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Spinning the rocket

RDOne

Member
I recently completed the flight testing on my rocket and am just about done with Rich Stowell's excellent book "Stall/Spin Awareness" (ya I know it's a little backwards).

The book was really eye opening to me in regards to how even minor changes to an airplane and/or how abused controls can really effect the plane's spin recoverability.

I'm curious about others experiences spinning their rocket. I haven't had any issues recovering from about a 1 1/2 turn spin. I still haven't done a fully developed spin or an inverted spin.

I'm guessing without a passenger it would be hard to get into a flat spin situation with the forward cg. Anyone experience anything unusual or noteworthy doing intentional spins?
 
I recently completed the flight testing on my rocket and am just about done with Rich Stowell's excellent book "Stall/Spin Awareness" (ya I know it's a little backwards).

The book was really eye opening to me in regards to how even minor changes to an airplane and/or how abused controls can really effect the plane's spin recoverability.

I'm curious about others experiences spinning their rocket. I haven't had any issues recovering from about a 1 1/2 turn spin. I still haven't done a fully developed spin or an inverted spin.

I'm guessing without a passenger it would be hard to get into a flat spin situation with the forward cg. Anyone experience anything unusual or noteworthy doing intentional spins?

I've done 2-1/2 turns in both directions, solo. Not my favorite thing. Recovery was conventional, but a lot of altitude is necessary.
 
Mine spins like any other aircraft. It does wrap up tighter after a few turns. Recovery is near instant as soon as controls are neutralized. I don’t have time to put anti spin controls in before the recovery. All my spins are solo with a forward CG.
 
HR2 vs F1 spin results

Hey Fellas:

Some of you might recall the silver/black HR2 I had - we swapped out fin/rudder setups to test the F1 design. Some interesting results came out...

The HR2 would not spin more than about 1.5 turns - then it recovered. Not matter what I did, 1.5 turns was all she would do. 1/2 fuel both sides, and solo.

Swapped to the F1 rudder and then all was normal - I could keep it in a spin as long as I wanted.

Two things could have helped: the F1 fin is counterweighted, so it is a bit heavier - could be that small change would do it?

Also the F1 rudder is a bit larger in chord too - might have added enough yaw to maintain the spin too? I am only an amateur test pilot - not a Pro - so maybe I was doing something wrong?

In any case, our goal was met: added more yaw authority for better crosswind control, and of course spin recovery at somewhat aft (2-up) CG situations.
 
I recently completed the flight testing on my rocket and am just about done with Rich Stowell's excellent book "Stall/Spin Awareness" (ya I know it's a little backwards).

I didn’t read Rich’s book but I have read several times one of the books he got his information from. Stalls Spins and Safety was written by Sammy Mason, a Lockheed test pilot. Sammy’s book puts the subject in a way that’s easy reading and really drives home the important steps for anyone to consider if they were to try and do their own spin testing.

Three things he stresses are important to anyone doing spin testing are a spin chute, an observer in another plane, and a thorough understanding of the planes stall characteristics leading up to a spin.

You can find the book used on Amazon. It’s been out of print for years. I have a stack of them I’ve picked up over the years. I hand them out to friends who exhibit an interest in the subject.
 
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