Ricochet

The Ricochet is another design inspired by air defense missiles.  It has a reducer to a long, thin payload section.  It is an easy, modern kit. Instead of regular gloss, I used a metallic blue paint, and painted some silver rings around the tube heads, and clear coated the entire model after the decals were added. The payload section has vent holes for use with a barometric altimeter.

You may notice the second, forward set of fins.  I like this additional cosmetic feature and you will find this on a lot of kits I choose to build.  I guess it's just my "thing".

I like this bird, it's tall but pretty light, and it travels pretty far on smaller motors. This rocket has flown higher than the Time Warner Center Towers in NY, and the Bell Atlantic Tower in Philadelphia. From sea-level it could have flown over the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

SPECIFICATIONS

Series Number: 16
Number of Stages: 1
Length: 22"
Lower Body Diameter: 0.98"
Upper Body Diameter: 0.736"
Fin Span: 4.75"
Stock Empty Weight: 51.2 grams
Liftoff Weight Range: 75.7 - 83.2 grams
Motor Diameter: 18 mm
Motor Length: 70 mm
Motor Retention: Clip
Payload Interior Length: 7.55"
Payload Interior Diameter: 0.69"
Payload Volume: 2.82 cubic inches
Altimeter Capable: Yes
Recovery Method: 12" Plastic Parachute with 10% spill hole
Typical Descent Speed: 8 mph
Recovery Protection Method: Wadding
Shock Cord Elastic Length: 36" (modified)
Shock Cord Mounting: Paper
Noseweight Mass: 6.2 grams
Fin Material: Balsa Wood
Launch Lug Size: 1/8"
Paint Used: Testor's
Kit Brand: Estes
Completed: Jan. 12, 2011

FLIGHT LOGS

2011, May 29: Indiantown Gap, Light wind

A8-3: First flight: Perfect Flight. Altimeter was not charged, so not onboard.  Apogee was high enough, but not so impressive. Altitude was estimated as 112 feet.

B6-4: Perfect Success. B motor provides reasonable altitude, whereas
A was somewhat low. Altimeter onboard recorded 311 feet.






2011, June 12: Penn Manor, Breezy wind

A8-3: Flown with an altimeter, but the altimeter may be in error, appeared more like 150 feet. The altitude reported is an estimate for the A engine size. The actual reading was 438!  This was a good flight & recovery. Weather-cocked to almost 90 degrees before ejection, but the wind was fairly strong.

C6-5: This was the first flight of this rocket on a C motor.  The flight was perfect and impressed the spectators, almost out of sight, record height. The low air pressure and high humidity probably helped it gain considerable altitude. I recorded an altitude of 751 feet. This is the flight that inspired me to use binoculars to track all my future flights. The chute opened cleanly and it landed softly about two hundred yards downrange.

2011, July 2: Indiantown Gap, Light wind

A8-3: Perfect flight and recovery. Retried with altimeter again, this reading appeared correct at 126 feet.


2011, September 3: Indiantown Gap, Light wind

B6-4: Good flight and a safe recovery. Shock cord snapped back and tore off a forward fin but it was still attached by a thread so it was not lost. Seriously, I must get longer shock cords than Estes supplies, I'm tired of getting snap-back damage to all my rockets! Altimeter reported an apogee of 310 feet.


2011, October 8: Penn Manor, Light wind

B6-4: After the previous dismal flight I had to go to a rocket I can trust. The Ricochet was repaired from the last ejection snap-back damage and included a much longer shock cord this time and it worked very well. (Note: Double the length of any Estes shock cord. Trust me.)

The rocket took off, burned for 8/10 second and generated 15.1Gs with this light rocket. It reached a top speed of 96 mph. Average acceleration for the flight was 5.4 Gs. After burn-out, the rocket coasted upwards for another 4.5 seconds and slowed considerably when the ejection fired at an altitude of 340 feet, stopping the rocket at 347 feet one half second later. After a well deployed chute, it descended at 6 mph, changing course abruptly as it fell through about 100 feet. After 40 seconds, the rocket was at rest in the
grass nearby.

I learned another lesson this day. As the rocket was all prepped and ready to go, my finger literally on the launch button, my fiancé called and I answered it. About 20 minutes passed before I was again free to launch. I had to remove the rocket, open the payload to check that the altimeter was still on (battery save feature of course), re-pack the parachute sitting in the full sun and hook up the igniter wires again.


Meanwhile a spider was building a web - on the launch tower, igniter wires, everywhere! Thin silk sticking all over my hands. Moral: NEVER answer a cell phone before a launch. Wait 40 seconds and the flight will be over.

A8-3: The last flight successful, I decided to try another flight this time with a smaller A motor instead of the B. Doesn't fly so impressively with an A. This A motor burned for 4/10 second, generating 4.9 Gs on average and a peak of 11.5Gs. It reached a maximum speed of only 45 mph - about half of what the B motor did.

It coasted for another 2.1 seconds and reached apogee of only 98 feet as it arched over. 7/10 seconds later, at an altitude of 92 feet, the ejection charge fired. It then descended under a full canopy at 8 mph, the entire flight finished in 10.5 seconds.

Successful, but not too impressive. The A motor would be good for a tiny field, but I don't normally do tiny fields.

2011, April 1: Penn Manor, 5-10 mph wind, gusty

B6-4:This light rocket took off straight and true and with a slow roll with an 8/10 second burn time, accelerating at 10.6Gs off the pad and averaging 4.4 for the burn, too fast for the wind gusts to
bother it. It reached a speed of 80 mph, much lower than expected, (about 95 expected). After the burn it coasted for 3.5 seconds to an altitude of 258 feet, about 80-100 feet lower than expected.

There was a just slightly long, 4.2 second delay before the ejection charge fired after the rocket turned over and fell 10 feet in 0.7 seconds. The timing after apogee was as good as can be expected. The rocket descended more than twice as fast as normal at 13 mph for a flight time of 18.2 seconds, although I expected more like 30 to 40 seconds. It was obvious in the descent that there was something wrong with the parachute, you could see it spinning very, very fast.

Upon inspection after landing I could see two shroud lines ripped off. The four remaining shrouds were so severely twisted in knots from the spinning that the parachute quickly closed shut. I believe it was only the very rapid spinning that kept the descent speed slow somewhat like a helicopter-type recovery.  I still don't know what may have caused the ripped plastic damage to the chute, since the ejection was well enough timed. The chute was not melted or burned.



2012, May 6: Penn Manor, light wind

B6-6: A previous flight with a B6-4 ejected a bit early at 350 feet, so I wanted to try a B6-6 this time hoping to break 400 feet. The flight started off well, accelerating at a peak of 11.1 Gs, a few Gs less than the B6-4 flight but quite acceptable. It averaged 4.1 Gs for the 9/10 second burn and reached a top speed of 81 mph. It then coasted for 3.5 seconds more to an apogee of 263 feet, not even close to its record on a B6.

While the delay time was correct on this particular motor, it was too much for this model and it arched over and descended for another 2.7 seconds to 169 feet. The newly built parachute with 2x longer shrouds than supplied by Estes, a 1.5" spill hole and a swivel clip performed well. It allowed the model to descend at 8 mph, fast enough for me to feel comfortable with a flight to 800 feet on a C6 motor.

It landed easily within 100 feet of the launch pad. The flight lasted for 18.2 seconds.

C6-7: For the Ricochet's second flight of the day, it was time to send this bird far away with its next flight on a C6 motor. This time I selected a 7 second delay in an attempt to reach a record
altitude.

After ignition it accelerated to a peak of 11.4Gs, burned for 2.3 seconds averaging 2.8Gs for the burn. This allowed the model to reach a speed of 143 mph before coasting for 5.3 seconds to apogee.

During this coast it shattered its old altitude record and turned-over at 789 feet.

It fell for 1.2 seconds after that and the ejection was only 28 feet below apogee. Again the modified chute opened cleanly and the model descended at 9 mph to land within about 200 feet of the launch pad. Overall a very successful flight of 62.9 seconds.

2012, June 30: Indiantown Gap, Erratic winds

A8-3:Tired of worrying about the erratic, gusty winds I decided to send this rocket up on a small A8, expecting about 100 feet. This rocket motor burned for 4/10 seconds and accelerated the Ricochet to
a wind-defying peak of 14.9 Gs, averaging 5.2 Gs for the burn.

It was then travelling at 50 mph straight up for the next 2.1 seconds to an altitude of 104 feet, turned over and lost only a foot when the ejection fired 3/10 seconds later.  The descent was perfect with a good parachute (with a spill hole and extra-long shrouds), falling at 7 mph and landed within 50 feet for a flight time of 12.4 seconds. Another perfect flight.

2013, October 6: Penn Manor (south field), 8 mph winds, 80 degrees

A8-3:  This was a simple sport flight of the Ricochet, which I haven't flown in over a year. As the propellant started burning, the rocket took off with 10 Gs of acceleration, averaging 3.9 Gs for the full 1/2 second burn. It reached a speed of 44 mph, then coasted for 2.4 seconds to reach an apogee of 98 feet. In spite of the somewhat gusty winds it flew straight up.

The Ricochet during coast, releasing tracking smoke.

After apogee, it dropped 11 feet in 6/10 seconds, deploying the parachute at 87 feet. The chute opened well and the rocket returned at 7 mph. It landed nearby after a 11.5 second flight.

  

Thanks to my "camerifle", I can now see closeups of ejection.

Here, the smoldering balls of wadding can be seen clearly.

Here we see the parachute unrolled from the shroud lines,

and about to unfold into the wind.

As for the performance of this flight, the A8 motor tied its lowest altitude record of 98 feet, and it had a record low speed, peak and average acceleration. The A8-3 motor had a precisely timed delay at 3 seconds exactly.

                       

A unique perspective showing the spill hole.

Ever since I lengthened the shroud lines and added this spill hole,

this parachute has performed perfectly on the Ricochet. 

                      

2014, July 20: Gloucester College, 85 degrees, 8 mph winds

B6-4:  I watched another club member fly his Ricochet with an A8 several times already, and in an effort to resonate with him, I hoped to fly my Ricochet also.

 

As luck would have it, I had a Ricochet flight scheduled but with a more powerful B6 motor and it was the next lowest flight on my schedule (I always start low when it is windy).  This was a redo flight because I had a bad ‘chute with one of my earlier B6 flights.  The wind was up but the field was plenty large to handle it.

I prepped the rocket with its usual white plastic Estes chute, modified with a spill hole and longer shroud lines.  The club leader pressed the big GO button, and the rocket fired off with a peak acceleration of 10.1 Gs, enough to shrug off the stiff winds.  It burned for just under a full second, averaging a weak-ish 4 Gs of acceleration but certainly good enough to keep it flying up in the winds.

 

 It reached a somewhat slow top speed of 82 mph and then coasted for a 3.5 seconds of delay.  It could have used more delay as it was still climbing through 286 feet when the ejection fired one half second early, causing the rocket to stop after ½ second at a somewhat low 292 feet apogee.

 

At ejection I saw a small object shoot away a good 50 feet or so, too fast to be a piece of wadding. I think I knew what it was.  The extra-long shock cord and parachute worked great, slowing the rocket to 6 mph for the descent.  Flight duration was 33.6 seconds, and while landing about 400 feet downwind, it was well within the field and safe.

The rocket was retrieved without the motor casing, which probably contributed to its record-tying slow descent speed and greater drift than any rocket of mine on this day.  Even though windy, a B6-6 could have been used to achieve a higher altitude and still have some time for a delayed ‘chute and therefore less drift.

I have no explanation for why the motor casing ejected with the motor clip in good condition, maybe it was packed a little tight?

2016, April 17: Cross Keys Field NJ, 66 degrees, 34%RH, 5 mph winds, no gusts

 

C6-7:  This would be the 2nd flight of the Ricochet with a maximum-packed motor.  The last one was 4 years ago although it has flown two and three years ago with smaller motors.  Like all flights of this day with C6-7 motors, I was hoping to set new records in speed and height.

 

 



 

Moments after ignition the Estes Ricochet begins it's skyward journey with the C6-7 motor.

The extra set of fins on this Ricochet makes this rocket look extra cool to me.

I like how the little plastic plug bounces off the blast deflector with a "ping" and flies into the air so fast it can't usually be seen except in perfectly timed photographs.

 

 



In a fraction of a second a bunch of electrons crowded through the igniter wire, heating it up and sending the Ricochet skyward with a push of 11.3 Gs of acceleration.  The motor burned for a full 2 seconds and averaged 3.1 Gs of acceleration before burnout.  At that time it was moving 138 mph upwards, undisturbed by the light winds.

 In the next five or six seconds, this little bird will have traveled straight-up more than the length of two football fields end-to-end.

 

 

It continued to coast for another 4.9 seconds while travelling nearly out of sight.  It finally ran out of speed at 722 feet and turned over.  Ejection was not to be for another 8/10 seconds and in the mean time it slowed and dropped only 7 feet.  Fortunately the delay was short, and after 5.7 seconds it pushed the top out and allowed the really little 8” parachute to open up.

 

 



 

Just a few yards above the launch pad, this photo captures the Ricochet in "mid-cock".

By that I mean: As I saw on the slow-motion video of this liftoff, the rocket suddenly reacted to a gust of wind and rotated maybe 10 or 20 degrees off from the direction of flight, likely due to the surface area of the fins.  Immediately after that, I saw the rocket then right itself using those very same fins and it continued to fly straight up to a distance of 700+ feet.

This all happened in a fraction of a second and can't be seen at normal speed.

 

 

I was afraid of losing it, so that is why it was so small and I am glad I made some tiny ‘chutes for this purpose.  A full 715 feet above the ground the parachute opened and slowed the rocket’s descent to a speed of 10 mph.  It landed maybe only 100 feet down wind but in tall grass that made it hard to spot.

Eventually I did find it and it returned without a scratch, as it never really touched the ground.  This was a 53.3 second flight.  Compared to the last C6-7 flight, this was less in all measurements except for the average acceleration was a bit higher.  It also descended a bit faster but that was expected and even desired by switching from the 13” stock to an 8” parachute.  This was the 15th flight for this rocket, and with no damage, all is well.
.
.

May 25, 2019, Fort Indiantown Gap, PA

I had planned for quite a while to try for a new altitude record with the 'Rico, and on May 25 at FIG I had the chance. While prepping the rocket though, the shock cord seemed a bit weak and maybe not fully knotted.  So I gave it a test tug. Sure enough, the rubber snapped.  I could have made emergency repairs but I still didn’t trust the old rubber.  With plenty of other flights on the schedule I scrubbed this mission and had to add Ricochet to the growing list of ‘to-be-repaired’ rockets.  It should be a simple fix and I will get this thing flying before too long.

 

 

 

 

 

#rocket #modelrocket #ricochet