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03/14/09 - VCM Test Flight
The maiden voyage of Vertical Cruise Missle (VCM) is complete and went just as we had hoped for. For the launch, members of the USLI team traveled out to the SSS Rocket Launch event sponsored by Superstition Spacemodeling Society (SSS). This event took place in Rainbow Valley, Arizona and directions can be found here, from the SSS website.
Once at the launch site, the USLI team members began the assembly of VCM and integrating all of the components, including the commercial payload components that were to be used alone for the test launch as a safety precaution for our flight computer.
USLI team members: Jacob Dennis, Steven Shark, Matt Summers, laying out all the components of the vehicle (Left) and assembling the vehicle just prior to launch (Right)
The test flight of VCM proved to be very successful, and again exemplified the great ability members of Daedalus Astronautics have when it comes to designing, building, and launching high-powered rockets.
Vertical Cruise Missle (VCM) awaiting ignition on the launch stand (Left), moments after ignition and rocketing to its 5,280 foot apgoee (Center) landing very close to the launch site (Right).
As is consistent with the rest of the test flight of VCM, the recovery system worked as expected, if not better. As shown in the picture above, the vehicle landed in a location still relatively close to the launch site. This small landing radius is thanks to our double-deployment design for the vehicle where a drogue parachute is deployed at apogee and later the main parachute is deployed at an altitude of 1500 feet. The video taken of the ignition and launch can be downloaded from the following:
VCM_Test_Flight (mpg, 17.5 MB)
Also, when later inspecting the vehicle and payload for post-flight integrity to ensure the vehicles reusability, we noticed that a small amount of damage was taken on the wooden beveled edge of one of the fins. This damage is believed to be the result of both the forward and aft section coming swinging around after the main parachute was deployed and collided. This small damaged area will be fixed, machined, and applied with a new layer of carbon-fiber compositie, in order to reduce the possibility of an event such as this occuring again.
~ Matt Summers; USLI Team Lead