| Name: | NC-IV Ascention |
|---|---|
| Designation: | NC-4 (NC-IV) |
| Type: | Estes Alpha |
| Recovery System: | Parachute |
| Builder: | William Boersma |
| Project: | Project Newcomer |
| Maiden Flight: | 19 Mar 2022 |
| Status: | Lost |
| Name: | NC-IV Ascention |
|---|---|
| Designation: | NC-4 (NC-IV) |
| Type: | Estes Alpha |
| Recovery System: | Parachute |
| Builder: | William Boersma |
| Project: | Project Newcomer |
| Maiden Flight: | 19 Mar 2022 |
| Status: | Lost |
Ascention (NC-4, stylized as NC-IV) is the fourth rocket in Project Newcomer and also the most advanced. It is supposed to be named Ascension in reference to Jesus ascension' to heaven, the general goal of the rocket and the Ascension Dream Chaser spaceplane prototype. I had always intended to make it look similar to a Space Shuttle, with makes it also look like a Dream Chaser, which is fitting. However, I realized I made a typo when I wrote it on the body tube, so I renamed it to the name that is actually written on it.
I cut out strake or chine-like fine structures to extend the leading edge of two of the fins just along the body tube. This allowed for the launch lug to be secured to a fin all the way up while not moving it downwards. In fact, I even cut the launch lug in half and put one at the bottom and one at the top on the strake to give better stability off the pad. I also rounded the corner on the leading edge of the fins as on Newcomer 3.
The fin strakes coused the rocket to look like a space shuttle so I painted it white instead of blue and used a black sharpie to color in a bed of silicon tiles, including on the nose tip. I gave it some RCS thruster ports as well (silver sharpie) and EXSA/USA livery. I wrote my name and the rocket type on the inside of the nosecone's sleeve so they can';t be seen unless the nose cone is removed. It is defintely my best looking rocket yet.
However the biggest development with NC-4 was adding a detachable parachute system. Instead of wrapping the parachute lines directly around the nosecone eyelet, I bound them to an aluminum can tab. I then used a small (~1cm diameter) keyring to attach the can tab to the eyelet. This way, I hoped to test NC-4 with different parachutes, the stock one it came with, and a house-built one of smaller diameter for higher flights. This parachut will be made using a shopping bag or another suitable material (maybe both for testing!) I hope to include this feature on all my rockets in the future, as the apparent benefit (easy testing, replacement of parachutes or streamers) seems to excede the small cost (extra weight, which is marginal). I call this the Universal Parachute System or "UniChute" for short.
On March 19th, 2022 I was finally able to attend an the local rocketry club's (SRA) monthly launch. Two months after completion, Ascention would finally see air. As with my previous flight that day, Newcomer 5, Flight 1, I felt that the parachutes may have been packed abit too tight, but it had gone (mostly) well with that flight, and it wasn't really THAT tight, maybe it had just been a long time since I had launched a rocket. I loaded her with an Estes B4-4 and walked out to the pads. The club director/announcer told me to angle the launch rod straight up instead of angling it, so I did. I now think he was wrong, and think I should have angled into the wind, as all the rockets that did do this were landing much closer; it was a fairly windy day. I want to use smaller parachutes on my rockets from now on to reduce drift. I had thought to bring the UniChute-enabled parachute from the in-construction Ozymandias MVV just in case, however it was bigger than the Alpha's so I didn't use it for fear Ascention would drift even farther away. So, Ascention's second flight used the same parachute.
On the second flight she launched with a slightly more powerful B6-6 and drifted farther downrange than Flight 1, despite being angled into the wind. However, it wasn't a fully successful flight. The parachute got a whole burned into it (which wasn't an immediate problem since I had already planned that to me my last flight of the day, but I wouldn't fly it with that parachute again). The recovery wadding was apparently stuck in the shroud lines or something because I found it directly underneath and tangled in them on the ground when I found NC-IV. It had many burnt holes in it, very similar to the one in the parachute, reasonably confirming that the ejection charge blew through the wadding and some got through to the chute. I don't remember how many wads I used, but apparently it wasn't enough (it may have been just one by accident). Anyway, NC-IV is grounded until I can make a new parachute for it. This is actually kind of a good thing as it gives me a chnce to practice making my own chutes and replacing them via the Universal Parachute "UniChute" system.
I had for sometime been intending to make a "spare" parachute and had even traced out a parachute on an old Dick's Sporting Goods bag that was the size of a regular Alpha parachute. I decided to use this as the new parachute for NC-4. I used from three-hole punch paper reinforcment stickers and pink thread from my Mom's sewing kit to finish the parachute in late March/ early April 2022. I easily took of the old 'chute and replaced it with the old one, with no cutting or gluing nessasary. However, the nosecone has alwasy been a bit hard to get in, but I think that is do to the small diameter compared to the can tabs, and the fact that the shock cord mount is bent outwards and gets caught on the bulky parachute (both of them).
At the April 2022 SRA launch I had a single A8-3 engine left in mu store, which I used to launch Ascention to test the new parachute, as the Ozymandias MVV was not yet completed. The parachute worked perfectly, with no errors. The UniChute system has proved it's worth! The only issue is that the large can tab can get in the way in smaller diameter rockets. This could be fixed if I had a smaller ring to use, can tabs are just light, free and abundant.
To test out using my new Estes Altimeter I decided to launch Ascention at the May SRA launch along with the MVV (OZY-001) and Theremin I (THM001). Since I used the small keyring from NC-4 on the MVV I replaced it with a saftey pin, so I was also testing that out. But mainly I just wanted to launch it since I only had two rockets otherwise.
I searched for her twice, but could not find her. Eventually, I had to give up, despite knowing that I had probably walked right past it a few times already. My information is written on the shoulder of the nosecone, so perhaps I will get it back. The sad part is I also lost my new altimeter, so I have still never recovered any data from a flight :(
I was sad as I always liked the paint job on NC-4 with the space shuttle look, but now I didn't have it anymore. The only remaining peice is the small keyring, which is currently on the MVV. Me and my brother were talking and he commented something along the lines of "the good thing about losing rockets is you get to build new ones." This made me stop to think about making another shuttle looking rocket and I suddently got inspired to make true a glider-recovery plane-rocket. I thought of modifiying the still in-contruction SKY-2 Betelgeuse to have a spaceplane on top and either using the small body tube section for that, or making the plane out of the OZY-101 Baby Bertha kit. However, the SKY-2 rocket is going to need all it's parts for an electronic dual deployment, so any gliders would need to be attached to the side and made from independant materials. The Baby Bertha has potential for a modified glider version, but I am still pursuing Project Ozymandias. Plus, it would be confusing to completely change the rocket's design, mission and project even though I haven't unpacked it yet.
I think I will use tubes I have gotten from printer paper rolls from my job at Chick-fil-A for a small glider to be attached to the side of SKY-2. Not sure how I will deal with the drag induced upon SKY-2 though.
"SRA-CLS" stand for the Spaceport Rocketry Association's Compound Launch Site.
| F# | Specifics | Notes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 |
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Success. As with my previous flight that day, Newcomer 5, Flight 1, I felt that the parachutes may have been packed abit too tight, but this time no damage was done to the rocket. The announcer said to angle it straight up, so I did. I disagree, and think I should have gone into the wind, as all the rockets that did do this landed much closer. I want to use smaller parachutes on these rockets from now on to reduce drift. I brought the UniChute parachute from the in-construction Ozymandias MVV, however it was bigger than the Alpha's so I didn't use it. | ||||||||||
| F2 |
|
Partial-success. It drifted farther downrange than Flight 1, despite being angled into the wind. The parachute also got a whole burned into it (presumably from the ejection charge,) which wasn't an imediate problem since I didn't intend to fly any more today, but I wouldn't fly it with that chute again. The recovery wadding was apparently stuck in the shroud lines or something because it was directly underneath and tangled in them. It had many burnt holes in it, very similar to the one in the parachute, reasonably confirming that the ejection charge blew through the wadding and some got through the chute. Coincidentally, this is actually better because it gives me a chnce to practice making my own chutes and replacing them in UniChute rockets. | ||||||||||
| F3 |
|
Success. The new parachute worked perfectly, it was a textbook flight, except for one thing. The wind was going perpendicular tothe down-range direction (West), which I failed to notice. This caused the rocket to drift downwind more then it needed to, because I tilted it in the wrong direction. Never the less, it landed right beside the road to the West of the launch pads. | ||||||||||
| F4 |
|
Failure. In order to get the alitmeter in, I had to pack it very tight. I had removed the small keyring from NC-4 to use on the MVV, so I replaced it with a saftey pin for this flight. The parachute either didn't come out or was wrapped up and never deployed because she drifted down fast and landed in the grass. I was too bust trying to video it and didn't pay as much attention to where she landed as I should, and I never found her. |
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Updated 5/27/2022 by William Boersma
