Rebuilding
the Gray Ghost
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When the Gray Ghost was cut apart it was
found that the engine tube (used to duct the
ejection charge to the parachute compartment) had been burned open by the fireball
shooting through it. The reinforcing tape held up, but what it was
taped to was ashes.
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The top bulkhead - the "floor" of the
parachute compartment.
The heat burned the shock cord to a cinder, but it stayed
pliable 'til it cooled. |
From the back it appears fine. Most of the
heat
went through the tube as designed. |
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The rocket had to be cut into pieces to remove
the engine tube and its two bulkheads.
I decided to do away with the internal
tube and rely on the engine to
provide enough
ejection charge to pressurize the entire rocket body.
Yep, rely on a poor quality, high priced Estes
engine, which caused the damage to begin with. |
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Since there is no bulkhead to create a parachute
compartment, the
remains
of the engine tube were
cut into 3/4 inch lengths and made into a baffle. |
This will prevent the parachute (and
Orville) from
falling
into the bottom of the rocket at liftoff. |
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All the parts are back together and it
has a new coat of paint.
The rocket is longer than before, now at 4' 9".
I got a sag in the paint in one spot. I was
going to sand it out but realized the
life expectancy
of this rocket (so far) has been ONE flight. Why bother? |
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...and what
happened to Orville? When we get get a parachute guy back he gets
hung on a nail in the garage. A "Nail of FAME". |
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Yay Orville! Woot-woot!!! |
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By the way, these are all named "Orville". |
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Origin of the name
"Orville" for a plastic parachute man launched in a rocket.
March 20, 1983 4:20PM "Today we
launched Andy Ramsey's "Maxi-Streak" in his back yard. It
was powered by a D12-7 engine and contained
a little plastic paratrooper which we named Orville.
Orville was about an inch and a half high and had his own
parachute.
The rocket shot off the pad, veered slightly when it cleared
the launch rod and went out of sight. We caught sight of it
as
it fell, but no sign of Orville could be seen. It slowly
descended on its 12" 'chute and landed in the top of a tree.
Paul Ramsey recovered it with a ladder, but no trace of
Orville was ever found."
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