BIG Rocket Cam - Sledgehammer M1315 Launch (2012-02-20)

We launched the 7.5 ft tall, 55 lbs rocket on a M-size motor (imagine four thousand Estes A engines) and she screamed over a mile straight up. This video is a compilation from 5 cameras, including one HD camera on rocket recording the whole flight. Photos: www.flickr.com

Big Rocket Launch Video Compilation (2011-09-22)

I launched my 9 ft. tall Sledgehammer rocket with the biggest motor I have flown in California - an Aerotech M1850. This video is a compilation of the videocam on the rocket, the pad cam and a videocam back at launch control. On-board computers detect apogee and deploy the parachute. It also recorded a speed of 430 MPH and 8 g's of acceleration. The rocket takes video the whole way.

Big Sparky Sledgehammer Rocket Launch at Dairy Aire 2011 (2011-07-13)

55 lbs. 9 ft. tall, with multiple cameras on rocket and ground. GLR Sledgehammer rocket with video bay, honeycomb nomex wings under fiberglass. HCX and LCX flight computers. Rousetech CO2 parachute deployment system. RF tracking beacon. CTI L1410 75mm Skidmark motor. Perfect flight at Dairy Aire 2011 in Helm, California. Ground photos: www.flickr.com Frame Grabs: www.flickr.com

Corkscrew Rocket Launch at NASA Ames (2012-05-11)

We put the strap-on video cam on my son's Initiator Rocket and launched it with a smoky Aerotech G38-4FJ motor. The asymmetric weight and drag was a bit much for this rocket and so it went into a corkscrew as it left the pad and headed over to the parking lot, landing about 25 ft. from my car. The kids were excited at recovery as the video was still running.

Double-E Rocket Launch (2011-06-03)

I modified an Estes Double-D rocket with a new heavier nosecone, and a videocamera strapped to a fin tip, looking back through the dual plumes of fire. Flew it at NASA Ames on two Aerotech E15-7 motors. But alas, the rocket landed on the videocam and busted it open. File recovery attempts failed. Here is the video from the ground.

Epic Cluster Rocket Launch (2011-06-03)

This video is from the on-board videocam. My son designed and built this rocket from scratch. At first, the central Cesaroni Skidmark J360 motor lights, and the igniter wire harness for the fin-tip motors comes along for the ride. One fin motor finally lights, then another. Each of them is the new Aerotech Metalstorm G75 motors. So it's sparks galore. One of the nozzles blows (off the left fin motor) but this has the benefit of creating a long shower of sparks, lasting past parachute deployment, which was controlled by an HCX flight computer. Other backup chute was deployed by motor ejection with a long chemical delay charge. Overall a perfect flight. The rocket even landed softly enough for the tail to remain vertical. She flew again the next day on a blue Cesaroni J449 motor, also a perfect flight. Woot!

Epic Cluster Rocket Launch at Dairy Aire 2011 (2011-08-19)

With HD video from the rocket. My son launched his scratch-built "Epic" rocket with three fin-tip motors and a central Skidmark lit by the on-board HCX flight computer. It also has an RF-tracking beacon, which proved to be quite helpful as I was visually tracking a different rocket that crossed paths with ours. Frame Grabs: www.flickr.com Ground Shots: www.flickr.com

Epic HD Camera Rocket Cluster Launch (2011-05-29)

My son's scratch-built rocket had a perfect flight with onboard videocam and four motors, one of which was ignited by onboard computer.  (Still photos by Erik Charlton and Martin Hall)

Epic Rocket Launch (2011-09-27)

My son decided to name his custom-designed and scratch-built rocket "Epic"... Here is the maiden test launch with a J360 Skidmark with ground footage and then the camera on rocket. The plan was to capture the launch of a chaser rocket once ours had deployed its parachute at about 8K ft. But the acceleration to transonic speeds slammed the batteries back against their springs losing power soon after launch. We need to solder the connection with wires for next time. He plans to add three more motors at each of the outer edges of the fins, for a cluster launch. So the bottom section is not yet completed or painted. The fins are honeycomb nomex sandwiched between fiberglass sheets. It has a cool aluminum boat tail and a reduction coupler for the strap-on videocamera.

Epic Rocket Launch, Pad Cam Audio (2011-05-29)

My son designed and built this cluster rocket from scratch, with nomex honeycomb fins, and an Aerotech Metalstorm engine on each fin edge. Since it's a fixed videocamera at the pad, the visual action is brief, but the sounds are pretty cool. The Cesaroni J355 central engine just roars off the pad, and luckily, the igniters in each fin motor do light those motors up in the sky.

Failure to Launch (2011-06-03)

Various large rocket mishaps at BALLS 19, from a slow-mo collapse to a bucking rodeo rocket. Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

Full Beer Keg Rocket (2011-06-22)

Team Numb did comfortably launch a fat rocket on a P7000 motor to loft a full beer keg from Oregon up over a mile high. 175 lbs of beer. They tapped it at the landing site (it was a perfect flight). And the beer was yummy. (Not to be outdone, I improvised on the spot and sent my son's milk bottle up in a Nike Smoke, and got it 100 ft. higher. I shared with Team Numb as they were having cookies on Sunday. The motor warmed the milk... just like mama used to make...)

Hot Squat Rocket Drag Race (2011-06-28)

My friend Erik and I drag raced a couple of phat squat rockets.... first off the pad wins...

Huge Rocket Launch (2011-05-29)

The Rocket Mavericks team put together a beauty of a project, aiming for Mach 3 and 100000 ft. altitude, launched in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. The team is still diagnosing why it created a huge crater instead of leaving the atmosphere... 22 ft. tall  540 lbs Q booster staging at 45K ft. to a P motor (~6x the thrust of a cruise missile booster)

Hybrid R Rocket Prep (2011-06-03)

Jeff's hybrid rocket was rebuilt, for the fifth time, hoping for a successful launch this year at BALLS in the Black Rock Desert. They were rushing to get it ready before the sand storms blew in... And off to the pad, to load it with 200 lbs of nitrous oxide...

My Big V-2 Rocket Launch with an N2000 Motor (2011-06-03)

Photos: www.flickr.com Black Rock Desert. 9 foot tall V-2 with an Aerotech N2000 motor. Rocket Mavericks launch event Video montage from the pad cam and footage from Gretchen & Henrik. Thanks for all the help!

My Mach 2 Rocket Launch at BALLS 19 (2011-06-04)

My carbon fiber rocket with GPS transmission from the prototype G-wiz avionics bay screams to Mach 2.17 on a CTI N2850 motor, reaching about 33K ft. It was a perfect flight, with computer deployed airframe separation at apogee, and main parachute deployment at 800 ft. The GPS readings show us hitting high winds aloft as we drifted back down through 20K ft., which took the rocket horizontally at 55 MPH. But that luckily brought it back closer to the flight line for an easy recovery.

Prom Date Rocket (2011-06-22)

Burning love at LDRS (Large Dangerous Rocket Ships) in Argonia, Kansas in August 2008.

Rocket Drag Race (2011-06-04)

Not to be outdone by Team Numbs Beer Keg launch (see earlier video), I improvised with what I had in the desert, and sent my son's milk bottle up in a Nike Smoke and got it 100 ft. higher (6258 ft. per the onboard HCX flight computer). I was racing Eriks GLR Vertical Assault flying on one of my favorite motors, a CTI L730 which burns a thermoplastic propellant from a Canadian aerospace company. He just rips off the pad and disappeared into the sky (with blue camo paint) I cut a few minutes of mystery from the middle of the video as we were looking up in the sky for our rockets. We both packed orange chutes and only one orange chute was visible in the sky Whos rocket was it, and where did the other one go? Both rockets were recovered in perfect shape. I shared the rocket milk with Team Numb as they were having cookies on Sunday. The motor warmed the milk... just like mama used to make...)

Rocket Drag Race at NASA (2011-12-31)

My Starburst rocket with HD cam on board took off just before the Sumo and captures both the scene of the NASA facility with its vintage zeppelin hangars and the speck of the other rocket racing up after me. This was at a LUNAR.org launch event with a ton of kids watching on (the dots you see in the receding distance on the tarmac). I was flying two Aerotech F32-8 Blue Thunder motors and the Sumo was on a G78 Green Mojave.

RocketMavericks Night Launch Medley (2011-09-20)

three rockets at night: My Binder Thug on a H170 Metalstorm and then an I357 Blue Thunder. Then Jim Green's home brew M1400 sparky - the largest night launch I have seen.

Sledgehammer M1550 Launch - Onboard video cam (2011-06-16)

This was the biggest launch of the day, with the largest motor permissible in California. Mavericks Sledgehammer flying on a Aerotech M1550 Redline motor. It was a perfect flight, with video capture the whole way, even to recovery. In this case, the camera is pointing outward from the rocket, looking back to the flight line. At the beginning, the beeping sound you hear is one of the flight computers signaling which of the pyro channels is connected. This is used to deploy the parachutes at apogee, based on barometric and accelerometer sensors. After launch, it goes into a bit of a spin. You can see how fast it gets up out of the clouds. The turbulence up top is the BP explosion deploying the parachutes. The nose cone has its own 60 chute and can be seen briefly. I would not recommend watching the whole video as it takes a while to get back to ground unless you are interested in the spinning survey of Snow Ranch. I entered this launch in a contest to see how close we can get to exactly one mile of altitude (5280 ft.). After a while, and after landing, you can hear the audible signal of the peak altitude recorded by the flight computer: 5 beeps, 2 beeps, long beep, 4 beeps = 5204 ft. Not bad for the mile high club.

Sledgehammer Rocket Launch, Pink M1675, Onboard Video (2011-08-30)

We launched my 9-ft. tall Sledgehammer with two on-board video cameras, two logging flight computers, radio beacon and a CTI M1675 Pink motor. 56 lbs. at the pad. Zesty!

SpaceX Falcon 9 Kit First Launch (2012-03-05)

Designed for Estes B and C size motors, I tried something twice as powerful for the first launch, an Aerotech D10W-7. It was a perfect flight at Snow Ranch. Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/6823040145

SpaceX Falcon 9 Orbital Insertion (2011-09-22)

Part 2. The upper stage burns brightly as this video takes us through SECO and the end of broadcast. The upper stage Niobium alloy nozzle is as thin as a Coke can.

Triple Threat Rocket Launch (2011-06-22)

24 ft. tall. 120 lbs. N to N to L-size motors. Adrian Carbine and team from Portland Oregon launched this three-stage tower late in the day making for some wonderful lighting. The CTI N4100 booster burns a brilliant red at takeoff. It then stages a CTI N1100 moonburner that will take the rocket well into supersonic speeds as it burns for 12.5 seconds. It appears that the third stage did not light, but it was out of sight for me. Each stage has it's own computer and parachute recovery system