Tag: certification

Preview: L3 Fusion rocket build

improbableventures1 Comment

As mentioned previously, I’m partnering with SBR to build the new L3 Fusion, which you can pre-order now. We decided to film the build from start to finish, in the SBR workshop studio.

the studio within a workshop, recording me building a rocket
behind the scenes

My previous high power rocket builds have been relatively slow. Don’t get me wrong – I generally don’t procrastinate, and once I get excited about a rocket project, I dive in and don’t come up for air until it’s complete.

But my techniques are far from perfectly efficient, and there’s often a substantial amount of long-curing epoxy, and then waiting for it to cure. And then… repeat. Each cure takes hours or even needs to wait overnight, and I’m doubly and triply reinforcing everything to make sure it’s sufficiently strong. Plus I’ve only built a few larger high power rockets so far and I was inevitably much slower in the beginning.

With this L3 Fusion build, however, I was able to move at a much more rapid pace. One big reason was using a fast-curing 12 minute epoxy. You just mix the resin and hardener and get to work. With a 12 minute cure, it’s amazing how quickly you can build!

me building a rocket, in workshop studio
yes, yes… this feels about right

That being said, for purposes of filming every step, this was still a marathon build session. It took a couple days of nonstop construction, even though the steps themselves are pretty simple and there was nothing that I hadn’t done before. At least, in principle. The “marathon” aspect was only because of filming and trying to make the most efficient use of our time.

We did have a few minor technical difficulties. Despite an excellent studio setup with a camera and tripod, external microphone, bright lights, and so on, there were several long stretches where we captured excellent video but the audio was completely missing. This meant we had to go back and figure out what went wrong with the microphone (troubleshooting this was much more difficult than you might think) and then re-shoot some of the steps. This turned out to have a silver lining, though, because the second time through I was substantially less inept than my initial attempts. Still inept, that is, but less so.

me building rocket with parts on workbench
enjoying the build

All in all, this was a really cool project, an awesome rocket build, and a successful video shoot. As soon as we’re done with the editing and have a final product, SBR will share the video on its YouTube channel (and I’ll share it as well, on my channel). In the meantime, if you’re looking to embark on your L3 certification, I highly recommend that you consider this L3 Fusion rocket!

High Power Rocketry: L2 Certification Flight

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Officially level 2 certified!

rocket launching into the blue sky, with fire and smoke below
textbook flight

Fulfilling a 2020 goal

I really started getting into rocketry last fall, less than a year ago, and I had set some goals for 2020 when the year began. My goals included getting level 1 and level 2 certifications in high power rocketry (HPR) through the National Association of Rocketry (NAR).

I think 2020 threw some curveballs at just about everybody, myself included – but after a few false starts and delays, I was able to launch my first high power rocket in central Washington on a beautiful day in June, and as I wrote about previously, I got my L1 cert.

I deliberately chose and constructed a rocket that could be used for both L1 and L2 certification (i.e. it is capable of launching on a more powerful motor), and I built it to be dual deploy capable. I also had plenty of time to study for the written exam, which is required after the L1 certification but prior to the L2 flight. Timing is everything.

Because of this, I was able to do everything in a single day – L1 flight, L2 written exam (which I passed, of course), and L2 flight. I had more than six months to prepare for this day, so it’s not particularly impressive!

white rocket with orange and yellow parachutes lying on ground in green field
a safe landing

L1 vs. L2 flights

On the L1 flight – the maiden voyage – I didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks and decided to keep it as simple as possible, so I didn’t attempt using any electronics or dual deploy. The rocket separated through a simple motor ejection charge.

But for the L2 flight, I wanted to try the flight computer and dual deploy. I was a little nervous because while I checked and rechecked everything in advance, this was still the first actual attempt and there were a lot of firsts: first time using any flight computer or black powder charges, first time arming the electronics on the launch pad, first time using the ground station to communicate via radio with the rocket (using a laptop with the appropriate software and a connected Yagi antenna), etc.

Everything went smoothly, from the launch (see first photo above) to deployment of the drogue parachute at apogee and the main parachute closer to the ground. I recovered the rocket without any damage.

white rocket with text "improbable ventures" lying on ground in green field
mildly improbable

L2 flight data breakdown

What’s particularly cool is the flight computer not only fires multiple pyro charges (and therefore controls the rocket’s separation and deployment of two parachutes), but it also contains an altimeter and other sensors that record the rocket’s maximum height and its descent speed.

For my L2 flight, the rocket reached 3,506 ft, with a maximum speed of 599 ft/sec (Mach 0.5). In other words, the rocket’s max speed was about one-half the speed of sound.

The descent rate under the drogue parachute was 39 ft/sec, and under the main parachute it was 27 ft/sec. The HyperLOC 835 is a fairly lightweight cardboard rocket with a gross liftoff weight (that is, a weight including the motor, parachutes, and everything else inside) of only about 6 lbs, and this descent rate was more than sufficient for a safe landing.

All in all, this was a fantastic experience. A four hour drive each way made this a very long day, but it was absolutely worth making the trip. Inevitably, I also learned a tremendous amount – for example, how to set up a large rocket on the pad and launch rail, how to use the flight computer and ground station software, etc. I also learned what types of things that I could do better next time. Overall, I’m even more excited about future launches – trying out new techniques, flying on even more powerful motors, and capturing data with the flight computer to beat my own previous records!

High Power Rocketry: L1 Certification Flight

improbableventures1 Comment

Finally! According to the National Association of Rocketry, I now officially have my level 1 certification in high power rocketry.

rocket launching into the air with fire and smoke below
liftoff!

I finished building my first high power rocket, the HyperLOC 835, back in December, but getting certified requires a successful flight and recovery of the rocket. But clubs don’t often host launch events in the winter months, and those that do are still subject to weather conditions (e.g., snowstorms). It’s helpful to have a club host a launch because you need (a) access to a large suitable area of land, (b) a waiver from the FAA to launch up to a certain altitude, and (c) launch equipment, such as launch pads and rails and an electric ignition system.

Clubs often start hosting launch events in the spring, but in spring 2020, COVID-19 hit, and things were cancelled or postponed.

I was finally able to attend a launch in June in south central Washington, about a 4 hour drive from where I live in the Seattle area.

I ended up launching the HyperLOC 835 on an Aerotech I-140 motor. The rocket is capable of dual deploy using a flight computer, but for this L1 certification flight I wanted it to be as simple as possible, so I didn’t use electronics. The recovery system was a parachute that deployed when the rocket separated using the motor ejection charge.

white and red rocket on launch pad
maiden flight

The weather looked ominous: it was cloudy, and we felt a few raindrops hitting us periodically, but it seemed to be holding steady.

The rocket launched, the parachute deployed, and it landed without a scratch in the tall grasses. The only tricky part was locating it. But since I was able to see the general area where it landed, it wasn’t too difficult to find.

yellow parachute in a sea of green tall grasses
a sea of tall grasses

Luckily the bright yellow parachute was pretty easy to spot from a distance, even though the rocket had sunk into a sea of tall grasses.

white rocket with text "improbable ventures" lying in tall grasses
a venture most improbable

Overall, it was a textbook launch and went as smoothly as could be expected! I’d estimate the rocket went about 1,700 ft in altitude, but as mentioned above, I didn’t use electronics for this flight so I can’t say for sure.

Immediately after this, I took the level 2 written exam, which is required prior to the level 2 certification flight, and I passed that (not difficult considering I’d had six months to study). It started raining more heavily, though, and we weren’t sure if we would need to call it a day and head out. But we waited another 30 minutes for the rain to stop, and then the skies cleared up and the sun came out. Perfect timing for my L2 certification flight, which I’ll summarize in my next post!