Bruiser XL

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

ƒ/6.3

400 mm

1/2,500

320

My buddy Erik probably had butterflies in his stomach as he raised the Bruiser up on the rail for her maiden flight.

It was the tallest rocket at the Dairy Aire launch event this weekend. Three motors. Two on-board computers to log the flight details and ignite the outboard motors mid-air.

And it was a glorious success… photo sequence below.

14 responses to “Bruiser XL”

jurvetson

May 23, 2011 at 4:25 am

A powerful K1100 blue gets it off the rail… all 12 feet of her…

Moment of ignition of side motors (J340 Metalstorm x2)

Quarter second later, all motors up to pressure

A cool burp high overhead (lucky capture as I am on motor drive, tracking the climb)

Burnout

Total nail biter moment…as she arcs over the crowd…

Will the computers work? Everything wired right? Enough black powder to eject the nose?

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jurvetson

May 23, 2011 at 4:33 am

Nose cone pops! (hoots & hollers)

Ending with a soft landing…

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SanMan

May 23, 2011 at 4:52 am

Wow. I miss my rocketry…

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Erik Charlton

May 23, 2011 at 5:23 am

Whoa! Great series…awesome day!

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Pieces of Eye

May 23, 2011 at 5:41 am

Awesome!

What is: "motor drive tracking the climb"?

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jurvetson

May 23, 2011 at 6:05 am

oh, it’s some "motor drive" analog film equivalent reference to the frame rate of a DSLR clicking away. I was not choosing the timing of the shots during the rocket’s climb, as it all happens so quickly; I’m just tracking it through the viewfinder and holding the button down. These are the best frames. I did switch from 100mm at launch to 400mm at apogee to get the action of parachute deployment.

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Pieces of Eye

May 23, 2011 at 6:35 am

Ah good, that is was what I thought but the idea of a robotic auto tracker was in the back of my head.

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jtwebman1

May 23, 2011 at 7:47 am

Nice you got it back!

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TomiTapio

May 23, 2011 at 3:23 pm

Nice one!

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jurvetson

May 23, 2011 at 3:38 pm

and Erik had such a cool paint job on there too. A bruisin’ beauty.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/79289632@N00] – Yeah, we tried to get one of those robo trackers….. Would have been da bomb

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flytrue2

May 23, 2011 at 5:20 pm

Very nice indeed!

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Dabbler

May 23, 2011 at 11:04 pm

Awesome! I can almost hear the Ffffffffffffftt! from those engines 😉

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jurvetson

May 25, 2011 at 3:29 pm

Yes, that’s this big Bruiser right after painting – standing 12 ft. tall

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Bruiser XL

14 responses to “Bruiser XL”

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