We have lift off!
Rheenendal family blasts the lid off Africa record
A Rheenendal family together with a friend from Cape Town set a new African altitude record for amateur rocketry. The team consisted of father Mark and sons John and David de Bruyn and their friend Dino Marx.
For decades the race had been on to break the 10km barrier and the team from Cape Rocketry managed to not only break the previous record of 9.5km, but surpass it by almost 400m, at 10.37km. They were determined to build as much of the rocket themselves and to only use local companies when needed.
They made the propellant and used electronics developed by David. The rocket has a GPS system responsible for deploying the parachute and tracking the rocket to the landing site.
David described how the launch unfolded, saying their JR101 stood at just over 2m in length and was loaded with 8kg of solid propellant.
“Three, two, one! A power bank is connected to a transmitter, sending a radio transmission to a receiver next to the launch pad. The receiver floods current through a segment of wire salvaged from a kitchen toaster.
“Located deep within the core of the rocket combustion chamber, the wire begins to glow-red hot, and initiates a preliminary chemical reaction in a precisely orchestrated sequence of events.”
It burnt more than a kilogram of propellant within a single second, and after seven seconds the rocket reached almost twice the speed of sound, travelling faster than a rifle bullet and had more kinetic energy than five African elephant bulls charging at top speed. The core of the motor reached temperatures of over 2 000°C.
After 45 seconds of flight time the rocket had exceeded the height of Mount Everest by over a kilometre and had shed half of its 20kg weight.
It took about six months to build the rocket, but the team has been researching and building smaller rockets for over 10 years.
The launch of the record rocket, which donned the name JR101, took place in the Karoo on 3 August after having received flight clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Cape Rocketry refuses to stop at merely 10.37km however, as they say that the next challenge will be 20km – and one day, hopefully, space. – Thea Koen