Fly-Cam-One Camera

Another interesting camera with possibilities for on-board rocket videos.

The ATC-2K Affair

The Oregon Scientific ATC-2K video action camera gets more than it bargained for in this action thriller. It takes place aboard the PML AMRAAM 4 rocket boosted by the mighty Aerotech J350 motor at white lightening speeds to 1900 feet. This is a Greg Lane production made on location at beautiful Samson, Alabama. Sponsored by the Southeast Alabama Rocketry Society.



This is my submission to the EMMR Rocket Video Contest.

Greg's Southern Thunder Photo Album

I uploaded some ST2007 pictures to my picasa web album. The last item in the album is a video. So you will need to double click to watch.

Southern Thunder 2007 videos

A number have appeared on Youtube. Kyle Cornelius does an excellent job matching Pink Floyd songs and the rockets!

One serious leaf blower

This is the test firing of NASA's new Methane rocket, which could be the key to deep space exploration, because methane is very prominent in space, and could be easily harvested, reducing launch costs.

Mighty Mo Launches: M1350 VS M1480

My L3 Cert flight with the Mighty Mo rocket was on an AMW 1350 White Wolf at The 2007 Florida Winter Nationals. My second M flight was on a AMW M1480 Red Rhino at the Southern Thunder 2007 launch. The MAWD altimeter data for both flights is below.
The altitude was about the same. There is less noise on the descent from apogee to the main with the M1480. I am thinking the difference was that the timer charge deployed ahead of the altimeters on the M1350 Cert flight. This meant that there was some upward velocity which initiated a tumbling of the payload and the booster end over end. On the M1480 flight I had the advantage of the M1350 flight actual data to set the timer. Another factor could have been that the drogue deployed on the M1480 flight. It did not deploy on the M1350 flight because I left a rubber band around the Kevlar protector I had around the drogue. So the M1480 was as perfect as I could ask for. I hope my next flight is as successful. I have an AMW M1850 Green Gorilla for a Samson flight. I just have not picked the month.

Southern Thunder 2007

I was indeed fortunate to attend Southern Thunder this year. The weather Saturday started out with low clouds in the early morning but turned mostly sunny with dry air in the PM. The winds were light and blowing in a favorable direction. Sunday, the winds were blowing across the short side of the field and resulted in a few rockets ending up in the woods. But did turn in a better direction later in the day.

A number of things made ST2007 a special launch. My Dad came along which made it a nice road trip.



My oldest Daughter and my Mother-In-Law also came up for most of Saturday. So they all saw the Mighty Mo launch. Likewise, John and Celeste Hansel, Kendall Brent, Chris Short and family, Jon Ward and family, Chris Crews and his Dad attended. All these folks are from the SEARS club.

The Mighty Mo flight was the first M of the day.



I really liked the huge matching yellow launch pad. The Mo went perfect on the AMW 1480 Red Rhino motor.



All the events fired and the rocket recovered nicely on the field. The bonus was the on-board video. I mounted the ATC2K camera on the booster section.



The camera stayed on the rocket! The on-board video below includes ground video made by Kyle Cornelius.



My second launch on Saturday was the Applewhite Stealth Beta on a K550.



It gets some double-takes.



It was surely the lowest K flight of the day.

Kendall was the Hybrid King of ST2007.



He flew an L, J, I and H flights on hybrids. John Hansel had several great flights including the awesome 12 inch V2.



Note John hosted the young Tiger Shiree and his Mom from Panama City. They witnessed the V2 flight and Tiger launched his Mustang.

My third and last flight was the Giant Leap Firestorm 54 on a J570.



This was my most ambitious altitude attempt. It yielded 7315 feet, my personal best.



I have always been uncomfotable losing sight of my rockets. Kendall loaned me a tracking transmitter and it did help us catch sight of it just before it touched down. I was shocked that the drogue charge fired but the rocket did not split. The main came out at 900 feet and there was no damage. Now that is pretty lucky!

My impression was that a whole bunch of AP got burned on both days. Everyone took advantage of the weather. The K drag race and the M2200 Skidmark drag races were spectacular. Thanks to the MC2 and HARA clubs for a super event!

ATC 2000 takes a free fall!

I did a launch of my AMRAAM 4 with an Oregon Scientific ATC 2000 Helment Cam on-board. After a nice flight we found the camera was no longer on the rocket. Almost everyone took a walk to find it. The gear was packed up and Chris, John, Bob and I had a late lunch at Crews BBQ. Then, we went back to search with no luck and I was ready to call it quits. At that point I came across the camera. Dirty, but no damage. In fact the video files were OK. I believe when the apogee charge went off and the shock cord was fully extended, the camera was flung off. This was at 1900 feet. I have uploaded the video to YouTube. Thanks to all who searched. Getting a video is a happy ending to the story.

See slideshow of stills here.

ATC 2000 Camera Test on AMRAAM

I installed the ATC 2000 as it comes except I used a pipe clamp instead of the supplied strap. Plan to fly this combo on a J350 at the June 2nd SEARS Launch. It has a 2GB SD card which gives one hour of 640 X 480 30 fps video.