Dust Devil High Altitude Project

 

by Frank De Brouwer TRA 06113 / Maverick 033

and Peter Muller TRA 09238 / Maverick 037

1.0 Introduction

In September 2008, Peter Muller and Frank De Brouwer flew some CanSats during ARLISS and some high altitude projects during XPRS in the BlackRock desert in the USA. During this launch an idea started to build a new project for a extreme altitude attempt.

While in BlackRock Desert enjoying the surroundings, the name for the rocket was born and it was to be Dust Devil as a result of the fine dust on the playa that creeps in everything.

The Dust Devil project members are Peter Muller and Frank De Brouwer under the flag of the Dutch Rocket Boys and the project is intended to fly in 2012, time schedule is mainly made by the funding and sponsors, construction is on track.

The European Altitude record (In Europe) lays around 12.5 Kilometers, the problem in Europe is that we have multiple rockets that can break this record easily, there is however no suitable launch site in Europe available to do this. In 2011 we aim to set the European Altitude record in the USA well above this 12.5 kilometers with Individual projects, and in 2012 we aim to set a very high altitude record in the USA with the Dust Devil. We aim for Space, but if this is possible remains to be seen and will be a result of the Pro150 motors that we can develop together with CTI for this project.

Sponsors;

To get this project in the air we are on the search of more sponsors. Please contact us for sponsor details and sponsor packages. Sponsor Letter can be found by clicking here. Sponsor Letter in Dutch can be found here. Contact information;

 

Individual Sponsors can contact us as we have a sponsor package in place for individual fliers. For a fee of 25 Euro we will fly your business card on this flight.

On the moment we are working on;

Designing the airframe in RockSim and Cad, REBEL Space is sponsoring the main airframe, the recovery and avionics, Performance Rocketry is sponsoring the first stage.

Designing the Pro150 motors for both stages with Jeroen Louwers from CTI (one with head end ignition). All 4 motors will be specially designed Pro150 motors with a Carbon Fiber Casing.

Designing a new high speed recovery system.

Designing the Avionics for this flight with GPS, downlink and a high resolution camera.

Getting the needed sponsors.

Setting up the infrastructure for shipping and the launch with Mavericks and the FAA as this is a class 3 rocket under the new regulations and Black Rock will be too small for this Rocket under the new regulations. We may opt for a European launch site, but this depends on funding as launching in Europe might be more expensive then in the USA.

Altitude predictions are now between 70 km (230.000 feet) and 120 km (400.000 feet or near Space) depending on the final airframe design and offcourse the design of the motors. Speed predictions are between Mach 3.1 and Mach 5.2

 

Contents Dust Devil Project

 

2.0 Project Goals

Lately amateur rocket builders have built more and more extreme projects that launch to high altitudes.

We as members of the Dutch Rocket Boys want to set the European High Altitude Amateur Rocket record on a higher level in. Our Flight with the Dust Devil is aimed on setting the European Amateur Altitude record to an unprecedented altitude, very close to Space, or just to nick it.

The highest verified altitude reached by a European built amateur rocket is 60.203 feet (18.350 meter) by a French Amateur group out of Paris who launched a rocket on the 13th of February 1998 from French Guyana. An Attempt to break this was done by the MARS Advanced Rocket Society out of the United Kingdom, who launched from the Black Rock Desert in October 2000, their rocket reached 34.579 feet (10.540 meter) and did not break the record. In March 2009 the group DARE from the TU Delft launched a rocket up to 41.010 feet (12.500 meter) from Kiruna in Sweden.

The Dutch Rocket Boys is a group of amateur rocket builders that design, fly and built allot of individual projects, which they launch in and outside of the Netherlands. The members are active members of Tripoli USA, Tripoli the Netherlands, United Kingdom Rocketry Organization and Mavericks in the United States.

We aim to launch this rocket close or into Space, with the main goal as doing this without support from a University, Records in Europe are limited by the lack of launch locations, that is why we opt for the USA. Designing and building the rocket will not be the hardest part, the hardest part will be to get launch permission and get the rocket there.

We will use newly developped motors that we will design together with CTI, the main reason for this is that we want dependable motors and the fact that building motors in Europe is impossible without very large investments for a project like this.

Basic Goals of this project;

We made the basic design in RockSim 9.0, after this we made a CAD drawing of the rocket to be able to manufacture the special parts and to convert this drawing for use in a CFD package.

3.3 Materials

3.4 Motors

3.5 Avionics

Basic setup;

Nose Avionics Section;

High End Camera; Filming of the curvature of the Earth.

BMMW UFC2; DATA Gathering, GPS and downlink.

Sustainer Section;

2 tiny RDAS with GPS, Downlink and Orientation;

Orientation decision for ignition of 2nd stage;
Activation of double Rouse CO2 system for Drogue Chute Deployment;
Activation of fail safe Release mechanism (ARRD and Tether) for Main Chute Deployment.

Booster Avionics Section;

2 tiny RDAS;

Activation of 2 BP charges for Drogue Streamer Deployment;
Activation of fail safe Release Mechanism (ARRD and Tether) for Main Chute Deployment.

3.6 Recovery

3.7 Flight Profile

4.0 Rocket Construction

4.1 First Stage

4.2 Second Stage

20090318The first parts from Performance Rocketry have arrived.

More Parts in the REBEL Space workshop

The second stage is ready for paint

4.3 Motors

4.4 Avionics

4.5 Recovery

5.0 Flight

5.1 Launch Location

5.2 Pre Flight Checklist

 

5.3 Logistics

The rocket will ship in parts with the needed tools in a crate. After the launch the Rockets will be re packed and send back to Europe.

As we had some major US Customs delaysin 2008 we will now ship earlier to prevent delays or cancellation of the launch.

6.0 FAA Requirements

When a Class 3 - Advanced High-Power Rocket requires a certificate of waiver or authorization the person planning the operation must provide the information below for each type of rocket to the FAA at least 45 days before the proposed operation. The FAA may request additional information if necessary to ensure the proposed operations can be safely conducted. The information shall include for each type of Class 3 rocket expected to be flown:

(1) The information requirements of paragraph (a) of this section*.
(2) Maximum possible range,
(3) The dynamic stability characteristics for the entire flight profile,
(4) A description of all major rocket systems, including structural, pneumatic, propellant, propulsion, ignition, electrical, avionics, recovery, wind-weighting, flight control, and tracking,
(5) A description of other support equipment necessary for a safe operation,
(6) The planned flight profile and sequence of events,
(7) All nominal impact areas, including those for any spent motors and other discarded hardware, within three standard deviations of the mean impact point,
(8) Launch commit criteria,
(9) Countdown procedures, and
(10) Mishap procedures.

* Paragraph (a) requirements:
(1) Estimated number of rockets,
(2) Type of propulsion (liquid or solid), fuel(s) and oxidizer(s),
(3) Description of the launcher(s) planned to be used, including any airborne platform(s),
(4) Description of recovery system,
(5) Highest altitude, above ground level, expected to be reached,
(6) Launch site latitude, longitude, and elevation, and
(7) Any additional safety procedures that will be followed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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