Last night at precisely 4:48, 12 minutes before the end of the launch day the CARBON Cougar Flew for the first time. Earlier that day, which started at 7:30am, Katlyn Struxness, Elijah Shoemake, Kevin Cavender, Ryan Brooks, Mario Reillo, Curtis Zehnder and myself were already working hard preparing for the launch. We performed an ejection charge test that morning and then drove to the Mansfield WA launch site. There was a crowd of people there wanting to launch rockets and we had a lot to do. Mario, Curtis, Katlyn, and I worked on getting the launch rail set up while the rest of the crew prepped the rocket and worked with Ryan on the electronics set up. After hours of dodging rain storms and waiting for a window to fly, and finally getting the launch rail set up, we were almost ready to go. We had Robo (an experienced rocketeer that graciously volunteered to help launch our rocket for us) thoroughly check over all parts of the rocket- and he was detailed. We took the whole motor apart, which was assembled very well (Thanks Den), and got it checked out. Then he looked over the fins (Said they were rock solid and were definitely not going anywhere- Way to go Jon, Kesanet, and Bryan)! We checked out the electronics having all parts meticulously explained to him by Ryan (He and Jake spent over 24 hours making sure all parts were to spec and working properly-Can’t thank you enough). He inspected our recovery system and had no doubts about it (Way to go Phil, Chris, Conor). He was happy to see that Phil had put tape over the shock cord so that it wouldn’t get cut during ejection and put tape over the shock cord in spaced segments to slow the main chute deployment. Robo thought it was funny that we used a lead weight for payload, but said it too wasn’t going anywhere and would do its job (On top of it-Dallas, Russell, Malique). He had looked at the nosecone and the rest of the rocket and said that it was very well constructed and well thought out. He was more impressed when we told him that we had never launched a rocket before and that we had made almost all parts in house. (Jon, Johnny- the nosecone looked awesome!). Other experienced rocketeers were also impressed by how well thought out the rocket was and were excited to see it. Fast forward- 24 minutes till the waiver to 14,000 feet disappeared and we hauled over to the launch site with the fully assembled rocket. It was a team effort to slide it into the launch rail and get all last minute items ready to go. Katlyn and I inserted the ignitor and connected up all wires and with that we evacuated the area. The countdown began, everyone tense and excited to see all our hard work be put to the test. Dale- the launch coordinator started the countdown. The Carbon Cougar accelerated off the launch pad and soared into the sky. It was beautiful- That green flame was unmistakable. Because it went into the clouds, the other rocketeers told us to pay very close attention at 40 seconds to make sure if it did come down as a ballistic missile, that we were ready. After the 40 seconds had passed and no one had seen the rocket, everyone sat hoping that the recovery charges went off. Within 30 seconds, Dale had eyes on the rocket- Both drogue and main parachute were out!!! We tracked the rocket to the exact location with the GPS tracker and Eli had already gone out and retrieved the rocket. After a quick examination of the rocket- we were not unscathed. The CARBON COUGAR sustained bulkhead and lower fuselage damage- rendering it not flyable again- at least that same day. Nosecone, payload, electronics, motor casing, and recovery all looked good from initial inspection. After looking at the max altitude from the two stratologgers and GPS unit, we reached 10,300 feet. this was 300 feet from our mark! Absolutely incredible to get that close to the target! Getting this far with a club is remarkable. Even though the rocket has some work to get done, we have some individuals in the summer who can help us get er flight ready again. To everyone that helped make this rocket launch a success and to all of the builders and brains behind the operation, WE HAVE MADE IT TO OUR 10,000foot GOAL!!! Hats off to the WSU Aerospace Club 14′-15′. We can make it to UTAH!! Pictures to Follow

Last week, there was a big push to get another carbon fiber test piece made for the rocket. Thanks to Den, Curtis, Kevin, and Harrison, they got it all epoxied and ready to go. They put the aluminum tube with the layup in the oven in the composites shop and heated it to 160°F. This way, the aluminum tube would expand a very small amount and when taken out of the oven, and the aluminum tube contracts, the carbon fiber would be slightly easier to get off. Although the plan sounded great, the oven at some point in the night shut off and the pipe cooled down to 90°F when Den arrived to check on it. Needless to say, the pipe took some extra work to slide the carbon fiber layup off of it- but it happened and the aluminum pipe came out unscathed. This week we will be doing one last test piece and will watch the oven like a hawk!

Recovery went out this weekend to test how much of a charge would be needed to separate the main fuselage from the motor section with simulated weights of the actual rocket. Positive results were achieved and we will be moving forward with parachute testing for timing purposes soon.