From: arno@utu.fi (Arno Hahma)
Newsgroups: rec.pyrotechnics
Subject: Re: UK Amateur Rocket launch - European Record.
Date: 8 Feb 1996 06:56:44 GMT

In article <824136132wnr@bogart.demon.co.uk>,
Carl Warnell  <boz@bogart.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>European record my arse! Aspire I (it's successor is on the drawing board 
>now, apparently) reached about 6km in Mourmelon-le-Grande, France in July 1992.

Is that really the highest altitude/distance reached? It doesn't sound
much. I've fired off a few ten rockets, that all went more than that,
horizontally, though. But that is only, because I fired them at very
low angles like <10 degrees of elevation (I wanted to keep the ceiling
as low as possible). Last September was the latest launch and the
rockets flew 5..11 km in distance; maximum elevation about 10 degrees.
They landed in one piece but very shortly after that, they did end up
in more than one piece with the help of some energetic materials ;>.

All the rockets had only 1 kg of propellant and total weight less than
4 kg, including payload.  You don't want to throw away more material
than it is necessary, do you?

>I know, I was one of the people who designed & built the payload. Admittedly, 
>we recovered it in about 300 more pieces than we launched it in, but that's 
>the way these things go.

I'd call that bad design and testing. Before you go and send a rocket
off, it has to be tested or designed in a way it works when it is
supposed to. 

>Carl Warnell          '  o/  FORE!    .                  .             |

ArNO
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