Egg-O-Naut C

[cypressfalls Robert]

What kind of times has everyone been getting on their rockets? Mine's been averaging about 20 seconds in the air, (even more if I include separation and survival bonuses) but I'm going to a meet in a couple of weeks and want to know what I'm up against.

We had our invitattional this past saturday and the top 3 winning scores were all due tro updrafts...around 40 - 50 seconds including bonuses.

[jazzy009]

This should be my last snippet of queries:
Has anyone found an ideal place to place the string from a parachute during takeoff? Last year we kinda just stuffed it into a compartment, it worked, but not every time. This year the string is longer, I have a feeling the same idea will not translate.

[Celeste]

This should be my last snippet of queries:
Has anyone found an ideal place to place the string from a parachute during takeoff? Last year we kinda just stuffed it into a compartment, it worked, but not every time. This year the string is longer, I have a feeling the same idea will not translate.

I've had some issues with that, too. I just put the parachute into the compartment, then have a friend hold it so I can gently lower the string and capsule in. It occasionally tangles, but it deploys well and seems to work okay overall.

[ktrujillo52]

Well we had our first invite yesterday, we took 1st in Egg O Naut with only 18 seconds flight time. There were 24 teams total. But it was really windy. Some of the designs were pretty crazy. Some person had a parachute that had to be at least 90 inches in diameter. It didn't even deploy until it was like literally 5 feet from the ground because it was so big. Also, some team had a nose cone with the "bertha" design, and it was like 4 feet tall. It was so tall that while they were pumping, it was tilting to the side due to the wind and when they launched, epic fail. Apparently, we were the only team there with our design, the event supervisors kept analyzing it even though I don't think it's that complex. Our launch sucked anyways, mainly because we made the parachute the day before and didn't have enough dropcloth to make it bigger. It was pretty cold though,

[ktrujillo52]

Well we had our first invite yesterday, we took 1st in Egg O Naut with only 18 seconds flight time. There were 24 teams total. But it was really windy. Some of the designs were pretty crazy. Some person had a parachute that had to be at least 90 inches in diameter. It didn't even deploy until it was like literally 5 feet from the ground because it was so big. Also, some team had a nose cone with the "bertha" design, and it was like 4 feet tall. It was so tall that while they were pumping, it was tilting to the side due to the wind and when they launched, epic fail. Apparently, we were the only team there with our design, the event supervisors kept analyzing it even though I don't think it's that complex. Our launch sucked anyways, mainly because we made the parachute the day before and didn't have enough dropcloth to make it bigger. Also, I didnt see any parachute catch an updraft. Some team used 2 parachutes I thought that was really cool.

[cypressfalls Robert]

Well we had our first invite yesterday, we took 1st in Egg O Naut with only 18 seconds flight time. There were 24 teams total. But it was really windy. Some of the designs were pretty crazy. Some person had a parachute that had to be at least 90 inches in diameter. It didn't even deploy until it was like literally 5 feet from the ground because it was so big. Also, some team had a nose cone with the "bertha" design, and it was like 4 feet tall. It was so tall that while they were pumping, it was tilting to the side due to the wind and when they launched, epic fail. Apparently, we were the only team there with our design, the event supervisors kept analyzing it even though I don't think it's that complex. Our launch sucked anyways, mainly because we made the parachute the day before and didn't have enough dropcloth to make it bigger. Also, I didnt see any parachute catch an updraft. Some team used 2 parachutes I thought that was really cool.

is the bertha design just a long and narrow nose cone?

[ktrujillo52]

Yeah, it's what we use. But at the end of the tube, you put a ball on top.

[cypressfalls Robert]

does it go higher than a normal triangle shaped nose cone?

[starpug]

does it go higher than a normal triangle shaped nose cone?

It actually works well as a weight to get the nose cone to come off the body and as a cusion in the event of a lawn dart.

[ktrujillo52]

Well said starpug. its momentum, p=m*v. The fins on the pressure vessel create drag so the rocket slows down, but the ball on the top of the tube has more mass, generating more momentum to "pull" the nose cone off. It may not necessarily go higher, but it will be more stable because it makes the center of mass higher.