|
My First D-Powered Rocket |
|||||||||||||
|
WAEC Rockets Space Racer SAM-66 Sunbird II Pi Sprint Leviathan Space Racer II Arcturus Mk. 1 Roswell or Bust! Brinley Short March Discovery XW-1 Apollo-LES Sprint II Lone Star Mercury-Redstone Shenzhou Saturn 1B Saturn V Gemini-Titan II Juno I Chrysler Building More Information |
I started with the engine mount first, making it out of an extra piece of BT-50 body tube. I made it a few times longer than the engine itself, so it would double as a stuffer tube to decrease the internal volume that the ejection charge would have to pressurize. When I got done with that job I inserted the mount into a length of BT-60. It was about five centimeters shorter than the factory-cut length because I used it for part of my Apollo-LES rocket that hadn't flown yet. I flipped the tube upside down and attatched four fins. The fins are made of 3 mm thick contest balsa. I got the pattern from the Estes Designer's Special, which called the shape "Double Swept" (it was the biggest pattern I could find.). After I had all of the fins glued on and dried, I glued some reinforcing strips of paper between the fin and the body tube, much like the Carlisle Rock'a'Chute Mark II. I grossly over-designed the model, but that's better than the alternative. I had wanted to buy some BT-60 nose cones from the Hobby Shop, but they didn't have any. I tried to turn a nose cone on a drill in our garage, but it turned out terribly. It looked like someone had tried making it for an Honest John, but quit because he got tired. I used it anyway. All that remained to be done was attatch the recovery system and paint the brute. For the shock cord I used a piece of nylon cord, tied to a screw eye in the nose cone on one end, and an Estes-type shock cord mount on the other end. I also attached to the screw eye a parachute that I made out of a trash bag, embroidery floss serving as shoud lines. With everything deployed (the shock cord and the parachute) the rocket is as tall as me, even though it only comes up to my knee in launch configuration. I painted the rocket BRIGHT ORANGE (Competition Orange or Gloss Orange, depending on what part of the label you read). When that dried I used a lot of drafting tape to mask off an area on which to paint the name: Leviathan. I thought that that was a very appropriate name, because Leviathan was at the time the largest rocket in terms of volume in my fleet (it beats Pi by a few cubic centimeters). More recently, I've become aware of the origin of the word "leviathan," and at first glance, it seems that the name is inappropriate. Leviathan comes from the Hebrew word liwyathan. (Hebrew is a language I'd like to learn someday, but presently I merely have a vague knowledge of the alephbet, and I only know a few words.) The word refers to a ferocious sea monster, described in detail in the book of Job, which is a magnificent poem and my favorite book of the Bible. I believe it should be required reading for all scientists and politicians, or anyone who believes that we humans can, by our own wits, conquer the natural world. It's rather humbling to read. The part about Leviathan is the climax of the speech delivered by God Himself, and I've included that portion below (and at the end of my senior year of high school, I memorized it, since I had nothing better to do). I realized later that the speech describes a sea monster, and not some flying creature, like my rocket. But, the mythical Leviathan breathes fire like a dragon ("...His breath kindleth coals..."), just like my rocket. By Tuesday, August 8, Leviathan was ready to fly. Ted, Kevin Pokorney (WAEC #2), and I walked to the New WAEC Spaceport (which I have since renamed the WAEC Space Harbor) at about 8:00 in the evening. When we got to the park there were a lot of people there, and I was worried about flying an unproven design with so many people around. But, by the time Leviathan was prepped and the launch pad was all set up, everyone had left, and we were left alone. I hooked the micro-clips to the ignitor, then removed the safety key from the top of the launch rod. I walked back to the Launch Controller and inserted the key into the little slot. I started the countdown, then stopped to readjust the launch pad. After another "audible five second countdown" I stabbed by finger down onto the yellow "launch" button. The liftoff, to put it mildly, was SPECTACULAR! A shower of orange sparks fell out of the nozzle, then the rocket started moving. It leapt off the pad and screamed skyward. I've seen rockets a lot bigger than Leviathan fly. I've even seen an Atlas 2AS fly. But, there's something very unique about actually depressing the firing button on something that you've built from scratch. I will never forget that launch. Leviathan arched over flew over the creek. The ejection charge blew, and the parachute deployed but didn't unfurl. It stayed curled up even as the rocket dissappeared behind the trees. I capped the launch rod, then took off after the rocket. Reaching the bike path, I ran across it and went crashing through the reeds around the creek. I leapt over the creek, landed on the other side, and kept on running. We searched and searched and searched. I kept on going back and forth, searching for the runaway rocket. I could not find it anywhere! When it finally got too dark to see anything we came back with maglights. We still couldn't find anything. I eventually gave up and went to bed. In the night I kept thinking about how I would retrieve the rocket, until I drove myself crazy with those thoughts. I came back to the launch site early in the morning, walked up to one of the trees we thought it landed in, looked up, and there it was! I climbed up the tree, tossed it down, and climbed back down to the ground. Remarkably, the only damage Leviathan sustained was a charred parachute; in my excitement to launch the rocket I neglected recovery wadding. Oops. With the exception of the ruined parachute, Leviathan was ready to fly again! I fired it off twice more, on September 10 of that year, and January 7 of the next. With those three flights, the Leviathan test program was complete, and I was ready to move onto bigger and better things, namely: Lone Star. More Leviathan Pictures, Movies, and Graphics movie: Leviathan lifts off on January 7, 2001, the second and last WAEC demonstration launch. image: A bad photograph of Leviathan. Specifications: Length: 58 cm Body Tube: BT-60 Engine Mount: 24 mm Nose Shape: Ogival Recovery: Parachute Fin Shape: Double Swept Number of Flights: 3
"Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? "Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? "Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? "Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? "Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? "Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants? "Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? "Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more. "Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? "None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me? "Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. "I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. "Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle? "Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. "His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. "One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. "They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered. "By his sneesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. "Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. "Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. "His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. "In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him. "The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. "His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. "When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves. "The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. "He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. "The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble. "Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear. "Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire. "He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. "He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. "Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. "He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride." -Job 41:1-34, 1611 Authorized
(King James) Version
|
||||||||||||
| All materials
herein copyright 2000-2008
by Willy Logan willy@wilhelm-aerospace.org |
About the WAEC | Rockets | Launches Media | Nine Objectives |
