Check out Donna’s new chute

[denverdoc]

Finally got the booster chute done–this is a seriously upscaled version of the 2 foot prototype I made a few years back. The little $100 Brother I bought is still going strong, and with the right driver, making works of art. I’m a bit of a math geek–this is whats generally known as geodesic tiling–this particular example is soccer ball geometry, but to get symmetry we had to cut the 5 surrounding hexagons in 1/2. Check out th photo section.

Bazooka test out the sunroof at 35 was solid 😆
JS

[Chris LaPanse]

Looks great, and that’s one heck of a chute 😀

[Ken PlattnerParticipant]

John, nice chute. I recently read that the Jeffco and Park County Sheriff’s are on the lookout for folks deployment testing chutes out of sunroofs 😉 Just kidding. I’m sure the bazooka test was a sight to behold…

KP

[denverdoc]

Thanks guys, Donna did do a great job. There is a drawback, however to enlisting spouses aide: she now is an equal partner in the go/no-go choice. If windy and any chance of thermalling or drifting away, I don’t ask, just postpone as I did this past w/e.

As to law enforcement issues, actually, I do worry as it was near the same park where on the 4th 2 years ago a police patrol told me to stop lighting sparklers–said I had used aerial shots as well. I hadn’t but fruitless to argue in such a situation–so i packed up and went home. Heck, if I wanted to do aerial shot, there would be no mistaking it, trust me. 8)

There is a nice little drag strip down one end of the park where I can hit 60 to 70. As Sept launch approaches we’ll likely try a speedier test. My fear is I’ll be sucked out the sunroof. 😯
John S

[Ken PlattnerParticipant]

Let me know when. I’d love to get a video. Kinda like “Back to the Future”.

KP

[denverdoc]

will do. Maybe add it to a dvd if sufficiently entertaining,
John S

[Author]

Posts