Trifecta Cluster Rocket failure 6-7-2008 (Short version)

The Trifecta ... an abomination of rocket engineering.

Long version is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHWLTkf3Op4

It is a triple tube rocket loaded with three A8-3 rocket motors. My brother put it together in about an hour from three identical kits. Two hours later (just enough time for the epoxy to get about half-hardness) we launched it.

Unfortunately we didn't bring a powerful enough battery so the igniters wouldn't work in parallel, the recommended way. We wanted a launch so we tested series. Of course only the first igniter worked and the rocket spun out and landed a few feet away, ejecting the parachute on the ground.

The engines that didn't ignite ended up glued to the engine mount, so I had to force them out. We reused then in another experiment.

We will revive this rocket once we fix the engine mounts and get a bigger battery.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• model
• rocket
• cluster
• fail
• failure
• disaster
• triple
• estes

[mrkringle]

yeah parallel wire is a must, a series hook means one ignitor is going to ignite(for the most part)