| Name: | Rocket Drone, HAWK-1 |
|---|---|
| Recovery System: | Drone |
| Builder: | RC Lover san |
| Project: | RC Lover san's Rocket Drones |
| Maiden Flight: | Unknown |
| Status: | Unknown |
| Name: | Rocket Drone, HAWK-1 |
|---|---|
| Recovery System: | Drone |
| Builder: | RC Lover san |
| Project: | RC Lover san's Rocket Drones |
| Maiden Flight: | Unknown |
| Status: | Unknown |
RC Lover san (RC from here onward) has a series of videos documenting his development of a "Rocket Drone" (with "HAWK-1" written on it, possibly the name, however he always calls it the Rocket Drone). Please keep in mind that everything I present here comes from his videos and alot of it is speculation/opion on my part as his videos arn't as specific as I want to be. It uses drone propellers to land instead of a parachute, similar to Project Ozymandias.
In the description of the launch and restoration video linked below (in the Sources section at the bottom) he says that "the multi-rotor parts shown in this video belong to a RC quadcopter (WLtoys V262)". That video is also the primary source of information for Flight 2 below, with other videos on his channel contributing aswell. In the original launch video's title it seems he says the cause of the failure was the lower launch lug detachment, but the flight seems to go fairly nominal until apogee.
I must confess I feel I bit competitive to try and beat RC Lover san to make the first successful pyrotechnic drone recovery, but I don't want to make that the most important thing. I believe that he said he wanted to collaborate with someone.
In his channel description he says "I'm very passionate about Rockets, the RC world and toys in general." (2/21/2022) From watching other videos on his channel, he seems to be more into Radio Control (R/C) and water powered rockets then pyrotechnic rockets. I have very little experience with R/C or water-power, but I think I might have more experience/interest then him in model rocketry (pyrotechnic), at least from what he has posted on his channel. I hope this gives me a different perspective and approach to the problem and will shape how Ozymandias differs from his rockets.
So far, his only failure happened during the "pyrotechnuic" launch. From his channel, he has since recovered, restored, upgraded and even flown the rocket under drone power, but hasn't yet launched it with either water or pyrotechnic motors. The reason is unknown, perhaps he simply lost interest.
In the rocket drone test bed video he launches a similar looking rocket but with a parachute instead of drone propellers. The flight is successful but the rocket seems unstable during flight for some reason.
In a comment on a YouTube video about the Rotary Rocket single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) half helicopter/half rocket "Roton" launch vehicle, RC Lover san said "Inspired by the Rotary Rocket, I've built my Rocket Drone." Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the design was also influenced by the Roton. My Project Ozymandias is also inspired by Roton, one of my favorite rockets.
The rocket is split into two parts, the nosecone/drone and the propulsion unit. There are three propulsion units documented on his channel, a water-rocket unit, a model rocket (pyrotechnic) unit called HAWK-1, and a stationary smoke machine version made to look cool with a shiny bell, blue lights and smoke, called HAWK-1F.
On his channel, he has multiple videos showing the same flights, so it is hard to tell exactly how many flights have been made. An "FPV" (Flight Prototype Vehicle?) prototype is launch under water-pressure power atleast once to a successful landing. It i unclear if this is the same "HAWK-1" rocket or an entirely different rocket. It looks different so I am assuming since it is a "prototype" that it is different and haven't listed it here since it only did water-powered flights.
He also made a Mini Rocket Drone that uses compressed air launch pads.
| F# | Specifics | Notes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 |
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Success. Propellers deployed successfully and hovered to a precise landing on magnetic landing pad. Earlist (and currently only) recorded successful landing of a model rocket after flight using powered helicopter blades I can find. | ||||||||||
| F2 |
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Failure. Started weather cocking after liftoff and entered a ballistic trajectory. Hard to tell from the video, but it apparently did not deploy drone propellers at apogee or at anytime in the flight, and stayed in a stable, ballistic trajectory before landing in a tree. Ejection charge could be to blame, as close anyalasis of video shows that there was no apparent venting mechanism or motor ejection. Ejection charge could have damaged electronics. Another possibility is it could have been out of range of the controller. |
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Updated on 3/9/2022 by William Boersma
