2002
RAPTOR V. POWERED BY A RATT K. LAUNCHED 1/2002 AT FRONTIER ROCKETRY LAUNCH SITE.
RAPTOR VI. Hybrid Test HYPERTEK L200 7/2002 AT FRONTIER ROCKETRY LAUNCH SITE.
The flight had an onboard rc abort system which did not have to be used since
the rocket was not leaving the field. Too much fuel had been burned before take off
for the rocket to have a successful flight. The rocket was not damaged and
because the field was relatively wet there was no danger of fire. The design of the Launch Platform provided by Hypetek was bad. The stem was
unable to drop once the retaining straps released the stem. The reason was that
the opening in the platform was too small. Hypertek has since corrected this
problem.
Make sure to have plenty of nitrous. It doesn't always work on the first try. Read the info source listed below. NOS solenoids have a problem of frying open after awhile, after all they were designed to be used in racing cars for a few seconds. The solenoids have an initial 10amp draw which is reduced by the Hypertek launch system. A better solution would be to use NX Nitrous Express Inc. solenoids (http://www.nitrousexpress.com/ ) . The NX Nitrous Express are excellent solenoids. A great source of information on hybrids motors - http://www.nowhybrids.com/hypertek_tips.html. This site provides a circuit design to be used on NOS solenoids.
HAWK STALKING THE ROCKET?
Note: If you are bandwidth challenged, 56K or lower, the video will take 20 - 30 minutes to download. DSL and Broadband time is about 3 minutes.
NOTE: WHEN USED FOR ONBOARD FLIGHTS, TURN OFF THE LCD.
New Onboard video system built around Pocket DV II by AIPTEK. The DVII is very light, small and inexpensive.. Weight is 3oz. with 2 AA lithium batteries installed for power. Dimensions are 3.3" x 2.7" x 1.6". The price varies between $89 - $110. 256K memory card about $69 extra. The memory card is tough and can survive a crash. Using video editing software, the video has been righted at the point of ejection when the camera was upside down on the decent down. To view by frame, place the cursor on pause and press enter, then press the spacebar once to start and once to stop.