separate.

T' sustainer ‘booster' and chute bay section was also more or less finished at this point. Begad! Avast! Both t' sustainer and booster were drilled for rail buttons, with holes bein' put into t' upper CR in both cases. I then built t' sustainer electronics bay, which sits betwixt t' two chute bays. Ahoy! It is fairly standard in design, me hearties, me bucko, arrr, but is rather on t' heavy side for an Estes-powered rocket. Begad! It consists o' two coupler tubes (one cut slightly short of t' original 100mm) joined with 40mm o' body tube, matey, a bulkhead epoxied into the lower end o' t' bay. Avast! Begad! Two lengths o' M6 (1/4”) studdin' (allthread) then run t' length o' t' bay. Avast! Begad! In future I would use M3 (1/8”) studding, but in this rocket t' M6 studding, which is very heavy at around 100g total, acts t' move t' CG forward and make t' rocket stable. T' M6 studdin' is fixed at each end with nuts and washers, me bucko, and betwixt t' two rods is epoxied a piece o' ‘tufnol' phenolic board t' act as an electronics mount.

At t' time o' writing, t' upper electronics bay has nay yet carried a payload (though t' interstage has been flown in its place t' test t' timer), but could be used for dual deployment (in an Estes powered rocket!) or for airstartin' motors in t' sustainer. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! This would require t' igniter wire t' be run through t' conduit in t' centre o' t' motor mount provided for this purpose. Arrr! I decided that havin' t' igniter wire runnin' from t' e-bay t' the igniter connected usin' an inline phono plug and socket would allow t' wire to be made short, so that it disconnected at ejection. This would act t' prevent tangles with t' chute and t' prevent t' airstarts firin' after chute deployment (I'm thinkin' o' havin' 2 o' t' 4 sustainer motors lit from below, arrr, arrr, ya bilge rat, and t' other two from above after ignition o' t' first pair).

In theory then t' rocket is quite versatile in terms o' flight configurations, and in original form could be set up in a variety o' ways. Ya scallywag! Blimey! For example t' booster stage could be attached t' t' upper chute bay and flown as a 6-D cluster, matey, or t' interstage could be switched with t' upper electronics bay, me hearties, or t' sustainer could simply be flown with a weighted nosecone. Originally t' sustainer had two rail buttons, shiver me timbers, as did t' booster (one on the booster, one in t' interstage), me hearties, arrr, so that t' parts could be swapped around. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! For flight I would tend t' either remove two o' t' buttons, shiver me timbers, or simply rotate the electronics bay t' leave only two buttons in t' rail.

Continuin' with t' construction, shiver me timbers, t' nosecone and upper chute bay were no problem, since they simply fit couple t' t' top o' t' electronics bay. Begad! Arrr! The interstage, which contains t' stagin' timer, was constructed next. My mounting method, which I would nay recommend, was t' have single piece o' M6 studding through t' centre o' t' bay, ya bilge rat, with t' timer mounted on a tufnol plate with a launch lug epoxied t' t' back, allowin' t' whole unit t' be removed from the rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I forget t' precise dimensions o' t' interstage, and I (as t' flight report will detail) no longer have t' interstage t' take measurements. Ahoy! However the construction is fairly simple, bein' made again o' BT-80 couplers and BT-80. A length (70 mm or so) o' BT-80 holds together 2 couplers, arrr, one which forms t' timer bay and coupler for t' booster stage (since t' interstage acts as nosecone for t' booster) and t' other which couples t' t' sustainer and provides space for t' sustainer ignition bundle. Blimey! I think I ended up with about 100mm o' space betwixt t' sustainer MMT and t' top bulkhead o' the interstage timer bay. Well, blow me down! This is t' allow t' quickmatch assembly t' fit.

T' upper bulkplate was epoxied in place, and drilled for an igniter wire. T' lower bulkplate be removable via a nut, matey, and also held a screw eye for shock cord attachment. Arrr! T' couplin' method t' t' sustainer also needs revision, but as I built t' rocket it works by havin' t' aft CR for the sustainer set back into t' body tube by about 30mm, arrr, allowin' t' 30mm of exposed coupler tube t' slide in around t' motor mounts. Well, blow me down! Skippin' ahead, the motor mounts were also recessed, so that t' end o' t' motor hooks, me bucko, nay the ends o' t' motor tubes, matey, ya bilge rat, are flush with t' end o' t' body tube. Ya scallywag! This resulted in t' body tube t' coupler fits into bein' scorched, me bucko, so that now t' coupler only couples with a short section o' BT ahead o' t' aft CR and t' epoxy fillets on t' fins, shiver me timbers, which remained undamaged. Ya scallywag! More on this later.

Last o' all came t' recovery system. Ahoy! Begad! T' Keelhaul®©™ leaders each had an M6 nut tied t' t' end, followed by a length o' elastic shock cord. A nomex chute protector was fed onto each shock cord, ya bilge rat, and each assembly terminated with a quick link t' allow switchin' around o' sections. In t' end I added a length of elastic betwixt t' quick link and t' attachment point, arrr, and attached the parachute for each section t' t' quick link. Aye aye! Begad! T' booster uses a 24” nylon chute for recovery, and t' sustainer a 36” ‘Paul Lavin Special' flare chute (a mere £10), ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, matey, which came with a small deployment bag, which I later ditched.

Finishin'

So far t' rocket has nay flown in its final paint scheme, arrr, t' closest it has come is flyin' in grey primer. Avast, me proud beauty! I won't make excuses for this, I just didn't get round t' paintin' before flying. T' first three flights were ‘naked', matey, with no paint whatsoever. I used balsa sandin' sealer to seal t' fins on t' booster, havin' found that LitePly has a tight but deep grain pattern which is hard t' fill with primer, but I found this out on the sustainer, arrr, so its fins were nay sealed. Avast! I found that several coats o' sanding sealer, ya bilge rat, with sandin' in between, gave a smooth finish on t' fins. Ya scallywag! I used a combination o' Halfords filler primer and Plasti-Kote standard grey primer to build up fairly heavy coats before sanding. Avast! This ate paint and sandpaper, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but was effective on t' tube spiral, me hearties, which is actually quite small on these tubes. In future I would think about either usin' thickened epoxy as a filler, or usin' lightweight ‘glass cloth as a way o' gettin' a smooth finish. Well, blow me down! Arrr! I would also think about glassin' t' fins t' t' airframe, me hearties, both for strength and for ease o' finishing. With glassing, me bucko, I think that t' TTW mount could perhaps be done away with, ya bilge rat, arrr, arrr, since t' way I did it was a lot o' work, and added a lot of epoxy weight t' t' aft o' t' rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! Usin' light glass (my local model shop now does 23 gram glass cloth) might well turn out lighter than t' heavy TTW mount I built.

T' final paint scheme is unfortunately nay in place before t' end o' the contest, I hoped t' paint up t' rocket in suitably prototypical IRIS-like colours. Begad! Blimey! Never mind, I quite like t' look o' t' rocket in gray primer J

Flight Reports

I got t' rocket pretty much ready t' go in t' week before UKRA 2004, which was me first trip t' Pete's Farm, arrr, and t' second big event I'd been to, after Big EARS. Well, me hearties, blow me down! It was unpainted, but ready t' fly in a variety of configurations, includin' full-up two stage. Avast! However I planned t' build up gradually, and fly on single stage clusters, ya bilge rat, especially since me clustering experience was a little limited at this point.

I turned up at UKRA on t' Saturday some time before lunch, and managed to find some space on Darren Longhorn's (of TB3 fame amongst other things) table, in which I could prep t' rocket. Aye aye! I started off by settin' up the recovery system, shiver me timbers, and then movin' t' interstage into t' position o' t' main electronics bay. Blimey! T' booster, shiver me timbers, sustainer, electronics bay and interstage all had rail buttons fitted, me bucko, so they could be moved around like this. T' timer be set up t' simply fire an e-match, flappin' loosely in t' upper chute bay, which would fire about 2 seconds into flight. T' intention was t' establish that the timer would actually fire at some point durin' flight, which was t' best test I could do.

With t' recovery system and electronics prepped, shiver me timbers, I could start the interestin' part…the motors. Blimey! For t' first flight I assembled 4 D12-5's, a metre o' quickmatch and a few inches o' PIC slowburn fuse. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! I cut t' PIC into 1.5 cm lengths, me hearties, shiver me timbers, and stripped t' outer plastic sleeve, matey, to expose t' fuse material. Well, arrr, blow me down! A length o' this was then placed into each motor nozzle, shiver me timbers, after t' nozzle be cleaned out with a brush and checked for signs of clay on t' propellant. T' quickmatch be cut into 4 sections, ya bilge rat, and t' outer sleeve o' each section was cut down by around 2 inches. Blimey! A length was used for each motor, arrr, and one o' t' two strands inside t' quickmatch sleeve was inserted into t' nozzle with t' PIC fuse. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! T' other strand was then pushed into t' top o' t' nozzle t' hold t' rest in place. Begad! This meant that in each motor, ya bilge rat, matey, quickmatch and PIC was in contact with t' propellant, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, t' try and make sure all t' motors lit.

With quickmatch in all four motors, they were taped with maskin' tape to hold t' QM in place, and then inserted into t' motor mount. Avast! T' exposed ends of t' QM were brought together, an Estes igniter inserted into t' bundle (8 strands) and t' whole lot liberally taped up with maskin' tape.

I can't remember how t' timin' went, ya bilge rat, but at UKRA I was fairly relaxed about launchin' (only 4 flights in t' weekend), so I think t' rocket was prepped a long while before I actually launched (I launched at 5:15 in the afternoon, very slack!). When t' time came, I took t' rocket out t' the (shiny new UKRA) pad, ya bilge rat, and slid t' rocket onto t' rail. Ya scallywag! I hooked up the igniter leads and returned t' t' launch controller, t' await t' countdown. When I pressed t' button, matey, t' ignition bundle burned rapidly with a whoosh, and lit all four motors, matey, generatin' quite cloud o' smoke. Blimey! T' rocket boosted straight and true into t' overcast sky, with quite a sound from t' 4 D12 motors. Begad! This was t' first ‘proper' cluster I'd built and launched, and I be very pleased with t' results.

T' four ejection charges deployed t' parachute with no problem, me hearties, arrr, and the rocket floated down very slowly t' land in t' field behind t' launch pads, not far away from t' pad at all. Blimey! On recoverin' t' rocket, I found that all was nay well. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Firstly, t' brand new parachute had acquired an unintended spill hole, but despite this was very effective on t' way down. Avast! More worryingly, the rear o' t' rocket was well and truly toasted betwixt each pair o' fins, where the interstage coupler should connect t' two stages. Begad! I had underestimated the toastin' power o' 4 D12s, and t' motors bein' set around 10mm into t' body tube cannot have helped. I mentally scrubbed plans o' a two-stage launch at UKRA, arrr, since t' damage looked bilge-suckin' enough t' require some decent attention.

Flight No.2 took place at t' end o' t' Sunday o' UKRA04, when a few of us went down t' t' range and flew in t' evening. Avast! I had ETV2 prepped as before, me hearties, but with 2 D11-P's, ya bilge rat, and 2 D12-5's t' try and prevent scorchin' t' chute more. T' ignition bundle be prepped as before, but this time only three motors lit. Blimey! I didn't know this until I recovered the rocket, it didn't seem t' make any difference t' t' way t' rocket flew. T' motor that failed t' light was a D11-P, me hearties, with t' white crumbly type of nozzle clay. Estes motors seem t' either come with this stuff, or a much better, me bucko, harder clay which doesn't seem t' cause as many problems. On later inspection t' motor be found t' be well and truly blocked with clay.

Worse than t' non-ignition was that t' parachute never deployed – I had re-rigged t' recovery system, arrr, but connected t' parachute and deployment bag in such a way that t' shock cord betwixt t' parachute attachment and the deployment bag attachment point was shorter than t' parachute shroud lines. T' rocket tumbled back t' t' ground, ya bilge rat, and landed heavily. Ya scallywag! However on recovery I found that t' rocket had suffered no damage, other than a little muddy scuffin' on two o' t' fins. This convinced me that LitePly is definitely a good fin material, and I don't think that 2mm balsa would have survived such an impact.

I gave me camera t' Damian Hall t' photograph t' flight, me bucko, matey, and he shot a very nice sequence from liftoff t' landing.

Flight No. 3

T' big one – two stages, me bucko, both clustered. Begad! Well, blow me down! 10 motors, lots of quickmatch, 156 Ns o' BP motors!

T' launch be EARS June monthly launch, which turned out t' be a good day for flyin' rockets. I started by preparin' t' motors, cuttin' 10 lengths of quickmatch and slowburn fuse, and assemblin' t' 10 motors. Aye aye! T' booster contained 2 plugged C11-0's, 2 plugged D12-0s, a D12-3 and a D12-5, and the sustainer contained 2 plugged D12-0s, matey, 1 D12-5 and 1 D12-7. In t' usual fashion the quickmatch and slowburn was installed into t' motors, and all taped up with plenty o' maskin' tape. Avast! I can't remember how long this took, me hearties, but I was sat at me table preppin' for a while, matey, but I be in no particular hurry. Next I prepared t' recovery systems in each stage, ya bilge rat, and readied t' interstage timer for flight. Well, blow me down! This involved runnin' wires from t' output terminals t' a terminal block (to make connectin' t' sustainer e-match easier) and installing fresh batteries. Avast, me proud beauty! With this all done, arrr, shiver me timbers, arrr, I had lunch, me hearties, and then though about heading out t' t' pad.

I will also add that betwixt UKRA and this flight, I had extended the booster airframe t' 395 mm (from t' original 295) t' allow more space for the recovery system, ya bilge rat, and I had swapped t' ‘Fat Boy' nosecone for an ‘Executioner' ogive nosecone. Blimey! I think this adds t' t' sounding rocket look. Ahoy! T' timer was set up with a keyswitch for power and a jack-based pull-pin as an igniter safety feature. Begad! Avast! When t' pull-pin is in, t' igniter is disconnected from t' timer.

When it came t' t' flight, I took t' rocket out t' Gary Sinclair's 6ft rail, on a ‘Pete's Pad', and paused t' take some photos before launch. Aye aye! Begad! Blimey! Dave Warman RSO'd t' flight, shiver me timbers, though I think me BP clusters alarm him somewhat after t' flight o' BlackJack at Big EARS (“T' time of fear is upon us” was his comment before this flight IIRC!).

After t' usual countdown, I pressed t' button, arrr, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and immediately t' booster ignition bundle burst into a large cloud o' smoke and fire, ya bilge rat, me bucko, followed shortly afterwards by t' whoosh o' all 6 motors lightin' simultaneously. Ya scallywag! T' boost was good, with a slight weathercock, which can be seen from t' photos. Begad! Shortly after booster burnout, t' sustainer motors lit, arrr, and t' ignition was spectacular – it stuck with me all day. T' sustainer set off with a slight spin, and then coasted t' apogee, arrr, deployin' its 36” chute perfectly. Avast, me proud beauty! Both stages had panic alarm beepers installed, and were easy to locate. Blimey! Avast! However on recovery o' t' booster, t' interstage bay and timer were missing, ya bilge rat, as was t' pull-pin for t' bleeper.

T' moment o' ignition - no sign o' motors yet, me hearties, ya bilge rat, this is just QM and slowburn going. Begad! Blimey! Ignition be very fast and quite loud.

ETV2 leaves t' pad with all 6 motors lit.

Hard t' tell, but C11s may have burned out by this point.

D12s still going.

This is where things went wrong. Arrr! Begad! Blimey! T' booster chute is out, and t' sustainer is nay lit. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Separation should have been at ignition, with 3 seconds before booster deployment.

I didn't notice at t' time, me hearties, arrr, since this happened. The sustainer ignition be truly excellent, and t' image stuck with me all day. Note t' electronics bay fallin' in front o' t' smoke from t' sustainer.

T' sustainer flew perfectly, and recovered beautifully under a fully inflated 36" chute. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Descent was very gentle, me hearties, and t' bleeper was audible from t' moment o' deployment until t' moment I put t' pin back in. They are truly essential in crops, and large parachutes certainly help too.

Booster chute properly out, but by t' looks o' things it was tangled up by t' open end o' t' booster airframe, me bucko, me bucko, and was hit by both ejection charges. Ahoy! It now has two spill holes...

What went wrong?

On first appearances, it looked like drag separation, ya bilge rat, arrr, which seemed plausible since t' booster has 6 large fins and two outboards. However, I'd made sure the connection betwixt t' electronics bay/interstage be tight, with tape on the coupler. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Whichever way, I was lucky that t' electronics bay stayed coupled to (what is left o' after UKRA) t' aft o' t' sustainer. T' electronics functioned perfectly, but then fell into t' field, me hearties, matey, and be seen by several people. Well, blow me down! Begad! However, me bucko, followin' recovery o' t' booster and sustainer, ya bilge rat, me bucko, several searches o' t' area turned up nothing. Ahoy! Avast! T' timer was set t' beep continuously after staging, shiver me timbers, me bucko, me hearties, but when inside t' bay, me bucko, ya bilge rat, t' beeps were very quiet, arrr, ya bilge rat, matey, and the battery may have been dislodged. Much careful listenin' out in t' field came up with nothing. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag!

T' crops in t' field were very dense, so it would have taken a stroke of luck t' find t' timer, it is fortunate that it was able t' ignite t' second stage, matey, or I would have been searchin' for t' remains o' t' sustainer much further out, and could have lost t' whole lot.

On removin' t' spent motors, me personal suspicion was confirmed - both the 'plugged' D12s had blown straight through t' epoxy caps I'd created. Ya scallywag! Begad! I used 5-minute epoxy, me hearties, and I don't think I mixed it in quite t' right proportions, since it was still a little tacky (whereas, by chance, matey, arrr, t' two in t' sustainer had both set rock hard). Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! I had discovered after t' flight that R+T did have D11-P's, shiver me timbers, if only I'd bought a packet I would probably have me electronics back. However this gives me t' chance t' re-design t' PCB for a better fit, ya bilge rat, and has taught me several useful lessons.

Despite t' loss o' t' electronics, shiver me timbers, it was a truly excellent flight, shiver me timbers, and not one I will forget in a hurry. Well, blow me down! T' upper stage ignition is probably my personal favourite rocketry moment so far, and will take some bettering.

After this flight, matey, I made a pair o' new timers, ya bilge rat, with a longer, arrr, matey, narrower design t' make fitment easier. I also set about paintin' t' rocket, shiver me timbers, arrr, ya bilge rat, but as I write this t' rocket is yet t' fly in anythin' more than primer!

Flight No. 4

At July's EARS launch, I put up ETV2 on 4 D's again, flyin' the sustainer alone. Arrr! Arrr! T' flight was good, but deployment was a little early. Ya scallywag! The plugged motors were D11-P's and remained plugged, so it must have been a bonus ‘short' delay on either t' D12-5 or D12-7 I used for deployment. Recovery be good, with t' rocket floatin' gracefully down t' land a few hundred yards away, just into t' rapeseed. Ahoy! No damage was sustained, shiver me timbers, and the ignition bundle made a nice cloud o' smoke since it was ‘augmented' with a little pyrodex. Avast! I didn't get t' best photos of this launch, but Rod Stevenson got a good video, which I will obtain a copy of at some point (after DESCON I expect).

Flight No.5

Havin' been rather busy with various things – exams, arrr, band tour, matey, work, L1 project – ETV2 has had no attention over t' summer. Begad! Arrr! However it had suffered no damage so when t' Canterbury Cup/Heckington Mug came around, and I couldn't fly me L1, matey, I had somethin' o' reasonable size t' fly. Blimey! Ahoy! I managed three flights over this two-day event, all o' which went well.

T' first flight be on 2 D11-P's and two D12-5's lit with quickmatch as ever. Begad! Avast! Ignition and boost was good, me hearties, arrr, and on this flight I noticed quite a pronounced spin t' t' flight. However at ejection, t' parachute remained inside t' body tube, me hearties, and t' landin' was harder than I would like. T' rocket sustained a slight crease in t' sustainer body tube, but nothing major.

Flight No.6

For this flight, ya bilge rat, I set t' rocket up in t' same way as t' previous flight, with t' exception that one o' t' plugged motors be a D11-P and t' other a plugged D12-0. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! For this launch I had someone else press t' button, while I stood closer (the controllers were set up 100 yards away for HPR flights) to get some good photos. Aye aye! On this flight, I had changed t' parachute for a smaller nylon chute – a rocketman type design that came with me L1 kit – about 24”. Ignition from close-up was quite impressive, and did yield some good shots. However only three motors lit again, with t' culprit bein' another clay-filled D11 nozzle. Begad! Recovery be close t' t' pad, feet away from a water-filled ditch, which I am very glad t' rocket avoided. T' only other negative point was that t' beeper failed t' activate, matey, after I had re-rigged it and managed t' tape t' pull-pin in – duh! Aside from that another good flight – I like BP clusters!

Flight No.7

This flight is probably me second favorite flight on this rocket after the two-stage flight. Begad! I loaded up t' rocket with 2 E9-P's and 2 E9-8's, and t' usual quickmatch bundle. Ahoy! For this flight, ya bilge rat, Andy Moore pressed t' button while I again stood closer and took photos, arrr, shiver me timbers, which came up with some good results. Ya scallywag! T' boost was really nice, me bucko, matey, with t' 3 second burn on t' E motors seemin' t' last much longer. Ejection looked pretty much spot on, but again the beeper didn't activate. Aye aye! Aye aye! Thankfully t' rocket was visible all t' way down, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, but ended up much further away, two fields away. T' red chute was sat on top o' t' crops, ya bilge rat, so findin' t' rocket was easy. I be very pleased with this flight, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and I want t' repeat t' 4 E's flight at t' next launch, its definitely a good motor and rocket combination. Begad! Also good would be t' fly with 6 D12's in t' booster and 4 E9's in t' sustainer, me bucko, but this would be into ‘H' impulse – about 220 Ns.