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Steve Baughman
Web Updated Apr 2
© 1999
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BAUGHMAN ACHIEVES TRA LEVEL II CERTIFICATION
Austin, TX - On monday, sources reported the conclusion of Steve Baughman's Experimental Rocket Vehicle (XRV Mk. III) inital flight test series with flight number 8 on Sunday, December 6, 1998 in the scrublands of West Texas just east of San Angelo, at the expansive Paradise 1 launch facility. The flight of the nine pound rocket using a solid composite fuel motor marked a milestone in Baughman's XRV rocket program by qualifying for the Tripoli Rocketry Association's level II certification, the goal for which the XRV vehicle system was designed. While experimental in nature, the XRV uses certified propulsion systems and is not strictly classified as an 'experimental rocket' according to the nomenclature of the industry.
FLIGHT DETAILS
Using an Aerotech RMS-J275 motor producing 70 lbs. of liftoff thrust for
a boost phase of 3.2 seconds, the 4" diameter unguided vehicle attained
a maximum velocity of mach 0.48, followed by a 10 second decelerating
ascent to maximum altitude at T+13.85s. Explosive charges then fired to
deploy the 48" recovery parachute for a two minute descent phase,
wherein the vehicle drifted approximately 1/2 mile downrange due to 14
mph crosswinds. The on-board telemetry microcontroller unit (TMU - a
prototype unit designed by Fly By Fire Systems of Austin, Texas)
reported 6.5g acceleration levels and a maximum altitude of 3390 feet.
This flight was the first for the recently upgraded v0.2 TMU software
and circuitry, which in addition to recording acceleration and altitude,
now includes the detection and logging of flight apogee, airframe
separation, chute deployment, and ground proximity events.
HALFWAY TO MACH 1
The successful completion of this initial level II certification program
brings the XRV halfway through its full 15-flight development series.
While these initial XRV flight tests were dedicated to airframe,
propulsion, and telemetry development, the seven remaining flights are
instead to be dedicated to dual-deployment recovery system development
and testing of airframe integrity at higher acceleration and altitudes.
Flights 9 and 10 will be used for further testing of the v0.2 system
upgrades in preparation for the implementation dual-deployment recovery
in flights 11-15. Projections of flights 13-15 currently indicate
anticipated altitudes well over one mile high and velocities approaching
mach 1.0, with g-loads up to 36g.
GOING TO EXTREMES
These developments will be crucial in the successful completion of
Baughman's planned follow-on vehicle, the Extreme Technical Research
Missile (XTRM). Details of this project are being closely held, but
sources indicate that the XTRM project is a multi-stage-capable carbon
composite airframe designed to attain TRA level III certification using
the upper stage only.
Fly By Fire Systems (FBFS) is an Austin, Texas-based company specializing in the design and integration of telemetric digital flight control systems for use in high altitude research applications. For more information contact Steve Baughman, President - sbaughmn@swbell.net
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