Crimson Star

The Edmonton Rocketry Club held a special, two-day rocket event in Calmar, Alberta, on July 15-16, 2023. There were various rocket competitions, but rocketeers could also fly model rockets in the “Sport” category (non-competition). Model rockets use commercial motors from the smallest A-size to the largest G-size.

My BT80 was ready for its maiden flight on Saturday morning, using a mid-power E16-4 motor. The first four attempts failed, because the Estes igniter would not ignite the Estes motor! Darcy saved the day by giving me a J-Tek igniter that worked perfectly. The rocket roared up to just over 500 feet, but failed to fully deploy the parachute. It “lawn-darted” in the tall grass, bounced once and came to rest with no damage at all! The kevlar shock cord had knotted up during deployment and tangled around the parachute, keeping it from opening. I removed the kevlar cord that night, and installed the nylon web shock cord from my Aerotech Mega-Initiator.

Sunday morning and the BT80 was ready for another flight, again using an E16-4 with a J-Tek igniter. It fired immediately on the first attempt, rose about 550 feet, had a perfect parachute deployment, and landed softly less than a hundred feet away. People actually applauded, which just shows that they know how frustrating rocket misadventures can be, and also shows that rocket people are better than normal people!

Now that I had a working rocket, it was time to put it to work. I put in an Estes F26-6 motor, which would send the rocket up over 1100 feet. I also added a Jolly Logic Chute Release, which I had never used before. The Jolly Logic is a small device that gets “hand-cuffed” to the parachute and holds it closed until the rocket descends to a preset lower altitude, where it then releases the parachute. This helps prevent the rocket from drifting too far away, especially when it is windy. I set the Jolly Logic to 500 feet. The rocket ignited and flew up to over 1100 feet, deploying the parachute at apogee (top of the flight trajectory). The Jolly Logic kept the parachute bundled up, but it still acted as a drogue and slowed the rocket down a little. Finally, at about 500 feet the Jolly Logic released the parachute, which opened and landed the rocket softly out in the dirt parking lot, about 800 feet away. If the parachute had opened at apogee, the wind would probably have carried it over the parking lot and into the residential or commercial areas of town.

All things considered, it was a great weekend! The next ERC club launch is scheduled for August 19, 2023.

An altimeter bay is a removeable rocket compartment that usually contains electronic components used to eject one or two parachutes. All of the rockets that I have built relied on the rocket motor’s built-in ejection charge to deploy a single parachute at an appropriate time.

The easiest dual deployment setup uses the motor to deploy the drogue parachute at apogee and an altimeter/computer to deploy the main parachute at a lower altitude. When done correctly, a dual deployment system brings the rocket down closer to the launch point.

The first altimeter bay that I built looked like it had been designed by Pablo Picasso, which is to say, there were no words to adequately describe it!

This altimeter bay uses several 3D-printed parts, fits together well, and is ready for testing. It fits into my BT80 rocket and I hope to test it at the next launch in Calmar.

Getting to this point was not easy, and I learned several things that had not been mentioned elsewhere, as far as I remember…

This time, it was the Lethbridge Rocketry Association that was ready to hold their first high-power rocketry launch of the year, in Rock Lake, Alberta. My Aerotech Mega-Initiator, the same rocket I used for my L1 and L2, was ready for my L3 attempt. Although it seemed like most of Alberta was burning to the ground, in fact everything south and east of Edmonton was fine and the LRA obtained a fire permit without any problem. We were ready for another adventure, and this time we didn’t need to wear our long-johns!

Rock Lake is actually the exact same place as Sullivan Lake. We stayed in Taber, as before. The launch day was perfect. My rocket was the second to launch, although there was some confusion with the launch control wiring. We thought they were launching Darcy’s rocket, but it was mine that took off! You will hear Darcy talking, since he was recording this video.

Anyway, my rocket flew on an Aerotech 54mm DMS J250W to about 3646-ft and had a perfect recovery, so I earned my L3. Darcy’s rocket also had a perfect flight, to earn him his L1.

The best thing about being in the first group to fly, is that we had the rest of the day to meet everybody else and see what they were doing. There were a wide variety of projects, and I now have a better idea of what it will take when I go after that L4 in 2024!

Calgary Rocketry was ready to hold their first high-power rocketry launch of the year, in Hanna, Alberta. I was ready with my Aerotech Mega-Initiator, the same rocket I used for my L1. At the last minute, a “fire advisory” was issued for the area so the launch was switched to the backup at Sullivan Lake, east of Lethbridge. This meant a 3-day adventure instead of a mere 2-days.

My wife and I travelled to Taber, about 30-minutes north of Sullivan Lake. The next morning we arrived at the site, I registered, had my rocket inspected, and was given the second launch position of the day. Good, no time to sit around worrying about what might go wrong. Just do it and see if I got it right!

Once again this rocket flew on an Aerotech 29mm DMS I205W motor; this flight was perfect and earned me an L2 Certification. For those of you who wonder, there are currently 27 L1s, 24 L2s, 64 L3s, and 25 L4s certified in Canada by the Canadian Association of Rocketry.

I’m already planning my L3 attempt with this same rocket…