On Wed, 13 Nov 2002 00:15:07 -0800, David Weinshenker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> When I read that the fins failed I paid closer attention to the fin design >> as far as I could see it in 'before' pictures. This made me wonder why such >> a conventional, low speed fin was chosen. > >The KISS rocket was intended to be a conventional low speed rocket. >But then came the desire for More Power... :) ERPS has been afflicted with TTS - Tool Time Syndrome. "It wasn't fast enough. So I rewired it." We didn't re-fin it, because we didn't think we needed to. The conversation went something like, "Looks to me like 10 liters will take us to Mach 1.1." "Cool!" "But will the fins take the abuse?" "Oh. No, probably not." "But do we know they won't? Can we do it anyway? Can we can we?" "No. Be quiet." "...How fast *can* we go safely?" "Well, I don't want to go above Mach 0.9, but 0.8 ought to be OK..." Oops. Well, as Michael hasn't said in too long, "That's why we test." So we can learn what does and doesn't work. Look for smaller, beefier, sweptier fins, coming soon to a KISS rocket near you. -R -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The only time an aircraft has too much fuel on board is when it is on fire." -Sir Charles Kingsford Smith _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
