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This End UP
| This End UP was built as a vehicle to test out 98mm motor
designs. It was our first team project, and as such is a little
rough around the edges, but flies beautifully and can carry a variety of
payloads. The basic vehicle design was conceived in late 2000 to act as a team
project for LDRS XX. Parts were ordered, and the construction
process begun. The phenolic tubes were laminated with a layer of 6
oz. fiberglass cloth and a veil of 2 oz., then finished in two coats of
UV Smooth Prime. The 1/4" plywood fins mount to the motor
mount, and are attached there with epoxy fillets and chopped
fiberglass. After installation into the skin, the fins were
further reinforced with two layers of 4 oz. fiberglass cloth. The
entire booster is built with an "Anti-Zipper" design,
utilizing a forward coupler bulkhead to minimize the chance of
zipper. The entire booster is tied together using 1/4"
all-thread, and the recovery mount is a 1/4" u-bolt. The
upper section features a 24" Drogue bay, a 24" electronics
bay, and a 36" main chute bay. Everything is topped with a
PML 6" nose cone, donated by Hulan Matthies.
Unfortunately, though the bulk of the construction had been finished,
the flight never materialized at LDRS. Six months dragged into
three years as we waited for a break in the weather at the large
regional launches. Finally, This End Up made its debut at ROCStock
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Flights
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Flight One
June 14, 2003 -- Aerotech M1419W
11,121 feet | Max Velocity 872 fps
Payloads: RRC2, ALTACC
This was a proving flight for This End Up. We wanted to make sure
the vehicle flies straight and can handle normal flight stresses before we
go all out with some wicked EX motors. However, this was a great
flight nonetheless. David had camped out at the launch site the
night before and began prep work early, about 7:00. He had the
rocket completely prepped before Chris showed up around 11:00, however
lunch, motor assembly, and a last minute trip into town to get igniter
dowels held up the launch until 2:00 or so. Thankfully, the winds
stayed calm and allowed us to get TEU into the air without worry. We
loaded the rocket onto Bill's Pad 39A and armed the RRC. After
raising, we armed the ALTACC, and checked continuity on all four
deployment circuits. We installed the igniters, posed for a couple
last photos, and retreated to a safe distance. Jeff Gortatowsky
called out the count, David slammed down the button, and Chris started
snapping away at photos. The rocket lifted majestically off the pad,
took a little turn to the right, and roared into the air. The 7
second burn of the M1419W is awesome. After burnout, the rocket
could barely be seen. Knowing the size of this vehicle, we could
never have imagined it going that high on just a baby M. Deployment
was seen clearly, and TEU began its descent on the R7 Pro-EX drogue.
It was being tossed about like a 40 lb rag doll. At 1000 feet, the
charges fired and the pilot chute was deployed, fully inflating the main
parachute within a second. This End UP was recovered 100% intact
about a mile away. Other than some major smoke to the bottom end,
she is ready to tear another hole in the sky.
Download ALTACC Graphs: Entire
Flight To Apogee Descent
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