KLOB+2005

(NWR report by Dave Thomson)
 * K-LOB 2005**

KLOB 2005 would be my first level 3 atempt with my IRIS and Sean's level 3 atempt with his Lust for Thrust

I had completed the IRIS a few years ago, but with working away a lot I just could not find the time to get to an event to fly it. Meanwhile, Sean was improving the ground support equipment for the Hybrids and had build his Lust for Thrust to get his level 3 before flying his Pheonix.

The weather was good and the winds low for the event. We set up away from the other pads along with a few other level 3 attempts. The new large pad was very stable and had no problem with the heavy large IRIS.



The core motor was an M1010 Hypertek Armageddon High effects grain. The outboard motors were 2 x J330 Ceseroini solids. Total impuse was 9114 Ns 765 Ns each for the J's = 10644 Ns. The outboard motors were ignited by a pull jack when leaving the pad. Multiple arm swithces and audible warning sounds were used to ensure that it was safe to operate.

A Mustek DV camera was used to record the inflight video. I have used DV5000, DV5200 or similar over the years since this flight. Any of them will do and they are all cheap off Ebay. I cannot remember the actual version of camera used in the flight.

The rocket was primed and ready to go. Hugh arranged for clearance and the pad area was cleared. Dvaid and myslef stayed behind to arm the avionics (2 x GWhizz), the camera and the outboard motor circuit.

The tank took ages to fill (well over a minute). Eventually the tank began to vent. I held down the Ox button (possible for too long) and then hit the launch button. What a launch. There was a big plume of smoke from the pad as the M kicked in. The J's followed soon after and the sound was fantastic. The ground lauch video does not convery the sound at all. You have to see and hear these things to really understand what it is like.



The rocket climbed quickly. Much faster than I expected it to. The flight was straight and there appeared to be little roll. It was a small spec at appogee. My son could still see it well and was shouting out what he could see. It appears that the rocket was coming back in when the drouge was released. The nose cone separated with the drouge and main was then deployed (Oh dear!).


 * Ground lauch video of the IRIS:[[file:nwr/IRIS in flight_1 KLOB 2005.wmv|IRIS in flight_1 KLOB 2005.wmv]]**


 * In-flight video of the IRIS:[[file:nwr/IRIS_level3failground_KLOB2005_1.avi|IRIS_level3failground_KLOB2005_1.avi]]**


 * All flight still images were taken by Ben Jarvis of the MARS crew. They are fantastic images. Some of the best launch images I have seen. Thanks Ben!!**
 * [[image:KLOB_2005_8.jpg]] || [[image:KLOB_2005_9.jpg]] ||
 * [[image:KLOB_2005_11.jpg]] || [[image:KLOB_2005_13.jpg]] ||

The remains of the rocket then began to tumble back to earth. It took a long time to come down even without a chute. The landing was hard and the fins were bent and the body tube slightly damaged.

The camera looked intacked. Inspections later though showed that it was dmaged beyond repair. BUT the SD card had survived and I got the inflight video back. The rocket has since been repaired and I have completed my level 3 certification at IRW2007 with the IRIS.





Above image show the damage to the fill stem (bent at the bottom)

My son David and I did make the cover of Extreme Rocketry for May-June 2006 with the IRIS



Sean collected the remains of the IRIS and began to remove the Hybrid as he needed it for his level 3 flight. He was up and running in no time. He was flying on a midi tank with the Armageddon M grain. The flight was fantastic. It really did rip off the pad too. Deployment was perfect and he got his level 3 certification.









Look...there it is.!!!....This is the moment the main came out and Sean got his level 3. It took a while for Sean to recover the rocket. By then it was getting dark! Image above shows Sean's Lust for Thrust with a slightly toasted back end. It was easily cleaned off. David flew his Wizard on an I motor. Nice flight but again one of the fins was damaged on landing Above is Andy with his BBX. A great flight, but not such a good landing.!!



Sean Thunderhawk was suffering from the vent tube icing up! There was the usual FANTASTIC fireworks display at the end of the event.