We just completed the addition of a payload bay to our Estes Executioner rocket. The new section is a 14.2" long BT80 tube (about 2.6" diameter). The payload bay is coupled to the main body tube by a 3" x 2.6" solid balsa bulkhead. Both the body tube for the payload bay and balsa bulkhead were purchased from http://semroc.com/. They now give us an effective payload capacity of about 12" x 2.6" in diameter of free space. The entire original rocket descended on one parachute, but we will be adding a second chute, so that the lower stage and payload bay return on separate chutes.
We have renamed, our now 52.75" rocket, the "Executioner XL."
We will fly the first test on an Estes D12-3 which, in RockSim simulations, provided an almost apogee perfect ejection and reached a height of 277.77 ft.
After a live test with a D12-3, we will run some more simulations once we have decided on the first payload.
The Executioner XL should be one of our main rockets for carrying robotic payloads over the next year. I will keep this site updated as to out progress
March 28, 2009 Launch:
Not the clearest picture of a launch, but the last launch for the Executioner XL out at Desert Heat 2009. It had a terrific flight on an E9-6 motor. The 24 inch parachute on the payload worked much too well... We ended up losing the payload bay after it drifted way out into the desert... Bye Bye...
4 comments:
Great rocket! Nice picture too. Looking forward to hearing/seeing the test flight.
Well, we found that our beloved Executioner XL flew the best on E9-6 motors. It really got up there. We didn't measure the height but it really made for a nice flight. Unfortunately, after a perfect flight at Desert Heat 2009 outside of Tucson, the Payload section just kept going and going and going, till gone... Luckily it has my name and address on a mylar sticker on it. It would be cool if another rocketeer or RC airplane flyer out at TIMPA finds it and returns it. That would be a cool story... :-) Anyway, we got some great flights out of this big bird. We are planning on another, possibly larger diameter payload bay for it to hopefully carry a small robot for a ride.
I'm glad I got to see it float off into the [metaphorical] sunset! I thought I might have some videos or pictures of the launch or the floating away but I don't; I remember now that my phone battery was dead at that point.
::points to comment above this one::
er, that was me.
Diane
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