Old BlackHawk R&D Logo
Editors’ note: This is part one of a two part ordeal which took place from 2004 to 2005. It is the longest and ugliest recounting of the events surrounding my futile attempt to certify Tripoli Level III. I have tried to keep the post interesting by adding picture links, a couple a videos, as well as many usefull links to interesting websites…see highlighted text through out.
About the time that DragonWorks Rocketry went on line (2004), is about the time that a small itch had seeded itself up under my psyche. It had been six years since I certified National Association of Rocketry (NAR) Level II, maybe it was time to start planning for a Tripoli (TRA) Level III project. (?) Work on it slow while putting money back to pay for the launch, thus spreading the costs out over time. Maybe it would appear like it would not cost me all that much… Anyways, I was excited about DragonWorks Rocketry coming on line, and the prospect of documenting my Tripoli Level III journey on my new website was only “throwing fuel on a fire.”
But seriously, how much could it really cost? A friend of mine, who runs a small Internet business on the side called Rocket City Rocketry, and who also use to vend for a now defunct rocket kit manufacturer called BlackHawk R&D, had access to what I thought was one of the (sexiest) sleekest rocket kits I had ever laid eyes on; an AGM-78 Standard Arm, (Sport Scale). The AGM-78 from BlackHawk R&D was 5.5″ in dia by 87″ tall, and came standard with a 54mm motor mount. The rocket was intended to be flown on J and K-class motors. Talking with Chuck, I inquired about the cost of this kit, and I was set back on my heals when he quoted me $126 shipped! (add water to seed planted in psychic). So I asked him if I could make any modifications if I ordered one, say with a 76mm mount instead of the advertised 54mm, and Chuck replied “No Problem” ( add a little fertilizer along with the water to that seed). It took a few weeks to come in, but while I was waiting on my kit to arrive, I went ahead and purchased a second altimeter, a Perfect Flite model, which at the time was all the rage. seeing as I saved on the kit purchase, I would probably need a second altimeter, you know, in case I decided I wanted to certify TRA Level III…
The kit sat in a corner of my house in the original packaging, for what seemed like an eternity. It was opened briefly, so I could pour all over it’s sleekness, and dry fit a few parts to get a first look at what this rocket was going to look like when finished. But for the most part, the rocket just sat. So what was the hold up? The hold up was the sticker shock at how much I would still need to spend in order to get a Level III certification, no exact figures here, as my research was only just beginning, but it was looking like TRA Level III would come years down the road…
It was now nearing the close of 2004, and the Level III cert dream was beginning to fade away, until I heard about the dates for Southern Thunder 2005! Southern Thunder is a 2-day rocket launch, hosted by sibling rocket clubs; the Music City Missile Club (MC2) and the Huntsville Area Rocketry Association (HARA). Unbeknownst to these two clubs at the time, Southern Thunder would become the premier event of the South Eastern part of the United States, but that is another story. Southern Thunder 2005 (ST2005) dates where set, and for some reason, this little piece of information set a chain of events in motion that could not be stopped. I was going to certify TRA Level III at ST2005, in front of hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more combined fliers, family and friends, the “Triple-F” whammy. Kind of like the “Triple Dog Dare” from the movie Christmas Story. I have set a date, it was now ”Man-Law,” I could not back down from such a self initiated challenge as this (adding water to the seed again)
My wife, bless her heart, needed a Christmas List from me so she could spoil me on this special time of year… The ST2005 clock was running, so I did my research, and gave her a list she would not soon forget. The look on her face was precious when she asked me what a Kevlar® sock was. (?) The long of the short of it is, I got some key components for Christmas, it was time to get busy, I was a man on a mission.
The light at the end of the tunnel for this part of the story, is that coincidently, another very good friend of mine was planning a TRA Level III certification flight for ST2005, and as luck would have it, he was using the HyperTEK M960. Russ Bruner, a member of MC2, and long time flier at many HARA launches, is the type of individual that would give you the shirt off his back. We talked, and met a few times to discuss shop, and he graciously offered to let me borrow his HyperTEK hardware with the stipulation that I replace it should I lose or damage it…Russ and I had struck an accord.
So I was not going to get to certify on my AGM-78 rocket like I planned to, but I was going to try to cert regardless. You see, one of the many enticing aspects of certifying Level III on a hybrid motor system, is that the reloads are cheap. We’re talking on the order of 1/3 the cost of APCP loads. At $90 for a HyperTEK fuel grain, and the offer from Russ Bruner, the AGM-78 was sadly becoming a distant memory. My next task was to order more 5.5″ dia. tubing to elongate the airframe, in order to accept the 56.6″ long motor, so another order was placed to Chuck at Rocket City Rocketry.
Fast forward a bit, as the remainder of the time leading up to ST2005 was construction and sanding and bolting and work etc. The final weeks leading up to ST2005 found me scrambling to get my ejection system tested, my progress looked over by one of my Tripoli TAP member, Walt. Llastly, I needed to get it painted in time. Although built strong, the re-configured rocket was now officially the ugliest rocket to ever launch from the face of the Earth, I was so dissappointed at my work. To add insult to injury, I painted the rocket with lots of Kilz primer, and layer after layer of cheap Wal-Mart brand “rattle can” paint. Silver and red paint was applied in a poorly thought out and not a very original paint scheme. In addition, that cheap silver paint would shed aluminum dust on any body part of or article of clothing that it came into contact with. After a number of layers of clear coat were added, to stop the aluminum shedding, I had officially sealed the ugly in for good…
Fast forward again, the day is now Saturday, May 14th, the opening day of ST2005. Everything was coming together for a beautiful day to launch, and despite my rocket woes, I was on my tiptoes at the mere thought of flying my first M-Class motor. Russ Bruner was on hand with his Level III project, and the hardware was ready. Oscar Valent, one time owner of Star Rocketry, a vender for HyperTEK Hybrid motor systems, arrived early by way of Virginia to personally hand me my HyperTEK M-class fuel grain. Everything was finally begining to come together…finally!
To begin the launch in style, and to kick off his own ST2005 and TRA Level III certification, Lee Brock Launched his rocket “Sky Plow” on an Animal Motor Works (AMW) M1900BB (Blue Baboon) for a text book certification flight. This is good to begin a launch on a good note. Later that morning, Russ Bruner attempted his Level III certification flight, but after a beautiful ascent, the deployment system of his scratch built rocket malfunctioned, and he was denied a successful certification. I was next, time and focus were on me now.
Russ passed the HyperTEK hardware to me as soon as he returned from retrieving his rocket. I began the push for final prep for the flight. As I was prepping, my family began to arrive at the field, nerves were on high alert.
The next few events were unremarkable; accept that I repeated them many times that day. To begin, the away cells, that all large projects are flown from, were well over 500 feet past the Launch Control Officer (LCO), who was well over 100+ feet from the flight line. Saturday alone, I made that walk with my rocket loaded on my shoulder, and the other half supported by many friends who offered their assistance, at least four times both ways. The walks were initiated by various problems ranging from my rail buttons not fitting on the rail (rail button miss-alignment), to the HyperTEK motor hardware leaking nitrous oxide during the remote fill/loading process. To top it off, A rain storm late Saturday afternoon pretty much capped off the events of that day, and ended my shot at a Tripoli Level III flight on the first day of ST2005.
Sunday, with renewed vigor, and all fixes in place so as to not repeat Saturdays failures, I was ready once again to etch my name in model rocket history…no matter how the small this event is, compared to the grand schemes of life, it was still an important event, and mine alone. I started off by making one trip to and from the pad, still holding the rocket…somehow, I had lost an o-ring that sealed the nitrous from leaking out during fill, and prior to motor ignition. Everybody, myself included, was hoping to not make a repeat of Saturdays errors (they were all on me). O-ring Replaced, I made my final trip to the pad…
This time, to tired and frustrated to walk back and enjoy my certification flight with my wife and lids, I positioned myself a safe distance from the away cell to watch the launch, Russ Bruner was there to. Fill commenced, and to my surprise, so was the countdown. During those 5-long seconds of the countdown, the whole story I am revealing here, flashed before my eyes, and my mind raced to see if I had done everything correctly…what else could I have missed? What else could I do? No matter, as the M960 preheated, and my rocket left the pad on a column of smoke and flame (small flame).
What an experience to hear, feel, smell, watch and taste (Victory) of an M-class motor flight from the field, an experience I will never forget! Now what was that sixth sense…? Oh, I remember now, it is the sense of Shear Horror! My heart stopped as I watched my rocket come apart right at motor burn out. As my rocket was performing an “aerial ballet” 4,000 feet in the air, my mind went from visions of grandeur, to recovery and damage control…and what was that flash? Right there, that little glimmer of light that flashed as the rocket came to a snap at the end of the recovery harness. (?) That flash was the start button of a worst-case scenario playing itself out; yes, this was the final blow, on what would be my worst day in rocket history. That flash was Russ Bruner’s borrowed hardware exiting my rocket on its destiny with earth. I watched in total disbelief, as the hardware plowed the ground at nearly 200 MPH with a shear angle that broke the motor into two distinct pieces. Following the impact, there was an eerie silence, broken only by the sound of Russ Bruner’s voice, “go get your rocket, I’ve got this,”. I was defeated…EPIC FAIL!!
Fast forward again; I immediately replaced Russ’ hardware as promised. That was my top priority post launch. The rocket was placed in a corner of my bedroom, where it would remain for a long time. I did not go to anymore launches the rest of that year, save for one: In September of 2005, I attended a Birmingham Rocket Boys (BRB) launch, a small two-day event with commercial motors to be flown on Saturday, and research motors flown under a TRA research launch on Sunday. I was nervous to be on the field again, but I had good friends around me to launch with, and my failed Level III attempt at ST2005 was becoming a distant memory…
The short version of this part of my story is that, on Saturday I lost half of one rocket of my three rockets due to a recovery failure. The booster, which contained all of the major components of a Sky Ripper 38mm motor system had come undone, and was never to be seen again. On Sunday, my first launch with my favorite and trustworthy Vaughn Brothers Rocketry 2.6″ Javelin, suffered a massive Cato at the pad, as my 10-grain 38mm motor loaded with KNDX came apart destroying the rocket, and damaging the Perfect Flite onboard altimeter that I had purchased from Chuck at Rocket City Rocketry. Going for broke, with not much left to lose, I loaded my Rocket Dynamic Systems (RDS) Quasar, on the pad. At launch, my Quasar, loaded with a 76mm 2-grain motor lofted perfectly on a beautiful column of White smoke. It was the prettiest flight I had ever seen. Looking on in total dismay, I watched my RDS Quasar whistle in and destroy itself on impact, a total loss (except motor).
It has been stated, that “if you cannot afford to lose it, then don’t fly it”; I believe I had reached my limit, and walked away from rocketry forever in September 2005.
Johnnie
If Scenes Like This Bother You, There is Always Model Rail Roading or Stamp Collecting