You should get your Jr. Level 1. I am the same age and it is really fun and worth the effort. I achieved my cert and am working on a flight to 5,000 feet with an I350! It gives you access to some pretty cool motors.

Send it! I remember my first F motor. It was used in my Aerotech Initiator kit. I had ever used anything bigger than an Estes D motor before that. The flame and noise and power had my folks and younger brother simultaneously yell. "Holy S***!" ...and we did NOT swear in that household.

I don't think famous is the right word, but I appreciate it! Haha. We've got another project for September!

Unfortunately the onboard footage shut down before the launch. Still have no idea why we have issues with this camera, but I think I'll go back to GoPro for the next attempt

We definitely were worried too!

Absolutely!

I have an appreciation for Subarus but little desire to own one, haha. I used to live in Houston, just driving to the launches out there is a bit of a haul in its own right. I feel your pain

@@RocketVlogs sure is! Butt definitely worth it. And I can at least somewhat afford rocketry compared to Subarus

My current setup is a Sony A7 III with an FE 24-240 lens. This is a pretty pricy setup. However, my older setup is attainable a lot cheaper with used stuff. If you find an A6000 or A6300 and 55-210 lens, you can get similar quality! That's what my older setup was. Both rigs used a standard Rode VideoMicro with a dead cat up top!

@@RocketVlogs thanks for replying! I will check these out

Absolutely! We have FAA waivers, have to contact nearby towers, hours of activity, call-in requirements for higher altitude flights, etc. etc. I'm looking into getting a Part 107 myself, so I'm pretty familiar with how controlled drones are! With rocketry, direct contact with the FAA is required before activities begin and when you're done, so it's a little more hectic in that regard, but overall it's a pretty similar level of regulation.

@@RocketVlogs Nice and thanks for the quick reply! I figured the FAA was involved, just wasn't sure to what degree. It sounds like they regulate the heck out of your hobby as well. I sure wish we were allowed to fly higher than 400ft! Having experience with waivers might come in handy depending on what you plan to do with your part-107 certification. I'll shoot you a quick email to the address listed in your KZfaq about page. Maybe you will find my home made part-107 study guide/notes of use? I went the self paced study route 11 months ago and got 1 wrong on the exam. They definitely throw a few curve balls in there. I had three questions I was iffy on. The one I got wrong was about ceilings. I failed to keep in mind you could technically fly a drone under a bridge or some other structure/object. As you likely know, you only need 70% to pass.

I didn't shoot a whole lot, but I will post what I got eventually!

That's not flash powder, it's copper thermite. Standard igniter formulations are not sufficient for bringing these big motors up to pressure rapidly. Take note of the slow-motion clip, which is 1/16th the speed of reality, and note that all of the outboard motors lit and virtually the exact same time. This is because of the spread of a hot ignition source throughout the core of the motors thanks to the thermite ignition. In addition, standard nichrome wire igniters are too high resistance to light in numbers (7, in this case) from a single launch system, which is why low-resistance soldered ignition components are used.

@@RocketVlogs I've only ever seen the diaper method used for unstable powders such as flash. Seems like serious overkill for a simple thermite mix (but I admit I am unfamiliar with copper thermite specifically). I assume copper thermite is easier to ignite than iron thermite? I've heard of the latter being used for rockets but usually with another primer to get it started. I am aware standard igniters won't work for the reason flash wouldn't - they don't burn long or hot enough to ignite your engines. I was a senior pyrotechnician in Northern Colorado for years and a number of our crew members were also part of the rocket club here. They routinely shoot off rockets as large as yours (it was interesting hearing about dealing with the FAA as well as ATF headaches with rocket motor classifications and dealing with LEUPs, which I believe are no longer in-use). Enjoyed your video.

@@Mike80528copper thermite is to be respected the same way flash is (although not technically flash) and much easier to light than other types of thermite. I will only use it for these big clusters as it provides “instant on” ignition that we are looking for. Otherwise, I prefer a longer burning dipped igniter.

@@tjsnakez OK, I can see that. Copper being more reactive than iron, but less so than aluminum would put it between flash and thermite. I'm surprised I never came across it on Passfire, but I also wasn't really looking for it. My focus then was on various flash compositions for special effects. Nice rocket, by the way!

They are commercially available rocket motors, but they do not come assembled.

@@RocketVlogs ohhh ok cool. Thanks for the quick response. That rocket and launch were epic btw

@@cameronrich2536 No problem and thank you very much!

Sure didn't!

@@RocketVlogs oh what a shame. That’s was a memorable flight for sure. Great job guys.

@@orestesmayo-nc2hm Onboard camera failed us once again. It is what it is.

@@RocketVlogs bummer. None the less an extremely good launch. Congrats

C9

Where'd you hear that?

I wish! 04 WRX stage rally car is in the garage. Black STi is Matt’s and needs a new motor, and the white WRX is my stock “daily”.

@@tjsnakez lol “the STI needs a new motor”. It’s sad how much this sentence is part of almost every WRX/STI owner’s repertoire.

@@ROVA00lol true. The 2.0 motors are reliable, but almost all the turbo subies came with the garbage 2.5 in the US lol

@@tjsnakez yeah man i loved mine so much but despite all the money spent on preventative maintenance I still lost it to a cracked oil pickup. I guess screw me for not having spent more time and money for a Killer B pickup tube lol

It was in fact late coming up to pressure (which really wasn’t that slow except that the outboards were instant on!) We suspect it to be from oxidation caused by a failed ignition attempt and sitting 6 months. I tried to rough up the core with sandpaper the best I could.

@@tjsnakez I wonder if that actually helped increase the altitude…like an unintentional airstart

@@jasonvennard4550 we thought about that too! Haha according to the sims it didn’t make much difference, but it’s hard to say until we fly it again and get more data to compare against.

Update: it is not

@@TyCrawford it's actually a Dad Brand hat hat hat

What are you talking about lol

It's got a 128gb EVO SD card in it. Stopped recording after 9 minutes with more than enough space on the SD card remaining. With external power it recorded 2 hours straight during testing. Battery wasn't dead, either. Not sure what's going on

​@@RocketVlogs I had issues with my runcams because the battery doesn't fit right so they don't maintain contact well enough. I added some masking tape to the top of the battery to make them sit tight against the contacts and now they don't randomly stop recording.

@@pauljr1283 unfortunately I suspect this is my primary issue. I also had to add masking tape to mine, but it seemed okay during tests. Oh well! Next time

@@RocketVlogs Unfortunately these cameras are super finicky. I think I may have updated the firmware too.