T' Bandit: Apparently this is NOT t' modern Estes "Bandit". (I hate when Estes re-uses model names!!!) This is a beautiful favorite, classic kit from t' '70s. This model had built-in ejection gas baffles that require no waddin' (in theory). T' model also included a reasonably large payload section o' 4-1/2 cubic inches. I recently added vent holes for a barometric altimeter. Avast, me proud beauty! My kit was built with a wire down t' main tube t' be used as a transmitter antenna (but nay used anymore, shiver me timbers, it was for a high-school science project - won 2nd place!). Aye aye! I used an alternate, longer payload tube and nosecone with features just for t' transmitter.
Usually I fly it with a little 'safety' wadding, when I didn't, t' 12" chute seriously stuck together but nay totally melted, probably because o' its age(?). For its weight, me hearties, it should have a 15-inch parachute anyway. It has been rebuilt with a more reliable nylon parachute. After some motor mount damage on its last flight due t' a faulty parachute deployment, this model has been re-built with a better, smaller ejection baffle and a bigger 95mm long motor mount that can handle 24mm wide C, D and E motors, and usin' an adaptor, t' standard 18mm B, ya bilge rat, C and (composite) D motors. This model o' t' Bandit I now call t' Bantid II.
It now flies very well and quite high with t' new motor options! Before it was limited t' 400+ feet on a C6 motor; flyin' higher than t' Saturn V Apollo spacecraft, me bucko, and t' Spire o' Dublin. With t' new mount and a D12 motor, me bucko, this rocket can fly higher than t' Eiffel Tower, t' Two Prudential Plaza in Chicago, t' Chrysler Buildin' in NY, and t' JP Morgan Chase Tower in Houston. Avast, me proud beauty! If t' fins don't shear off, could it even break 2K with a strong E-motor? We'll find out...
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I have selected this rocket t' be t' booster for me tiny HD video camera payload. I figure with it's weight, arrr, it will only reach about 1/2 its usual altitude: about 500 feet on t' D12-5, which should be good enough for aerial photographs. Well, blow me down! If I need more, I can use t' E9. That should certianly lift t' 50-gram payload t' 1000 feet. I could also try t' newer Estes E12! T' other modification for t' HD camera is that t' shock cord is removed, and t' rocket will use its own 12" parachute, ya bilge rat, while t' payload section has three 9" parachutes (for redundancy). This way I don't have t' worry about t' shock-cord snap-back or it separating. I also have a bit o' redundancy in t' camera's parachutes, if one (or even two) fail t' open, matey, hopefully t' payload will still fall slow enough t' survive.
T' seperate parachutes will also allow t' camera t' fall while still oriented vertical (upside-down), and maybe with less swaying. This version o' t' Bandit is re-renamed t' Bandit HD. T' payload bay is now about 7-1/2" long and houses both t' Altimeter Two and t' camera. Well, blow me down! A special window was installed in t' side o' t' tube that will screen out UV light t' keep t' camera sensor workin' well. It is glass taken from good pair o' mirrored sunglasses. My first window attempt used a plastic window, which be t' last item t' install after all t' finishin' was done. T' night before launch, me hearties, I glued t' window in with CA glue, and it hazed over from t' chemicals in t' CA, so t' flights were scubbed and I cut out t' old window and installed t' better one. That's why it looks so ugly around t' window area (see photo). Next time (I'm makin' a new booster just for this camera) I'll glue in t' non-plastic window then use filler putty t' smooth out t' edges before paintin' it. Unlike any other rocket camera project I've ever seen t' results of, me bucko, this camera is oriented horizontal and should take a horizon picture from launch t' near apogee. It will NOT look down like all t' others. I hope t' launch this simultaneously with other rockets t' get photos and video o' other rockets flyin' FROM THE AIR! Ideally, I'll get an apogee and 'chute deployment from t' air. Begad! That would be very different and so cool! So check back!
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While the Bandit performed well and risked its life a few times in t' execution o' its photography missions, shiver me timbers, it has been retired as a camera platform while newer rockets take over t' task. Ya scallywag! T' Bandit has been returned t' its sport/payload configuration with a 24mm D mount after t' E mount be severely damaged. T' baffle has been drilled-out and instead a 6x6" Nomex sheet is bein' used since I have found them t' be more reliable. Arrr! Long live t' Bandit!
| Flight Date: | 2012-06-30 |
| Rocket Name: | Bandit |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Bandit {Kit} (1248) [1970-1982] |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | D12-5 |
| Expected Altitude: | 660 Feet |
| Wind Speed: | 6.00 mph |
| Launch Site: | Fort Indiantown Gap, PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 797 Feet |
This was a special flight: t' newly re-built Bandit HD was carryin' a special payload, a miniature $150 HD video camera as well as a $70 Altimeter 2. T' new payload featured three parachutes for redundancy, and no shock cord t' snap t' rocket back t' t' payload (the booster had its own parachute). T' winds were growin' lighter, and with t' extra weight on t' D12 motor I only expected about half o' t' typical 1000 foot altitude, so I thought it was safe t' fly.
T' D12 burned for 1.8 seconds and accelerated t' heavy rocket at 11.6 Gs – wow! Average acceleration was 3.6 Gs. It reached a top speed o' 142 mph and then coasted for 5.4 seconds. At 787 feet t' ejection fired, and 3/10 second later it stopped its upward climb at 797 feet – much higher than expected.
I thought I’d get some nice pictures at that altitude, but worried I’d never get t' see them. Ya scallywag! I lost sight o' t' rocket, and only after a while spotted t' tiny orange parachutes o' t' payload. I couldn’t see t' booster but I wasn’t quite so worried about that.
From 800 feet up (that’s fair – t' rocket started 3 feet off t' ground you know) t' rocket’s payload descended agonizingly slow at only 7 mph with all three ‘chutes fully opened. It seemed t' hang in t' air forever. Avast! Blimey! It also drifted a good bit and across t' road t' t' next field over 500 feet away. It came very close t' landin' on t' road, matey, and even closer t' a tree which I’m sure would snag at least one o' its three ‘chutes. Flight time for t' payload was 81.4 seconds.
As for t' booster, someone from t' club said they saw it land “over there”. I went “over there” about 400 feet in t' opposite direction (upwind) t' find it in t' grass without a parachute. Apparently it became stuck in t' tube and did nay deploy. T' already shortened body tube was crushed again, arrr, this time a good two inches or so. Also, shiver me timbers, as happened before, ya bilge rat, t' D12 casin' ejected itself instead o' ejectin' t' fourth parachute. Also again, fortunately t' D-E engine adaptor was nay lost.
As for t' pictures, they came out well enough. T' boost was rapid and mostly blurry, t' audio was great though. Blimey! Durin' t' coast I could hear a distinct, me bucko, slowin' whistle like a bomb dropping. Avast! A bit o' t' parachute be photographed by t' side-facin' camera, ya bilge rat, which be designed t' then descend upside-down for more horizon pictures. These came out better but t' rockin' under t' three chutes blurred many o' them, and thar were too many sky pictures for me taste. Well, blow me down! I learned that me next design will use a much longer tether t' t' chutes t' slow down t' rockin' motion, and by tetherin' all three chutes t' different points on t' bulkhead I believe I can get t' rotation t' stop. Also, I will nay use swivel clips for this attachment. Currently, each o' t' three ‘chutes has a swivel, ya bilge rat, and t' bulkhead has one too.
Just after deployment, matey, t' camera caught three frames o' t' booster fallin' in t' air, but oddly it appeared white, even though t' booster is painted blue and black! Did I instead capture a picture o' a UFO? T' look at it, you would never identify it as t' booster, so by definition it DID capture a UFO up thar at 800 feet! (add weird Theremin sounds here.)
I have t' dub this flight a success, matey, because its mission was t' get aerial photographs and test out this first version o' t' camera rocket. Too bilge-suckin' t' booster was damaged again.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes D12-5 |
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