The We had it's first flight in Geneseo with the MARS club on 7-29-12. It was an uneventful flight on a Pro29 F59 White Thunder motor to about 700 feet. A quick liftoff video is here:
The We Launch Video
Positive Ascent flew for the 12th time on 9-1-12. I chose the new Pro75 L1350 C-Star motor. The C-Star propellant (C* is the characteristic velocity of a rocket's exhaust, used in "real" rocketry calculations) is a medium speed, bright white flame propellant with a high specific impulse. With only three grains, the motor has an impressive 4263 Newton-second total impulse, which essentially means more perfrmance for the cost.
The flight took place with URRG in Potter NY. With light winds and clear skies, it was another picture perfect flight. This time it reached 6252 feet and stayed in sight the entire flight (barely, as blue may not have been an ideal color choice). The main charge fired on cue at 900 feet and by 700 feet everything was gently descending under the main chute to land only a few hundred yards away in the corn. The tracker made for an easy recovery though.
A launch pad video is here: (notice how much dirt the launch kicks up at the camera)
Positive Ascent L1350 Liftoff Video
I have also started construction on my Competitor 4 rocket. This is a 4 inch diameter, 8 foot tall all fiberglass rocket with a 75mm motor mount. It's designed to take any 75mm motor the fits. Incidentally, Cesaroni has recently announced a new Imax ("maximum impulse") load for their longest 75mm case. The motor is the M2245 with a total impulse of 9977 Newton-seconds. That's 95% M in a 75mm motor. Very impressive. It just so happens that the 42 inch long motor is about a quarter inch from hitting the electronics bay bulkhead, meaning that if I can still cram a drogue recovery harness in there around the motor, I may fly this motor next year to 18000 feet and mach 1.7 ish.
As I'm still waiting for more parts for the rocket, I have barely done any work on it yet, but stay posted for more updates with pictures.
