Flight Log - 2012-03-18 - Rich DeAngelis's Black Diamond

The Black Diamond: This model is extremely fast and light, uses 1/2A to C motors, although I'm a bit afraid to try a C in this little gem. I imagine it could easily reach 1200 feet.  It features streamer recovery. Added a lot of nose weight to balance this model, but now it flies very straight and true even in windy conditions. I was a bit concerned about cardboard fins, but they are very stiff and seem to work well (I just hope they don't get bent!) This rocket was later given my "Iris" modification, which extends the body tube about 5 inches above the streamer/parachute bay, and allows for a payload with an Altimeter One to measure altitudes. With the added weight, I needed a longer, 4-foot long, 2-inch wide streamer to slow it down some.  Not so easy to squeeze into a BT-20 body.  I had to lengthen the shock cord also, but it is still getting quite beat-up by its own recoil force. (Iris is named after the Greek god of the rainbow. She is a messenger of the gods, linking the gods with humanity.) If I were to build another one, I would split the launch lug and glue half of it further toward the nose. As it is, it wobbles on liftoff some while on the rod. I have only once tried this on a C motor, this rocket has flown higher than the Aon Center and the John Hancock Tower in Chicago, and the NY Times Building in NY, NY.

Flight Date: 2012-03-18
Rocket Name: Black Diamond
Kit Name: Estes - Black Diamond {Kit}
Flyer's Name: Rich DeAngelis
Motors: C6-7
Launch Site: Penn Manor School Lancaster PA
Actual Altitude: 1,060.00 Feet

This was the first flight with a C6 motor in this rocket. I was hoping to set a new altitude record with the Black Diamond, since this proved to fly even higher and faster than the Sprint with B6 motors. However it came up a bit short, and the following flight with the Sprint ended up breaking it's own altitude record.

The motor burned for 2 seconds, accelerating the rocket to a peak of 22.7Gs, averaging 4.9 Gs for the burn. It reached an incredible record-breaking speed of 217 mph, then coasted straight up and out of sight for another 6.7 seconds to a peak of 1160 feet. 7/10 seconds later the rocket descended 12 feet and the ejection fired. The empty casing was blown out of the rocket when the friction-fit failed.

I could hear the thick mylar streamer flapping in the wind, but couldn't see the rocket until about 200 feet as it descended quickly at 21 mph. In the calm air, it landed only a few hundred feet away. Inspection revealed some wadding still in the tube, so I suppose it was a bit too tight causing the motor to eject itself.  Mostly a success. No altitude record but a new speed record was set.

StageMotor(s)
1Estes C6-7

 

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