History of Asgard Rocketing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hastily typed by Mad Dog of Asgard BBS. Last update 4/7/97. Rocketing began at Asgard because our home made explosives were becoming way too serious for our rooftop observation laboratory. The idea probably came from a lot of our earlier bombs which gushed flames in a rocketstyle fashion... Anyway, our first rockets were made of all sorts of materials... plaster, cardboard, pvc, paper, rubber etc.. the problem was mostly that the engines we were making from sparklers and matches etc were not producing enuf thrust for lift... We tried butane and propane as fuels using balloons and bottles etc but the pressure regulation problem persisted. We had a large number of sometimes spectacular burnouts on the launchpad... (we used Mr G's garden for the gas rockets, he's not impressed...). The problem was solved, and instant fun obtained when we scored a model rocket set. The electronic ignition setup and launchpad/blastpad is great for manufactured engines. LAUNCHES to date ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The SCUD series was typical rocket shaped with various sized rear wings. The rockets were all around 30cm long, plus some fin on SCUD-1. No front stabilizers. Main difference was Fin size/design, and different motors. Body diametre was about 1.8cm. Paper and minimal electricians tape construction. very lightweight. Fins of pizza carton. SCUD-1 - used an A8 estes motor. Flew brilliantly. Fast acceleration, straight up for a couple hundred feet at least. Rocket lost in Flight. Launched Asgard 30/6/97 @ 9pm. Rocket had 3 long fins (about 20cm) attached to the last 10cm of body. SCUD-2 - used a B6 estes motor. slow speed, poor aerodynamics, spun out of control... Rocket recovered in nearby carpark. Apogee 100ft. Launched Asgard 30/6/97 @ 10pm. Rocket had 3 short triangular fins about 6cm, finishing flush with the base. SCUD-3 - used a C6 estes motor. Our only daytime launch. Did a big semi circle before crashing into the daycare centre full of kiddies. Apogee 60 feet. Launched Asgard 1/7/97 @ 4pm. Rocket had 2 large swept back triangular wings with 2 smaller wings (yf23 style) on one side. The XP series was literally the rocket motor (about 10cm) plus a paper nose cone reinforced liberally with electricians tape. This tape is adding the pressure resulting in the mid air detonations. No front stabilizers, the fins were made of pizza crust. All motors were C6 estes. the wings were reinforced with electricians tape ;) Looked mean ;) XP-1 - used a C6 estes motor. Another big semi circle before crashing still under power into 1st floor balcony. bounced inside where release charge detonated. Not recovered. Launched Asgard 1/7/97 @ 8:30pm. The fins were about 25cm long, attached to the last 8cm of the rocket motor. The nose cone was about 3 cm long and included a half tablespoon of pineapple for balance. It flew like shit. XP-2 - used a C6 estes motor. Flew straight fast and hard for at least 700 feet, mid air detonation over distant car park into 4 balls of flame. nice ;) not recovered. Launched Asgard 3/7/97 @ 12:20am. The fins were about 10cm long x 3, nose cone 3cm and empty. Flew great! XP-3 - includes an explosive nose cone. Not yet launched. Too dangerous. Might launch after draining expo 2morrow. Wings are 7cm long x 4, nosecone is about 10cm and full of match heads and crushed sparkler. We've only had one HA so far. It was about 15cm long, mostly tape and paper construction. Two small square front stabilizers about 1.2cm and two large rear triangular fins about 10cm. The head was bulbous and flat. Resembled the top half of a match. The word "DUCK!" was written on the flat top. The engine was an Estes C6. Design input from Hot & Mr G. HA-1 - Apogee about 80feet, achieved in a 30 foot wide spiral ascent. Mid air detonation into 6-8 flame balls. Not recovered. Nice visuals. Launched Asgard 3/7/97 @ 10:45pm. Cheers, Mad Dog Asgard BBS +61 2 9798 8558 +61 2 9799 6096