BOOSTAR-TWO / GIGA IV flight 1 ends in catastrophic failure
The BoostarTwo / GIGA IV rocket finally flew after 1 year in storage but suffered a CATO of the sustainer motor. Stay tuned to see the full report of this flight.
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GIGA IV – ELECTRONICS
See text under photos for a detailed description.
SARON Launch Day 28-05-2021
On Friday 28-05-2021, LD and myself set out to launch the Intimidator 5 on what I think is it’s 8th flight but frankly lost count a bit and not all flights were properly documented on this site. Weather was mostly sunny, little to no wind from the N-NE direction. Launch rail was set at 32°
BOOSTAR-TWO / GIGA IV – all-up test
On 24.09.2020 we tested to see whether the BOOSTAR-TWO and the GIGA IV would fit together in the launch rail and to prevent unpleasant integration surprises at the LRE. Espcially orientation of equipment and launch buttons are critical. All went well and within the hour the BOOSTAR-TWO / GIGA IV were erected and lowered from
LD’s – 130mm monolithic 12 point star BOOSTAR-TWO – static test 04-05-2020
*** This is not my motor *** Static test of LD’s – 130mm monolithic 12 point star BOOSTAR-TWO. Intended as a booster for the BOOSTAR-TWO / GIGA IV rocket. 65/10/0.5 RIO propellant Motor diameter 130mm, 1880mm length. 19.1kg propellant, overall weight 34.8kg. 30g silicone APCP / 15g thermite igniter. More info can be found
GIGA IV – Head end ignition
Stainless steel head end igniter body from the GIGA III flight was re-furbished. For high altitude ignition the fuse head igniter was dipped in a slurry of BKNO3 viton aceton and left to dry. 3gr RIO/CuO/Mg thermite charge in heat shrink tubing as initial igniter. Booster ignition charge on top of monolithic grain consiting of
GIGA IV – Apogee deployment charge test
Place eye bolt for shock cord 45° to head end igniter body. Place shock cord above eye bolt as the drogue fabric could get squeezed tight between eye bolt and d-shackle.
GIGA IV – Nose cone construction
Lessons learned: Don’t take this route again using the M10 threaded section as a basis for concentricity. If going to machine on lathe, start with concentric mold before laminating / machining. Don’t rely on staightness M10 threaded section which can get close but slightly off straight M10 threaded section will result in a significant
KILO monolithic core burner – static test 21-02-2020
This write-up of the core burner test is condensed as it is very similar to the test performed with the hybrid finocyl / core burner test. On Friday 21st of February the KILO core burner motor was static tested on a 66/12 reload. This was motor was designed for maximum volumetric loading, lowest core mass
GIGA IV – Common bulkhead
One of the design changes for the GIGA IV is a common bulkhead to join the previously central avionics bay of GIGA I-III (in control of recovery) with the updated nose cone electronics (camera and GPS tracker). With this modification there is no longer space for a separate main parachute compartment as can be expected