I took a road trip to the High Desert in Eastern Oregon last weekend to attend a High-Power Rocket launch. It is held in the middle of the "Badlands" (sage-brush covered pumice flats) because some of these rockets are flying to over 20,000'!
I went to get my Level I Tripoli Certification. Basically I had to build a rocket, prep the motor and recovery, and then fly and recover it successfully. There is a picture of me loading it on the launch rail, but I was so nervous I fumbled the camera and missed the take-off
The motor was a Loki 38mm 'I-430'. These are significantly different from the Estes black-powder motors that most people are familiar with. The propellant is an Ammonium Perchlorate composite that is loaded into an aluminum casing. To give an idea of the power, the 'I-430' had the thrust of about 36 'D-12' motors.
Everything went off without a hitch, so now I will be getting my Level Two Certification in September (hopefully!), so I will be able to fly even BIGGER motors!
The orange rocket is taking off on an 'M' motor, equivalent to over 500 'D' motors! The rocket is about 8' tall.
The gold rocket with purple flames was mine. Unfortunately it flew right into the sun's glare and we lost sight of it - it is still out in the desert somewhere...
I went to get my Level I Tripoli Certification. Basically I had to build a rocket, prep the motor and recovery, and then fly and recover it successfully. There is a picture of me loading it on the launch rail, but I was so nervous I fumbled the camera and missed the take-off
The motor was a Loki 38mm 'I-430'. These are significantly different from the Estes black-powder motors that most people are familiar with. The propellant is an Ammonium Perchlorate composite that is loaded into an aluminum casing. To give an idea of the power, the 'I-430' had the thrust of about 36 'D-12' motors.
Everything went off without a hitch, so now I will be getting my Level Two Certification in September (hopefully!), so I will be able to fly even BIGGER motors!
The orange rocket is taking off on an 'M' motor, equivalent to over 500 'D' motors! The rocket is about 8' tall.
The gold rocket with purple flames was mine. Unfortunately it flew right into the sun's glare and we lost sight of it - it is still out in the desert somewhere...
