September 2002 Meeting Minutes (9/5/2002)
The September 2002 MASA meeting was held on the 3rd
at the Science Museum.
Upcoming events:
-
The October meeting is scheduled for the
1st. However, we just realized that there is a Wild game
that night. The meeting date will be changed - probably to
10/8. The topic will be "Building challenge -
Junkyard Rockets" organized by Ellison Lenz. More
information will be sent out prior to that event. The
meeting may start a little early to allow more building time.
-
The next launch is scheduled for September 28 at
Blaine. There will be an Alpha drag race and possibly a
Venus Probe / ExoSkell drag race. Mike Erpelding has
volunteered to run a B parachute duration contest. Info on
the contest will be emailed out to MASA members. This
launch will be run as a "hybrid misfire alley".
Only a 6-pad system will be provided; everyone is encourage to
bring their own launch pad and controller.
Announcements:
-
A new issue of the Planet newsletter just came
out.
-
The submissions deadline for the next issue of
the Planet is October 15.
-
Everyone present at the meeting filled out a
survey about the Planet newsletter. In exchange, they were
able to put their name in a drawing. Lee Frisvold won the
drawing - a brand new Estes Orbital Transport kit!
-
There are photos from the August launch up on
the web site.
-
A short discussion was held on launch
etiquette. We all need to remember to be friendly,
helpful, and courteous to other members and visitors. Not
everyone appreciates jabbing comments or our typically skewed
style of MASA humor.
-
The November meeting date will probably change
to either the 4th or 11th.
-
A November meeting topic is needed!
-
Start thinking about officer nominations for
2003
-
Start thinking about the December holiday party
(we need a new location for it!)
-
Estes is going to do another production run of
their Saturn V kit this fall.
-
NASA Astronaut Lt. Col [USAF] Duane Carey will
be giving a public lecture at the University of Minnesota,
Institute of Technology, at 6 pm on October 25 at the McNamara
Alumni Center.
Show'n Off:
-
Alan Estenson showed his rear ejection "I.P.F.I.
Corrigan". It was kit-bashed from an Estes Sizzler.
It has flown once (successfully) on a C5-3.
-
Ted Cochran brought his newly constructed
Orbital Transport.
-
Lee Frisvold showed us his Public Enemy
V2. It lead to a discussion of the flying qualities of
different V2 kits.
-
David Whitaker brought along his LOC Viper
III. He has flown it successfully on clusters of three
D12's and three E9's.
Topic:
Alan Estenson, Ted Cochran, and others in attendance
talked about various computer software packages for designing,
analyzing, and simulating rockets. Thanks to Ted for bringing
along his laptop and projector.
Some links and notes (not an exhaustive list!):
VCP – Visual Center of Pressure (freeware)
Calculates center of pressure location for “standard” types of
rocket configurations. Can handle transitions and up through 8
fins in a group (trapezoidal, elliptical, ring tail) Can also
print fin patterns, alignment guides, shroud templates. http://www.missileworks.com/VCP.htm
WRASP – Windows Rocket Altitude Simulation Program (freeware)
Windows version of the classic program for simulating rocket
flight. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/CGibke/wrasp.htm
RockSim (commercial - $95, free reduced
capability demo)
“Construct” a model rocket on screen. Continuously analyze
CP and CG location. Simulate flights. Very powerful
program. http://www.apogeerockets.com/rocksim.asp
SpaceCAD (commercial - $34.95, free
reduced capability demo)
Model rocket design, analysis, and flight simulation) http://www.spacecad.com/
AeroDRAG – calculates and predicts
rocket drag coefficients (commercial - $20)
http://www.aerorocket.com/aerodrag.html
AeroCP – calculates center of pressure
location (commercial - $10)
http://www.aerorocket.com/aerocp.html
AeroCFD – model rocket computational
fluid dynamics program (commercial - $65)
http//www.aerorocket.com/aerocfd.html
FinSim - fin analysis program that can load
info from RockSim files (commercial - $10)
http//www.aerorocket.com/finsim.html
Rockets3 – design and test rockets on screen
(commercial - $60)
http://tentwentyone.com/rocketry/rocket-designer.html
ParaCalc – helps you choose parachute size
(freeware?)
http://www.angelfire.com/co/m2rules/paracalc.html
WinSim – rocket analysis and simulation
program (commercial - $?)
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/ucluelet/
Rocketry Software and On-Line Calculators
http//www.liars.org/Misc/Software.htm
Rocketry.Org's Software List
http//www.rocketry.org/software/
Amateur Rocketry Links Library
http//users.cybercity.dk/~dko7904/software.htm
http//mks.niobrara.com/altitude.html
(Alan Estenson)
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