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TRIPOLI Pittsburgh

Launch Report

July 21, 2024

Page 11

Flyers: 18

Flights: 47

TRIPOLI co-founder Francis Graham (TRA0001) came out in July with his usual fleet of unusual rockets.

Francis Graham

The Taepodong II rocket based on a North Korean design lifts off on a trio of D motors.

"If this doesn't work, Kim will send me to a re-education camp", Francis quipped.

We should all be glad that the Taepodong flew as expected as word is that the re-education camps are not as much fun as advertised.

Francis unveils his umbrella prior to unveiling his rockets.

Next up in Francis' Flying Circus was a monocopter design called the Nemesis.

Francis designed the Nemesis to fly on a long burn G-40 motor. Multiple attempts to ignite the monocopter motor left the Nemesis on the launch platform motionless.

Ignition success, finally.

After a swirling dervish of smoke the Nemesis comes to rest, still on the launcher.

"The numbers worked out", Francis remarked, "I don't know why it didn't take off."

Analysis of another view provides some insight.

Video from a different camera indicates that instability in the tripod launch platform dampened the thrust of the motor aboard the Nemesis.

Tilting of the platform may have caused a couple of issues. One would be a change in the angle of the monocopter wing relative to the airflow, reducing lift. Another would be the transference of thrust energy from the monocopter to the launchpad, reducing rotational speed (resulting in reduced lift) needed for flight.

Francis was not about to give up.

"The numbers indicate that the G-40 is the correct motor," Francis commented, "but what the hell, since I have it with me, let's try a G-80."

The Nemesis spins gracefully towards the sky until.....

A slight mid-air re-configuration occurs.

The wing of the Nemesis fluttered to the ground near the access road while the main body hit the ground with a thud, starting a small grass fire.

The fire was quickly extinguished.

Despite increased launcher instability, the Nemesis takes to the air.

Now it may be easy to view Francis' attempts with the Nemesis as failures. The first did not lift off and the second came apart in the air. Failure, right?

We suspect that Francis sees it a little differently however. Francis knows that much more can be learned when things don't always go as we plan. And besides, parts of it did go as planned.

So don't be surprised to see Francis back at it again with the Nemesis (or something similar) along with a more stable launcher and a little more glue.

The look on his face just after the second attempt (above) tells us a lot. And we should all learn from Francis' efforts.

Thanks for being such a great teacher Francis!

Photo: Ernie Marsh

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