Floating blimps and giant rockets have filled the CEID this week. The Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association have been preparing their second and third rockets of the year, Omega and Chronos, to launch this weekend in upstate New York while also putting the final touches on their blimp for the ASME Lighter than Air Competition.
Friday the entire organization will mobilize. Two cars and a U-Haul will head to the URRG launch carrying three rockets and eleven team members. The UAV team will be launching the Omega for the first time. This 15 ft, 14 in diameter rocket is big enough to fit YUAA members inside, and, yes, this claim has been tested. They plan to fly the 100 lb rocket to 1500 ft on a L220 motor, one of the highest level you can launch in the northeast. In future launches the Omega will house a UAV in the form of an RC plane. The team has been hard at work designing and implementing a scissor wing mechanism so that the wings will fold parallel to the body to fit inside the rocket.
The Rocket Competition team has built a smaller but equally impressive rocket, Chronos. At the URRG launch, Chronos will fly to about 2500 feet as a test for its 10,000 ft flight this summer. The team will be testing portions of their payload, a system to measure the effects of relativity during the rockets assent.
The Lighter than Air team will be taking their angry birds blimp to Philadelphia where they will fly it through an obstacle course carrying a payload. Apart from the balloon shell, the team built the blimp from scratch, fighting gravity to stay afloat. In addition to helium, the blimp will use fans and a flapping tail fin to navigate through the air. Matthew Brady (’17) will pilot the craft.
With all of YUAA out at competitions, you think the CEID might empty out, but between final presentations and other fast approaching competitions, the CEID will not quiet down for a second!