Successful Launch of 50 year-old B14
Yesterday I launched rockets with Ed Mitton (YORF member Blastfromthepast). Ed and I had never met, we had just gotten to know each other via his rocketry blog, and here on YORF.
We flew in the Denver area on a large, grassy field, which I had not done in years. Several friends of Ed’s, and mine, attended. This was the perfect opportunity to fly one of my B14s. I chose to fly a 2-stage rocket, using a B14-0, manufactured in 1969, staging to a B6-6, from 1993 (I chose to use a relatively new upper stage motor ...) ;) I did no enhancements, other than using a new Estes starter with a NC lacquer/BP dip. I did not do anything else, like scraping the BP. The ignition was instantaneous, and the rocket just leapt off the pad. I had not flown any B14s since I was a kid, in the mid-60s. I had forgotten just how dramatic the liftoffs were. The staging was successful, and the upper stage climbed very fast. I was about 15 feet from the pad, and was lucky to see the entire flight. But things looked bad at apogee — the upper stage appeared to have no ejection, and was coming in ballistic. (GH, this is about as close to your definition of perfection as you can get!) The rocket stuck in the ground about 100 yards away. As “my photographer” and I walked toward it, we realized it had landed in a volley ball sand pit. The streamer was out, but was draped over a fin. The nose cone was laying next to the rocket. It looks like the streamer just did not have the drag, once it deployed, to invert the rocket for a typical descent, like a parachute would. The tube was buried about 2”, and removing it, I tapped out the core sample. No tube damage, other than some scuffed paint along the top 1/16” or so. I should have some pictures today that I’ll add. |
Another vote for bringing back the real B14.
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Here is the liftoff picture, and the core sample.
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:cool: Wow, a dry field! I've heard stories about them, but never believed that they really existed. |
You have great rocket karma! Glad there was minimal damage. :cool:
You can sorta simulate a B14 launch with a clustered pair of A8's, but it is heavier. Also, a minimum diameter rocket would probably need to be at least a BT-58 so the acceleration won't be as drastic as a BT-20 or BT-50 model. If they ever produce them again, I want to build a Ranger for a triple B14 cluster. A pair of A8's have nearly 20 newtons peak thrust, which is nearly 4.4 lbs. |
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So great you got a pic of a B14 liftoff, that flame is huge! |
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Bill, this field is over 50 acres. When I saw it, I started feeling light-headed! I usually fly on field with cactus and rocks. :) |
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Tim, I’ve got an Astron Cobra just waiting for them. :) I only have one B14-6, so I can’t do a cluster, but I’ll pair that with another B14-0 sometime. I have 4 more Estes B14-0 from 1969, and 6 Centuri B14-0 from 1979. |
I'll bet the 1979 Centuri motors do NOT have the deep stepped centerbore like the older motors.
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I have flown an Astron Scrambler and Ranger on 3xB14-5 clusters.
Warp-Speed liftoffs. |
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