On the 14th April 2024, the team headed down to our favourite launch site, Midland Rocketry Club, for another Sunday packed with exciting launches.
Recovery team tests steerable parachute rocket “Boomerang” for the Mach-24 competition
The team were the first to get their rocket on the pad and were the first launch of the day. The goal of this test was to ensure that the parafoil would deploy correctly.
Steerable parachute rocket “Boomerang” launches for the first time
The drogue parachute deployed as expected, but the parafoil that the team had made themselves failed to deploy. The “charge piston” component was found to be jammed after the rocket was recovered.
Drogue parachute deploys and the rocket lands safety, but no parafoil
The team worked hard to find a solution and chatted to Charles Simpson, who suggested some changes to the system.
After a few hours, the recovery team was ready for a second launch.
Successful deployment of the parafoil on the second test flight
Unfortunately, the parafoil was not able to be steered as it was constantly inflating, stalling and deflating again. The team now aims to conduct drop testing with a drone to solve these issues before the Mach-24 competition.
Test launch of two-stage Karman Bravo Mock
Another team