| Name: | Newcomer 5 |
|---|---|
| Designation: | NC-5 |
| Type: | Quest Astra |
| Recovery System: | Parachute |
| Builder: | William Boersma |
| Project: | Project Newcomer |
| Completed: | 15 Jan 2022 |
| Maiden Flight: | 19 Mar 2022 |
| Status: | Active |
| Name: | Newcomer 5 |
|---|---|
| Designation: | NC-5 |
| Type: | Quest Astra |
| Recovery System: | Parachute |
| Builder: | William Boersma |
| Project: | Project Newcomer |
| Completed: | 15 Jan 2022 |
| Maiden Flight: | 19 Mar 2022 |
| Status: | Active |
Newcomer 5 is the final rocket of Project Newcomer and was constructed to be as similar to Newcomer 3 as possible to highlight the differences between the two kits. Completed on Saturday, January 15th, 2022.
The Quest Astra, which I received in an educational kit format from Mr. Smitty's donations, served as the fifth Newcomer rocket. I did not originally realize/remember the educational pack contained a rocket and so I originally thought the three Alpha's were all I got from Mr Smitty, but was happily corrected.
"The Astra I is functionally equal to the Estes Alpha however the addition of TTW (through the wall fins) and Kevlar increase the ease of construction and reliability of flight." -Quest Aerospace website, 2021
I built Newcomer 5 as similar to Newcomer 3 as the kits allowed. I still included the rounding of the leading corner and launch lug upgrades, but stayed true to the istructions for pretty much everything else. I aimed to test the differences between the two rockets. For this purpose, I did not include my can tab parachute system into NC-5, since it is not present on NC-3, though I doubt it will make a difference.
The next rocket launch by the SRA was on January 15th, 2022. However I was swamped with college classes due the following night and had to skip it due to schoolwork. This is possibly a good thing, as I had accidentaly installed the parachute of NC-4 regularily instead of trying my new system (I didn't have a can tab handy at the time). However, I will miss the February launch as I a going on a snorkeling camping trip to Peanut Island that weekend with Trail Life.
So, I can't launch anything more powerful than a 1/2A until the third saturday of March it seems. I will fly Newcomer 3 and 5 together for joint tests, as well as NC-IV Ascention to test my upgrades and parachute system (which I don't know how it could cause it to fail, but you know). After that, even now, I am beyond the realm of entry level. With 5 rockets under my belt, I hope to step up to more intermediate level rocketry activites, such as higher altitude, dual-deployment of both drogue and main parachtes and scratch-built rocketry soon. I have gained more than just basic experience in construction, launch and recovery of model rockets, however my only attempt at the third triganometry and physics equations goals was abandoned because the low height of the flight, it's not-so-straight-up profile and procimit to the launch pad made me decide to hold off on those goals until a future time. That brings me to call Newcomer a success (regardless of the outcome of Newcomer 5).
I actually did just get to launch Newcomer 5 at the March 19 SRA launch. It was my first launch of the day because I felt like it was less exciting as NC-IV or SKY-1 Raqiya' Xplorer. RIP. I felt like the chute was packed a bit tight when I first did it pre-flight, but decided to see what happened and left it. I launched it on a B4-4 with a nominal ascent profile and recovery. It would have been a completly successful flight except for one issue. It turns out one of the tabs on the parachute broke and the string detached from it there. I didn't even notice this until I examined it at our tent after recovery. It seemed to descend under the chute fairly fine, or atleast I didn't notice it during the flight, so it apparently didn't need it too bad. I am not sure if this is related or not, but the tabs also made it harder to pack the chute into the body tube, so they might not be the best method for attaching shrouds. Other than that, the launch went well.
The next month I fully untangled the shroud lines and used a combination of Gorilla Tape and glue to attach the line to the broken tab. Aside from possibly doing a back-to-back similarity test with NC-3, I will probably not use Newcomer 5 again. However, it is now flight worthy and on reserve, ready to be used for any upcoming projects in needed.
| F# | Specifics | Notes | ||||||||||
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| F1 |
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Partial-success. Launch rod angled 30-45 degrees winto the wind. I searched for it in the tall grass downrange, but then found it on the way back in the mown lawn. *facepalm* I felt like the chute was packed a bit tight when I first did it pre-flight, but decided to see what happened. However, it turns out one of the tabs on the parachute broke and the string came out. I am not sure if this is related or not, but the tabs also made it harder to pack the chute into the body tube, so they might not be the best method for attaching shrouds. |
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Updated 4/24/2022 by William Boersma
