Canon PowerShot SD4000 IS
Ζ’/2.8
4.9 mm
1/1,250
125

The shock waves melted the vinyl letters and plastic stickers right off the carbon fiber airframe (more easily seen in large size).

Maybe it was fate, as the letters were made by a company called StickerShock, with the motto β€œNever Fly Naked.”

I just got the flight computer files and GPS feed, and they are a fascinating study – more to come. Sure enough, I broke Mach 2, a new speed record for me. Mach 2.17 to be exact.

And this bird worked flawlessly on the first flight. (In contrast, breaking Mach 1 took four attempts with my minimum diameter Firestorm54.)

HD video of flight and recovery.

11 responses to “Supersonic Burn”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    The G-Wiz prototype avionics bay is connected to the cord, just up and off this frame.
    2/3 of it’s corporate logo sticker melted in a peel-back:
    G-Wiz sticker melt

    Reply
  2. Pieces of Eye Avatar
    Pieces of Eye

    Don’t suppose you have a timestamped CSV file of the GPS readout? πŸ™‚

    Reply
  3. Kevin Baird Avatar
    Kevin Baird

    Congrats on the successful flight & recovery!

    Reply
  4. Dr DAD (Daniel A D'Auria MD) Avatar
    Dr DAD (Daniel A D’Auria MD)

    Unbelievable! Do you think this has any significant effect on performance? Clearly must create increased resistance.

    Reply
  5. Leino88 Avatar
    Leino88

    whattabout festooning it with tons of different kinds of stickers next time as an experiment to see which ones perform the best … ? πŸ˜› (as long as it didn’t wreck aerodynamics in partially melting off … which i doubt at at mach 3, right?)

    Reply
  6. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Actually, next time I plan to tape a lightweight tubular video cam on, and expect it will peel off quickly (this flight went 0 to Mach 1 in 2 seconds flat) but I should catch ignition and maybe a lucky tumble frame grab of the plume…

    Dr. D: I was wondering that too. No more stickers on this bird…. Maybe a paint pellet on the nose tip for an artistic capture of the shock waves down the body….. =)

    Pieces of Eye: yeah, my son got it loaded in Google Earth last night…. very cool to see overlaid in 3D on the satellite imagery from the launch area. With GPS sampling at 1.5 second intervals, it recorded the max altitude as 33,701 ft. MSL.

    Reply
  7. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    Why stickers are even needed? They do not add any value.
    You and your son are both too big for stickers:)

    Reply
  8. ideastoday Avatar
    ideastoday

    The melted stickers add something for sure. Now if they were to catch fire… lol

    Reply
  9. Wind Watcher Avatar
    Wind Watcher

    Wow Mach 2.2…..stunning. Video does show a bit of stability issues….high altitude wind….maybe the stickers coming off πŸ™‚

    Reply
  10. profsr_jones Avatar
    profsr_jones

    I always wondered if Mark’s stickers were "Mach Rated". πŸ˜‰ Maybe a high temperature clear coat?
    Great Flight.

    Reply
  11. da_sp Avatar
    da_sp

    Great!

    Reply

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