Tag: The Island Cafe

Fredericksburg’s STEM Academy/Rocket Program-Spring Term Update #3 (April 1-April 30)

May is here and time is running out for the Fredericksburg STEM Academy as launch dates approach for the junior and senior groups. Juniors have a  May 18th test date at Rockets 2017 in Willow City. While the seniors are down to less than 3 weeks as Redbird 18 is scheduled for completion two weeks before school ends to allow for preliminary systems tests.Due to delays in manufacturing, testing will have to occur in the process of construction as components come in. Final testing will be the week of June 19th prior to their test at WSMR the following week. It is slated to launch at White Sands Missile Range on June 27th.

During April the seniors tested Low Density polyethylene (LDPE) three times on teststand. Data on all tests was consistent and exemplary. Currently the injector plate is being drilled again to increase the oxidizer flow rate to the correct  value to provide for complete combustion.  Due to this testing is on hold. Lately they have been experimenting with different ablative arrangements. The ablative has  burned through slightly but not enough to damage the test cell.

Below is an actual video of an engine burn test.  This one of the first video’s with HD video quality and audio.  The regularly captured video does not have audio embedded.  This is good for them too as they do these tests for NASA and this gives them something  more to show of their work.

https://goo.gl/photos/78HwtXxx8rytjxSV7

Mr. Matthes had this to say about this particular burn,  “It looks pretty good but we’re only getting about 1/3 of the oxidizer we should be getting so it is fuel rich.  It will not be as orange when we get the oxidizer flow rate correct.  The hope is that it is a really clean plume with mach diamonds in the plume.”

The senior’s “junior teststand” nick named “Baby Bird” is almost complete. They hope to conduct their first ever test on this new teststand possibly late this week. This teststand was created by the seniors starting last year during junior studies to test a fuel grain system designed and developed by them to interface with the hyportek injector and tank. They hope to have 3 successful tests on this teststand. If they achieve this, then they get to fly this new system at Willow City in last year’s rocket.  At this point,  they are getting fuel grains prepped.  Pictured below, are nozzles created for Baby Bird.

Redbird 18 still currently does not resemble a rocket, but they are making steady progress. The nozzle has been manufactured, seen here 

and  the nose cone mold is also back, seen here. 

Machining could only be created to within 8 inches of the tip, therefore they created the tip with 3D printing and epoxied it to the nose cone and are preparing it for fiberglass.

Other needed materials are in and have been sent out to Heartland Enterprises for machining.  Currently, Mr. Matthes says that the biggest test coming up will be next week when they pressure test the oxidizer tank.

Juniors are under pressure as the deadline for 100% completion of their rocket is May 11. Meeting this deadline will allow them time to complete their Flight Readiness Reviews (FRR) and be able to high light problems or errors that still exist. Components are coming in and weights on some are different than originally reflected in RockSim. Due to this they are updating their design to accommodate. Currently they are still on the wire between breaking the speed of sound and exceeding the 13,000 feet maximum allowable altitude. Breaking Mach means they also exceed altitude. Staying under 13,000 feet  means then they lose their shot at breaking Mach.

 Here Chris Calzada is working on RockSim trying to resolve the altitude velocity conundrum.

Meanwhile the Sophomores have been entrusted to work at their own pace to finish their last chapters and projects. Time remaining after completion of these is for 3D printing and modeling. Their learned skills in  isometric, creating section views, details and working drawing sets would now allow them to communicate effectively to a machine shop without the need for clarification.

Paul Kucherka, a FISD maintenance man and school function videographer developed an issue with the quadcopter that he uses to video. A few of the sophomores are going to attempt to design and develop a new wiring harness that may provide the solution to Paul’s needs, hopefully by the end of the school year,  this would allow him to continue using this equipment for video. In order to do this, a few other sophomores have been creating the multiview of one of the quadcopter’s parts on the 3D printer. Pictured below is the original part they are attempting to recreate.

This article is the seventh in a series, new for this school year ’16/’17 of monthly updates that will follow the Fredericksburg STEM Academy/Rocket program. This school is a participant of the SystemsGo STEM program. This series of articles is intended to support, encourage, and challenge students in the program as they share their working status and accomplishments throughout the year in the program. These publications will be available for tags and re-posting.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Day 35-A Great Week until the end anyway.

We had a wonderful time with Miss Kasey this past week. She visited with several people and kept us well entertained. We had company Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, friends showed up for dinner and visiting. Some even stayed the night one evening. It has been a while since we have had a house full of goofy girls staying over.

Thursday evening Cynthia Guevara and Michael Montoya joined us for supper, and then Steve received an unknown caller asking if we were there and if Kasey was there that they would like to come out and see her. He had no idea whom he was talking to, and invited them out anyway. Then he hung up the phone and recited a number asking if we had any idea whose is was. Luckily the number was in my phone and we discovered it was Quinten Moellering and his friend Gary Hannehmann, who are both friends with the girls. That was a good thing since he had just told someone whom he didn’t know to come out to our house at 10:00 at night.

That turned out to be a really crazy and fun night. All of them started a pillow fight and then used the palate mattresses as shields. There were pillows, blankets, and stuffed fish flying all over my living room. We laughed so hard at all of them. It was truly one of the funniest scenes I had seen in a long time. If only I would have had a video of it.

Friday night, Chelsea came in and we all met at Jalisco’s for supper, and then Kasey, Brett and Cynthia went out to Luckenbach with Michaela and Miranda Alkire and Sean, Miranda’s fiancee’. Later after graduation, Justin Nebgen met them there as well. The rest of us finished getting stuff ready to go to the coast the next day.

The five of us spent Saturday through Monday at Port Aransas. We stayed at the Mermaid Condo at Sunrise Villas where we had stayed 2 years earlier, the last time Kasey had been able to vacation with us. We ate at Moby Dick’s, The Beach Lodge, and the Island Cafe, and spent a little time shopping. Mostly though, we played on the beach and in the pool and Chelsea and Brett even did some night fishing.

The weather was super wonderful. I front had just been through chasing all the rain and humidity away, so temps were in the 80’s and not humid. The sand was packed from the recent rains, so there was no blowing sand in the breeze. The water was warm and clear as glass even when it was chest deep. It was definitely beautiful.

It was so wonderful just being the five of us again. On Monday morning, Kasey and I got up early and walked the beach taking pictures as the sun rose. It was so nice and peaceful.

We left for home just after lunch and then swung through San Antonio to pick up Aaron Chadwick’s Tahoe and bring it along home with us. We tried to go have supper with Grandma Bobbye Burow in Comfort but couldn’t get through on the phones. When we got to Los Jarros we discovered that all phone service was down in the Comfort area.

Tuesday, Chelsea had lunch with us at Porky’s and then headed back to Lubbock. Steve, Kasey and I went out to the park for a while after going to AT&T and getting Kasey a new blue phone identical to her old red phone. She needed a new phone, but still refused to get a smart phone. Later we had dinner with her and Donovan Hawkins and then they went to visit his mom and watch a movie.

Wednesday, we picked up Cynthia and had an early lunch and then headed to Austin to take Kasey to the airport. We left with plenty of time but a wreck on 71 right outside the airport made us miss her flight, then her second flight got grounded twice and she had to stay the night in Austin with her cousins who took her back to the airport at 4:00 in the morning so she could catch a 6:05 flight. She finally made it back to Norfolk at 2:00 this afternoon their time. Thank heavens she finally made it safely, a but the airlines tore her luggage for the second trip in a row and she now has to get another bag after just buying a new one here because they ripped the one coming here as well. I told her she should report it to the airlines, but she didn’t figure it was worth it.

If that wasn’t enough for one day for her, now her truck won’t start. Her dad believes it’s the battery, so she just has to find someone to jump it for her. Let’s pray that is all it is.

I am sorry if this wasn’t the most interesting or educationally informative blog tonight, but I just had to catch it all up for myself this time.

On another note, the Goddard level rocket program at White Sands is coming up in July. More details to come in the future.

Stonewall Peach Jamboree and Father’s Day is coming up next weekend. The Antique Tractor show is this weekend at the fairgrounds. More details to come on these and other things of interest as well as whatever strikes my fancy to write about.