We have uploaded a new video to our YouTube Channel which shows the Onboard HD video of one of our test flights which went 1,374 feet high. This flight was a test of the electronics and payload bay which were created for our X-17 water rocket. This particular flight used the pressure vessel from our X-12 water rocket with a diameter reducing fairing to adapt the two sections together, because the X-17 pressure vessel was not completed at the time the payload testing was conducted.
One of our most observant viewers noticed that the spin characteristics of X-12 are vastly improved compared to some of our previous videos. Good eye! The way we accomplished this is very simple: we changed the fin shape on the rocket so that the fin tips were protruding farther away from the main body tube. If you study the air flow over a rocket, the air is turbulent close to the body, and especially where the fins meet the body. By moving the tips of the fins farther away from the body, the air is smoother and allows the fins to function more efficiently. We did debate if the new fins were perhaps aligned better and that explains the imrpovement, so we made the same modification to X-10 and had a similar improvement in spin.
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