[roc-chat] Re: using motor ejection charge as backup?

  • From: Terry McKiernan <terry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2019 23:20:14 -0700

>> Also, just asking, how old is the motor and delay?

The motor and delay are a year old.  I bought it last summer but then with all the bad weather plus some other life events, I didn't got to any launches from September - June.

Terry

On 7/17/2019 11:16 PM, Terry McKiernan wrote:


Richard,

Right now yes the ejection charge has the full amount of BP.  I could certainly change that before flying, or take it out entirely. That's what I'm trying to decide on.  I'm using 1.25g of FFFFg for the charges attached to the Raven, same amount as a normal motor charge, so it would be double the force if both went off simultaneously.  What would happen ... don't know.  Of course it would be more force but would it be enough to damage things, I can't say.  This is a fiberglass rocket with a GLR Hardpoint shock cord attachment, and 3/8" Kevlar shock cord, so it's pretty tough and I expect it would be OK but that is just a gut sense.

I don't have shear pins at both ends of the drogue bay since it's down in the lower section of the fuselage.  That is, the drogue is between the motor and the payload bay.  There are 3 2-256 shear pins at the top of that section where it meets the payload bay.

Yes, I already ran the Raven through test mode with matches. All is well there.  I'll test again at the site plus of course the Raven gives continuity beep status codes as a final preflight check.

Terry

On 7/16/2019 6:08 PM, R Dierking wrote:
So, what would happen if both charges went off at the same time?  Are you using the full amount of BP for the ejection charge?
Do you have shear pins at both ends of the drogue bay?
Did you run the Raven through test mode with a match?
Glad you are thinking this through Terry.  Only trying to help.

Also, just asking, how old is the motor and delay?

Richard Dierking
TRA 11366, L3

On Jul 16, 2019, at 4:56 PM, Cris Erving <cris.erving@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cris.erving@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

Nope.  You get what you get...

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 16, 2019, at 4:13 PM, Terry McKiernan <terry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:terry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

Thanks Cris. Is there any way to lengthen the delay?  The J360 comes with a 15 second delay grain and it sounds like I would want 17 seconds.

Terry


-------- Original message --------
From: Cris Erving <cris.erving@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cris.erving@xxxxxxxxxxx>>
Date: 7/16/19 8:37 AM (GMT-08:00)
To: roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [roc-chat] Re: using motor ejection charge as backup?

For motor eject as a backup, you want the adjusted delay to be about two seconds past what you expect your apogee to be, so if it's a bit short it shouldn't be a problem.   Motor delays almost never run long.   If your projected time to apogee is 14 seconds and your maximum delay is 15 seconds, that's a bit close... don't be surprised if the motor eject happens before the altimeter fires.

Eggtimer Cris

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> on behalf of Terry McKiernan <terry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:terry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
*Sent:* Tuesday, July 16, 2019 7:57 AM
*To:* roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
*Subject:* [roc-chat] using motor ejection charge as backup?
Polling the ROC crowd for opinions here ... I'm wondering if it's
recommended to use a motor ejection charge as a backup to the altimeter
on high-power flights.

Specifically this Saturday I'll be flying my Firestorm 54 "stretch" on a
CIT J360 Skidmark.  It has a Raven3 altimeter to fire the drogue and
main ejection charges.  I'm wondering if I should leave the J360's
charge in place as a backup to fire the drogue just in case.

The OpenRocket sim says time to apogee after motor burnout is 14.8.  The
J360 conveniently comes with a 15-second delay grain. So that seems
about perfect as a backup.

My concern is that OpenRocket sims are just sims after all, and may not
be very accurate.  Plus delay grains are not very high-precision
either.  I'm mostly worried about the flight being longer to apogee than
the sims says, and the delay grain burning through faster than expected,
and thus releasing the drogue a few seconds before apogee while the
rocket is still moving pretty fast.

What do you think?  Leave the motor charge in as a backup, or avoid it
due to the possibility of early ejection, and just count on the Raven to
do its thing?

Thanks!

Terry


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