New cartridge

[abinok]

Yep, definately out of sight. I built spike to break my personal best in both speed, and altitude. Ive reset the speed already, but the altitude launch is forthcoming... I just wish they would lift the burn ban long enough that I could get some motors tested! Load development of a different variety if you will. Altitude should easily smash 20,000 and if I push the edge... well, well see. I could post some video of a static test if you like.
Recovery is via radio transmitters designed for falcontry, and gps beacon for the highest flights.

 

[abinok]

Im not sure about runout, but there is some wiggle in it for sure. I didn't tighten down the interstage coupler for the pics of spike. Maybe ill stick it on the rail (the launch pad) for another pic.

As Jim mentioned, the FAA stuff can be a pain. Once you have your foot in the door it sems to go a lot smoother though.
The car is definately short a pair of cylinders... but I wouldn't say its lacking in power. HP/weight ratio is pretty good. I had a simular discussion (cars/rockets) with a guy some time back who was convinced that his car was fast, and while he didn't think he could beat a rocket, he figured he could "give it a run for its money" after Icrunched the numbers for him, he realized that in a quarter mile race, even the little estes rockets will beat a top fuel dragster, and most of mine will be at the 1/4 mile mark before a top fueler breaks the 60 foot mark /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Gotta love that HP/weight ration.

 

[abinok]

Just for those of you that played with rockets as a kid... rocket morots are rated by total impulse. Each time you step up a lettersize, you double the impulse. A b is twice as powerful as an A, and a c is twice as powerful as a B and so on. Consequently, you can compare how many of the small "hobby" motors it would take to equal the impulse of the larger motors...

A 1
B 2
C 4
D 8
E 16
F 32
G 64
H 128
I 256
J 512
K 1024
L 2048
M 4096

Just for referance... 8192 for a full power launch for spike, 12288 of those little motors in the bigger rocket /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif