Renegade Iris

The Renegade is a very old model built in the 1970s. Not at all like the modern Renegade; this is your father's Renegade. This is a large, tall, D-powered model, finished in the original catalog paint scheme. Build credits for this kit actually go to my brother.  Here we see the original configuration.

I modified it by adding my usual altimeter payload bay ("Iris"). This adds 4-1/2 inches to the rocket's length and 17 grams of nose-weight. I also replaced the Estes plastic parachute with a better nylon cloth parachute, and use a Nomex cloth instead of wadding. Here is what it looks like now.

I never have to agonize over which motor to use. Estes recommended the D12-5, and it flies great on that engine. I presume it will fly OK with a C11-3, but this was never tried, and frankly I like to see this large rocket burn long and high.

This is a closer view of the added payload section, painted black.




After an Iris test flight with a D12-5, I’m planning to load this baby up with a Aerotech E20-7W engine and push the boundaries of rocket power (for me, anyways). This model reaches about 500' on a D12-5, but on an E20, I would expect at least 1000' or more.



The payload project installed on most of my rockets is named Iris, after the Greek god of the rainbow. She is a messenger of the gods, linking the gods with humanity. This rocket has flown higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, even before it lost about 26 feet from erosion. It could have flown over the KingdaKa Roller Coaster in Jackson.

SPECIFICATIONS

Series Number: 20
Number of Stages: 1
Stock Length: 33.8"
Payload Additional Length: 3.5"
Total Length: 37.3"
Diameter: 1.637"
Payload Interior Length: 3.3"
Payload Interior Diameter: 1.60"
Payload Volume: 6.64 cubic inches
Number of Fins: 3
Fin Span: 8.25"
Stock Empty Weight: 149.3 grams
Additional Iris Payload Weight: 16.9 grams
Empty Weight with Payload Addition: 166.2 grams
Liftoff Weight Range: 205.3 - 222.9 grams
Motor Diameter: 24mm
Motor Length: 70mm
Motor Mounting Method: Clip
Altimeter Capable: Yes
Recovery Method: 16" Nylon Parachute
Typical Descent Speed: 8.5 mph
Recovery Protection: Nomex
Shock Cord Mount: Steel Wire into Paper
Fin Material: Balsa Wood
Launch Lug Size: 1/8"
Kit Brand: Estes
Completion Date: probably 1977

FLIGHT LOGS

2010, November 13: Tanguy Soccer Field, Light wind

D12-5: A good flight with light weather-cocking. Two shroud lines separated and chute tangled, fast decent into tree about 12 feet up. It was a difficult rescue, it damaged the parachute and I found the forward launch lug missing.

2011, August 7: Halifax, Light wind

D12-5: Beautiful flight and recovery. The new Nylon chute worked well. I was hoping for a bit more altitude though, but the flight was impressive enough, can't really complain about almost 500 feet.

2011, November 6: Penn Manor, Breezy wind

D12-5: I was getting kind of envious of other's powerful and impressive flights today, so I sent Rene' up on a nice, fat D12. She's the heaviest in my current fleet. It was a satisfying flight and flawless recovery. Didn't weathercock much this time in the breezy weather - fortunately. 108mph was a new speed record for me. I know I have faster rockets but I haven't recorded them officially yet.

The burn was recorded at 1.9 seconds (a little long) and peaked at 9.6 Gs, averaging 2.6 for the flight. Rene' then coasted for 3.7 seconds to apogee and then another 1.9 seconds before ejection at 431 feet, sinking 32 feet. That's about normal for this model 'cause I can't find a D12-4 anywhere. It descended at 9mph and landed 39 seconds later. Rene' has a somewhat smaller parachute for her weight because I have some E20 motors for her that will easily take her over 1000 feet someday.

2012, June 30: Indiantown Gap, Erratic winds

D12-5: Finally the winds died down a bit, so I brought out the big Renegade with its D12 motor. That D12 burned for 1.8 seconds, accelerating the Rene’ to 10 Gs, and averaging 1.8 for the burn. This brought the model to its highest recorded speed of 111 mph and it flew like it was on a rail to a new record of 551 feet!

It coasted for 4.7 seconds slowing down nearly perfectly to a standstill, with ejection only 1/10 seconds later. It then descended under a good parachute at 8mph to a soft landing for a flight time of 24.9 seconds. It landed about 250 feet away. Perfect flight!

2012, August 11: Halifax, 6-10mph winds, some gusting

D12-5: The D12 lit and burned for its usual time of 1.9 seconds, accelerating this big rocket to 11.3 Gs off the rod and averaging 2.6 Gs throughout the burn.  It reached a speed of 107 mph and coasted upwards for 4.4 seconds before the ejection fired at 458 feet. The nosecone popped and it continued up for another 7/10 seconds to an apogee of 493 feet. It then arched over into the wind and started descending, with the parachute out in the wind but still packed.

I had packed the Nylon parachute tightly, wrapped it in its Nomex blanket and then wrapped a layer of wadding around that to keep it clean.  I was also attempting to get the parachute to deploy slowly – sort of like a dual-deploy in these rather strong winds.  Of course as the rocket began to fall very fast I started to have second thoughts.  I heard others claim “no parachute!”  I was a bit worried but smiled confidently anyway.  After maybe three seconds, the parachute shed its wadding then the Nomex and opened to show its bright yellow color in the sun, possibly about 100 feet lower than when it opened.

Here I show the rocket tumbling down before the wadding and Nomex unwrapped completely. Shortly after this photo, the parachute opened completely. Although it came down slowly and safely, the altimeter recorded a high average speed of 17 mph for the descent, but with the chute opened it was more like half that speed before it reached the ground. The rocket landed about 300 feet upwind after 24 seconds for a perfect flight.