The Luke and Vader Dog Fight Rocket - A Scratch Design/Build: My X-Wing Alpha Utilizing Tie Fighter As A Booster.
The clear plastic disc is removable and only used during flight. It creates base drag and makes the booster stable.
2024-05-30 Launch Report, Photos and Video
First Launch: Pending
Launch Report: X-Wing Tie Fighter Dog Fight
Date: 2024-05-30
Background
This is a two-stage rocket. The Tie Fighter has a D12-0, The X-Wing has a C6-5.
On Site Preparations
For wadding I used some streamer material.
For a parachute I used my 12” home made Mylar chute.
An Estes standard starter was installed and taped into place.
The rocket was slid onto the 5/16" launch rod and the controller wires were attached to the igniter leads.
Launch
Wind was out of the East and was about 4 mph at the most.
John stated the sky was clear - launch site was clear and did the countdown: 5-4-3-2-1. Teresa pushed the button on the launch controller.
The D12-0 motor ignited and the rocket leaped off the pad. It flew stable upward to an altitude of about 50 feet where it made a sharp left turn toward the East. The rocket then gap staged, the Tie Fighter dropped, 60 feet from the launch horse, and the X-Wing took off on a westward path, pointed in a slightly downward angle.
The X-Wing dove into the earth at full speed, 92 feet from the launch horse, where the motor delay burned and the ejection charge fired. This caused a small grass fire, which John put out.
Condition of rocket after the flight
The X-Wing’s 2 lower wings were ripped off the fuselage and the front of the fuselage was burned beyond recognition.
The Tie Fighter’s one vertical panel was ripped from its support.
Conclusions
The rockets stability was -0.126 calibers. With the base drag hack it was 0.497 calibers.
A string swing test was performed and the rocket passed that test.
This rocket, in the 2 stage configuration, was not stable.
What I learned
This was a spectacular flight. The site was clear and no observers were present.
Don’t push the calculated stability calibers on an odd roc to such extents.
Don’t put so much confidence in the swing test. It's good, but it's not a guarantee.
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