Attempt on the HPR F, G, H & I-Class altitude Records
The rocket to be used for these attempts will need to be a 29mm rocket and have the ability to carry a altimeter / accelerometer (a Black Sky ALTACC) and will hence need to be of sufficient diameter for this to fit inside. The Rocket must conform to the UKRA safety code. The ALTACC will Just with minor mounting modification fit inside a 38mm body tube.
Mako Shark
This is a simple rocket of 38mm diameter with a 29mm motor mount. The RSD1 will have a small payload section at the front for the ALTACC to fit inside. The total height of the rocket will be just under 3 ft so it is quite a small rocket and hence will only need a small parachute. Hence the main body can also be small so as to fit the parachute inside along with the piston that will be used to deploy the recovery system. To ensure deployment of the parachute at the apogee of the flight the ALTACC will be used to deploy the recovery system via a loadable ejection system (LES), hence the engines ejection charge will not be used.
Engines to be used would be as follows.
Engine |
Propellant |
Burn Time( Seconds) |
Total Impulse (N-s) |
|
F-class |
F – 40 W |
White Lightning |
2 |
80 |
G-class |
G – 75 J |
Blackjack |
2.1 |
155 |
H-class |
H – 180W |
White Lightning |
1.3 |
230 |
I -class |
I –200 |
White Lightning? |
1.8 |
330 |
Mako Shark Design
Mako Shark Sustainer parts
This list details each item of the Mako Shark, it includes relative positions of the component, the size, weight, material and price of the component.
1. Nose cone Public Missiles - PML UNC-1.525 - Urethane nose cone, Material: Urethane
Nose shape: Solid Conical, Len: 8.000 In., Dia: 1.600 In.
Body insert: OD: 1.475 In., Len: 1.500 In.
Mass: 0.113 kg
£12.50
2. Body tube Public Missiles Ltd. - PML PT-1.525 - Airframe tube, Material: Kraft phenolic
OD: 1.649 In. , ID: 1.525 In. , Len: 7.000 In.
Mass: 0.034 kg
£8.97
3. Tube coupler Public Missiles Ltd. - PML CT-1.52 - Coupler tube, Material: Kraft phenolic
Tube coupler OD: 1.525 In., ID: 1.401 In., Len: 3.000 In.
Loc: 5.375 In.
Mass: 0.013 kg
£1.76
4. Altacc - Custom, Material:
Mass: 0.078 kg
£0.00 (from existing rockets)
5. Radio Transmitter - Custom, Material:
Mass: 0.010 kg
£0.00 (from existing rockets)
6. Body tube Public Missiles Ltd. - PML PT-1.525 - Airframe tube, Material: Kraft phenolic
OD: 1.649 In. , ID: 1.525 In. , Len: 12.500 In.
Mass: 0.061 kg
£0.00 (Part of Item 1)
7. Tube coupler Public Missiles Ltd. - PML CT-1.52 - Coupler tube, Material: Kraft phenolic
Tube couplerOD: 1.525 In., ID: 1.401 In., Len: 3.000 In.
Loc: 11.000 In.
Mass: 0.013 kg
£1.76
8. Bulkhead Public Missiles - PML CBP-02 - Fits CT-1.52, Material: Birch
BulkheadOD: 1.450 In., Len: 0.188 In.
Loc: 11.000 In.
Mass: 0.003 kg
£1.05
9. Bulkhead Public Missiles - PML CBP-02 - Fits CT-1.52, Material: Birch
BulkheadOD: 1.450 In., Len: 0.188 In.
Loc: 1.125 In.
Mass: 0.003 kg
£1.05
10. Parachute Public Missiles - PML PAR-18-F111 - 18 in. nylon, Material: Rip stop nylon
1 parachute, Shape: 8 sided
Dia: 18.000 In., Spill hole: 3.500 In.
Mass: 0.017 kg
£0.00 (from existing rockets)
11. D-ring Public Missiles - PML DR-10 - D ring, Material: Nylon
Mass: 0.003 kg
£0.10
12. Nylon strap Public Missiles - PML ST-1.0 - "1"" nylon strap", Material: 4000 lb. nylon
Mass: 0.057 kg
£4.00
13. Piston assembly Public Missiles - PML PS-1.52 - Piston assy, Material:
Mass: 0.054 kg
£6.00
14. Single flashbulb Public Missiles - PML AG1-B - Single flashbulb, Material: Glass
Mass: 0.003 kg
£1.00 (disposible at each flight as in Thunder n’ lightning)
15. LES holder - Custom, Material:
Mass: 0.006 kg
£0.00 (from existing rockets)
16. Elastic shock cord Public Missiles - PML SC-.75 - "3/4"" shock cord", Material: 200 lb. elastic
Mass: 0.034 kg
£6.00
17. Body tube Public Missiles Ltd. - PML PT-1.525 - Airframe tube, Material: Kraft phenolic
OD: 1.649 In. , ID: 1.525 In. , Len: 10.875 In.
Mass: 0.053 kg
£0.00 (part of item 1)
18. Body tube Public Missiles Ltd. - PML PT-1.145 - Airframe tube, Material: Kraft phenolic
OD: 1.269 In. , ID: 1.145 In. , Len: 12.000 In. , Location: -1.000 In.
Engine overhang: 0.500 In.
Mass: 0.044 kg
£3.00
19. Ring Public Missiles - PML CR-00 - 1.5>29mm, Material: Aircraft plywood (Birch)
Centering ringOD: 1.505 In., ID: 1.269 In., Len: 0.188 In.
Loc: 1.625 In.
Mass: 0.001 kg
£1.75
20. Ring Public Missiles - PML CR-00 - 1.5>29mm, Material: Aircraft plywood (Birch)
Centering ringOD: 1.505 In., ID: 1.269 In., Len: 0.188 In.
Loc: 10.875 In.
Mass: 0.001 kg
£1.75
21. Fin set - Custom, Material: "G10 (PML 0.062"")"
Planform: trapezoidal, Root chord: 3.500 In., Tip chord: 0.800 In., Semi-span: 1.300 In., Sweep: 2.700 In., Mid-Chord: 1.874 In.
Misc: Body loc: 7.125 In., Thickness: 0.063 In.
Profile: rounded
Mass: 0.000 kg
£7.00( 9" x 9" square of G10 Fiberglass more than enough for several rockets)
The total cost for the components listed above would be £57.69 plus epoxy and paint,
Current Records
Altitude |
Rocket |
Name |
Motor Total |
Airframe |
Date |
Location |
Altitude |
|
F-class |
Unclaimed |
|||||||
G-class |
1427 ft |
Aerotech Initiator |
Pete Waddington |
G-35W Econojet |
2.6" |
March 2000 |
Thrust, |
G-Whiz LC |
H-class |
1750 ft |
PML Quasar |
Hugh Gemmell |
H-123W |
2.6" |
June 1998 |
Thrust, |
Transolve P2 |
I- class |
3050 ft |
PML Quasar |
Hugh Gemmell |
I-161W |
2.6" |
September 1998 |
Thrust, |
Transolve P2 |
Current records data taken from www.ukra.org.uk
Conclusion
The Mako Shark will be able to break the current records for F, G, H and I class motors as shown by the RockSim 4.0 simulations, the table below shows the margin by which the records should be broken.
Current Altitude |
RSD1 Rocksim 4.0 Simulated Altitude |
RSD1 WRASP Simulated Altitude |
Rocksim Margin |
Wrasp Margin |
|
F-class |
Unclaimed |
1338 ft |
1563 ft |
1338 ft |
1563 ft |
G-class |
1427 ft |
3057 ft |
3283 ft |
1122 ft |
1856 ft |
H-class |
1750 ft |
4025 ft |
4298 ft |
2275 ft |
2548 ft |
I -class |
3050 ft |
I200W not avail in demo ver |
6108 ft |
I200W not avail in demo ver |
3058 ft |
These margins show that the Mako Shark should beat the records by significant factors doubling the current record for the G, H and I - class motors.
Reports on the flights of the Mako shark.
The first flight of the Mako Shark on 4th June 2000 ended in a spack. The Mako Shark Engine section suffered a seperation from the rest of the airframe at parachute ejection. This was caused by a tightly packed recovery section, at deployment the ejection charge blew clean through the shock cord. Hence the main body and payload including the altacc freefell from approx 2100ft (the flight was on a G engine an not vertical due to weather cocking). The main body / payload section fell in a horizontal attitude into a field of long grass unfortunatly the payload section struck a fence damaging the AltAcc but not beyond repair.
The second Flight of the Mako shark was a total success it did exactly as planned flying on a H180 it went to an altitude of 4371ft better than all predictions and recovery was a total success, although the landing was about 3/4 of a mile away.
The third flight of hte Mako shark was a success it was flown on a F50 and flew to 857ft breaking the standing F altitude record as of May 2001
The fourth flight of the Mako shark was a semi success it was flown on a G75J and flew to 2049ft, 45ft short of the current altitude record as of June 2001 probably due to the cork screw spiral it made at about 1500ft! reason unknown. However I packed the chute a bit to tight and blew the airframe apart with the ejection charge it tumble recovered with no further damage But I will have to replace the mid airframe section. I may make the new one a bit longer making parachute and beeper packaging easier.