BPASA

  Boris and Paul's Aeronautics
and Space Administration

Paul's TARC team ranks 17th in the 2015 finals out of 700 teams in the USA!

 

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2012 Missions  Most interesting BPASA flights of the year  
Flights are grouped by project   Click on any picture to enlarge   Most cluster flights use Rocketflite igniters and Cluster Box

Night Flights Video   
11/17/12   CMASS 

HellBoy 70 Goes Big - 70 motors loaded in 2 stages   flight 8 video:   11/17/12   CMASS   Amesbury, MA   
First stage 51x C11-0 engines - all 51x motors fired (= BP I560)
     Rocketry Forum thread     playlist of all HellBoy videos
Second stage 19x C11-0 engines - 18x motors fired (= BP H200)

HellBoy 70 lifted off fast and straight on a quiet rush of fire and smoke, transitioning quickly from first to second stage.

All 51x C11 motors in the first stage fired creating a column of yellow flame and white smoke,
sending up the rocket up quickly reaching a peak acceleration of 16.9 Gs.

                                                                                              Curtis Heisey                                               Curtis Heisey                       Curtis Heisey

Second stage fired one second later, in a smooth quick transition,
firing 18 of 19 loaded C11 engines and reaching a peak velocity of 272 fps (185 MPH).


     Curtis Heisey               Curtis Heisey

First stage fell 20 ft from the pad, and the interstage coupler is in good enough condition to be re-used. Sustainer hit apogee at 1250 ft and the chutes deployed for a clean recovery less than 200 ft from the pad.


Data from the Featherweight Raven is fun to have, and its advanced programming capabilities were essential to the success of this flight,
firing the second stage and both ejection charges. This chart of acceleration, velocity and altitude data from the Raven shows in the (red) acceleration data, strong thrust of the 51x C11 engines in the first stage, a spike as the stages separate, and then the thrust curve for the 18x C11s fired in the sustainer.

The flight went very well, firing 69 of 70 loaded motors. I believe the one motor that did not fire in the sustainer was due to that flashpan being prepared more than two weeks earlier, for the previous flight in which the second stage was not ignited. That makes 213 motors fired of 214 hit by flashpans in 8 HellBoy flights.

Thank you very much Bill Spadafora for:
1) helping with setup at the pad
2) being the safety man on the RC emergency deploy charge
3) emailing me a great video clip from the pad which is edited in with the other videos
4) running a great rocketry club, CMASS, for another great season!

HellBoy 50 - 50 motors loaded in 2 stages   flight 7 video:   11/3/12   CMASS   Amesbury, MA     Rocketry Forum thread   
First stage 31x engines: 19x D11-P and 12x C11-0 - all 31x motors fired (= BP I340)
    playlist of all HellBoy videos
Second stage 19x C11-0 engines - no motors fired because Raven altimeter determined velocity too low

The first stage flashpan fired all 31 engines in the booster in a big cloud of smoke and a trail of flames.

The rocket weathercocked severely due to the windy conditions and being overstable, becoming more horizontal than vertical at about the time the second stage was due to fire. Because of the safety conditions set for the Raven, the second stage did not fire.

As the rocket continued to arc over and started to drop while traveling horizontally, both the drogue and main were deployed by the Raven at about 400ft altitude. The first stage was dramatic and the flight was safe.

As a planned precaution, Bill Spadafora used the RC control to fire the safety ejection charge after the chutes deployed to clear that charge before the rocket touched down.

Unfortunately, due to the speed the rocket was traveling when the chutes deployed, the onboard video camera (Boostervision HD Gearcam) was separated from the rocket. It had been taped to the rocket very near where the Kevlar recovery harness caused a slight zipper in the HellBoy. Thanks to Bill, Ken and several other folks who were kind enough to help look for the video camera. Despite looking for the camera for over an hour, it was not found.

HellBoy     2011 flights     build and 2010 flights     Rocketry Forum thread
    Flown 4 times in 2012, firing 137 of 138 motors ignited.     playlist of all HellBoy videos

Built from the Polecat Fat Man kit - a 2x upscale of Estes Fat Boy. Modified for dual deploy and 19x 24mm motor cluster flight.

27 inches tall by 5.5 inches diameter, flight weight 8 pounds. Used as sustainer for the two stage flights described above.

flight 5 video:  10x E9 + 9x D12                               flight 6: 19x E9-6           
CMASS / MMMS  Berwick, ME  4/28/12                    LDRS XXXI - Day three - 7/14/12  
                                                       more pictures, video and info
                         

Midnight Express     Rocketry Forum thread     playlist of all Midnight Express videos
3.4x upscale Big Daddy, 10 inch diameter x 68 inches tall, flight weight 33 to 41 lbs.
Built early 2012 from Polecat nose cone and body tube, plus built up carbon fiber and end grain balsa fins.
Flown 3 times in 2012 on K, L and M power.

 Big Skidmark                                               Successful L3 flight
first flight: Pro-X L820 Skidmark                                      flight 2: Pro-X M1230 Imax       
LDRS XXXI - Day one - 7/12/12                                          LDRS XXXI - Day two - 7/13/12   
more pictures, video and info                                            more pictures, video and info   
                                                  

flight 3 video:  Pro-X 54mm 4grain K740 C-Star   10/6/12   CMASS / MMMS   Berwick, ME  
It pleased me greatly to fly the same propellant formula as used on the Space Shuttle.
Lifted off loudly on a hard thrusting bright white flame and column of white smoke.
Apogee at 1360ft. Dual altimeters plus motor backup for this single deployment flight.

LDRS XXXI   7/12/12 - 7/15/12   Potter, NY       Four days at the biggest launch event on Earth
 

Spinning Saucer of the Apocalypse     Rocketry Forum thread     playlist of all SSoA videos
Original design, 10 motor clustered, spinning saucer, modified upscale of the Turbine Rocket Saucer. 3ft diameter 7lbs flight weight. 
Flights create lots of flame and smoke while spinning at almost 1000rpm. Flight is for effect, and altitude stays under 100ft.
Typical motor configuration is 2x G engines in the center firing straight down for lift
and 8x D engines mounted horizontally on top of the outer ring to generate spin.
Built early 2012. Flown 7 times in 2012 firing all 70 motors loaded.

First 2 flights video:   4/28/12   CMASS / MMMS   Berwick, ME      

First flight: trial run for an experimental project, used 2x F40 motors for lift and 8x C11 for spin.
Only went up about 40ft but stayed flat throughout flight. Confirmed that doubling lift and spin power was both safe and necessary.

Second flight: 2x G64 for lift and 8x D12 for spin. Got more lift, getting closer to 100ft,
but a strong gust of wind caused the saucer to land on edge requiring minor repairs.

flights 3 and 4: both flown on 2x G64 + 8x D12 at LDRS XXXI on 7/14/12

flight 5: 2x G64 + 8x D12   7/21/12   CMASS   Amesbury, MA  
 This video gets a good close up of the fast spinning recovery.

flight 6: 2x G64 + 8x D11-P 10/6/12   CMASS / MMMS   Berwick, ME
   

11/17/12   CMASS   Amesbury, MA    
flight 7 video:  used 2x AT G80T engines for lift instead of the usual G64W, resulting in a slightly quicker
and higher lift and more definition to the helix of smoke created by the 8x D11-P motors used for spin.

FlisKits 10th anniversary   launch video   10/20/12   CMASS   Amesbury, MA
Jim Flis and FlisKits always make sure lots of fun is had at their annual anniversary launch.
Fliskits provides delicious cake, pays for the field and sets up fun events like a 8x way Frick-n-Frack drag race and
their amazing styrofoam cup UFFO rocket specially with streamers. 

Jim setting up and cleaning up after the one-of-a-kind UFFO modified streamer rocket

RC ECee                          10/20/12   CMASS   Amesbury, MA          Saucer of DOOM    
First flight: Edmonds ECee Thunder modified for RC. Good flight on C11 + E9.               flight 24: Pro-X H143 Smokey Sam                         
      

English Electric Thunderbird     2011 flights     Rocketry Forum thread     playlist of all Thunderbird videos
2012 flights video     Flown twice in 2012, firing all 22 motors loaded.
Both flights on 1x F30 + 6x E9-6 + 4x D11-P, a great motor combination for this rocket,
a nice long burn pushing the rocket up 500 to 800 feet.  

The English Electric Thunderbird is a very cool looking surface to air missile deployed by the British from 1959 to 1977.
It has four drop off boosters with canted nose cones and engine nozzles.
This is a 3/20x scale model of the actual missile and a 2x upscale the FlisKits kit.
As built: 11x motor cluster of 24mm engines, 42.5 inches tall, 7.5 lbs flight weight.

flight 8:   10/6/12   CMASS / MMMS   Berwick, ME                     flight 9:   10/20/12   CMASS    Amesbury, MA   
                      

VooDoo Daddy     flights 1-12 < includes 16x engine staged and clustered flights   playlist of all VooDoo Daddy videos
Years ago my first cluster rocket, and later Paul's first cluster flight.  
Flown twice in 2102 at CMASS in Amesbury, MA.
14 lifetime flights, all 120 motors loaded were fired.
       flight 13:  video  4x E9-6 + 4x D12-5   7/21/12                                       flight 14: 8x D12-5   10/20/12
      

Turbine Rocket Saucer
flight 33: 6x D11-P   10/6/12   CMASS / MMMS   Berwick, ME

2012 flights video - Includes 3 Cool Night Flights

2011 flights   2010 build and flights   Rocketry Forum thread

Turbine Rocket Saucer 2012 year-end update:

11 more flights in 2012, firing 63 of 64 motors loaded

Lifetime total: 36 flights, burning 191 motors

Turbine Rocket Saucer    flight 28: 7/6/12   Home   Fairhaven, MA   2012 flights video - Includes 3 Cool Night Flights
My dad was visiting and parents wanted to see a night flight of the TRS.
 

 Demon Star     Rocketry Forum thread
Modified version of the R and R Model Aircraft Delta Star rocket glider.

As built 2.3lbs flight weight, 36" long, 30" wingspan.
Flown 3 times and destroyed.

   First 2 flights:   1/14/12   CMASS   Acton, MA
Lifted off fast on G64 engines. Windy conditions made glide control challenging.
 

Third and last flight of the Demon Star:   6/10/12   CMASS   Sudbury, MA
A gust of wind pushed the glider over on its back as it lifted off fast on a G64. I pulled up one second on the controls before
 realizing it was  inverted and pushing down, but too late. Glider met nearby trees at about 100mph and was destroyed.