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Post by htbrst on Aug 8, 2019 9:21:59 GMT 12
Am I right in thinking that the Black Hawk is the largest civil helicopter currently based here? Standard external load for them is 4.1t I'm seeing credible estimates of just under 1t for a dry Electron first stage (same as the Falcon 9 fairing they catch with a net on a boat), so that seems like a reasonable margin. Gives an idea of the size of helicopter they will need. Launching from a ship could bias towards one of the oil rig support helicopters with qualified pilots? An AW 139 probably has enough margin. Of course whatever ship they hire may come with one Their phase one trial is to fish one out of the sea and refurbish it back at the factory. Phase two is to catch one with the helicopter and return it to the launch complex for refurbishment and reflight. So depending on how phase one goes, should they miss with the helicopter they may still have an option to reuse the airframe.
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Post by ErrolC on Aug 8, 2019 11:23:21 GMT 12
Am I right in thinking that the Black Hawk is the largest civil helicopter currently based here? Standard external load for them is 4.1t I'm seeing credible estimates of just under 1t for a dry Electron first stage (same as the Falcon 9 fairing they catch with a net on a boat), so that seems like a reasonable margin. Gives an idea of the size of helicopter they will need. Launching from a ship could bias towards one of the oil rig support helicopters with qualified pilots? An AW 139 probably has enough margin. Of course whatever ship they hire may come with one Their phase one trial is to fish one out of the sea and refurbish it back at the factory. Phase two is to catch one with the helicopter and return it to the launch complex for refurbishment and reflight. So depending on how phase one goes, should they miss with the helicopter they may still have an option to reuse the airframe. They'd have a better chance of re-furbing the engines rather than the 12m carbon fibre tube, wouldn't they?
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Post by htbrst on Aug 8, 2019 11:44:36 GMT 12
They'd have a better chance of re-furbing the engines rather than the 12m carbon fibre tube, wouldn't they? They can 3D print engines "in 24 hours" which wouldn't seem to be too much of a bottleneck in production on the face of it Here is the quote I was thinking of from the NZHerald: www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12256289
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Post by ErrolC on Aug 11, 2019 12:41:44 GMT 12
Good (or at least convincing) video
Interesting points: Estimated downrange distance for first stage is 620km (same as Falcon 9 booster) - so a day's steaming or so for a ship? Assuming they recover to the NE of launch, no big deal to base out of Tauranga or Auckland. Lockheed Martin (investor in RL) has done proof of concept demo of the chute capture as part of the Vulcan engine recovery plan.
What is the area covered by the NOTAM for launches?
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Post by nighthawknz on Aug 15, 2019 23:33:36 GMT 12
Possible launch tomorrow www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/Mission Name : Look Ma, No Hands Rocket: Electron Electron Name: Look Ma, No Hands Launch window: 16 - 30 August UTC Launch Time: First launch opportunity no-earlier than 12:57 UTC, Friday 16 August Launch Site: Launch Complex 1
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Post by ErrolC on Aug 16, 2019 7:04:05 GMT 12
"Tomorrow" being just shy of 1am Saturday, moving about half an hour earlier reach day (if needed).
The launch window will be approximately 1 hour 40 minutes each day. This table outlines the target launch timing for the first week of the window. Window open (NZST) Window open (UTC) 2019-08-17 00:57 2019-08-16 12:57 2019-08-18 00:32 2019-08-17 12:32 2019-08-19 00:06 2019-08-18 12:06 2019-08-19 23:40 2019-08-19 11:40 2019-08-20 23:15 2019-08-20 11:15 2019-08-21 22:49 2019-08-21 10:49 2019-08-22 22:23 2019-08-22 10:23
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Post by nighthawknz on Aug 16, 2019 9:51:36 GMT 12
I wish I could get the first two mission patches, "It's a test" and "Still Testing"
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Post by nighthawknz on Aug 20, 2019 18:40:02 GMT 12
Look Ma no hands
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Post by nighthawknz on Sept 5, 2019 9:45:38 GMT 12
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Post by nighthawknz on Oct 17, 2019 19:27:08 GMT 12
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Post by nighthawknz on Nov 9, 2019 13:29:18 GMT 12
Loving RocketLabs mission names... Running out of fingers... lol
For real time launch updates, follow Rocket Lab on Twitter and Facebook.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 31, 2020 14:16:50 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 31, 2020 15:08:40 GMT 12
Another successful launch.
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Post by madmac on Apr 9, 2020 21:56:21 GMT 12
Rocket Capture trails
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Post by FlyingKiwi on Apr 10, 2020 11:52:14 GMT 12
That is very impressive, nice accurate flying by the helicopter pilots too.
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Post by nighthawknz on Apr 20, 2020 23:58:34 GMT 12
That is very impressive, nice accurate flying by the helicopter pilots too. Peter Beck said in an interview, he asked the pilot how it went and also saying you made it look easy... "That didn't look to bad at all..." Pilot said... "Oh no I was working for that..."
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 11, 2020 11:31:47 GMT 12
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Post by ZacYates on Jun 11, 2020 21:09:02 GMT 12
Patiently waiting for news on the next launch window!
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Post by ZacYates on Jun 13, 2020 20:37:10 GMT 12
It was great to see the vehicle launch successfully today! What a spectacle! I'd love to witness a launch in person one day.
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Post by htbrst on Jun 13, 2020 23:05:15 GMT 12
It was great to see the vehicle launch successfully today! What a spectacle! I'd love to witness a launch in person one day. We could see today’s mission heading skywards not long after launch from Palmerston North. Now I know where to look I’m keen to see what a nighttime launch looks like. I know it’s not the same as seeing it liftoff, but was still a buzz catching it 😬
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