Use a higher thrust, lower impulse motor. For example, an A8 has 8N of thrust but only 2.5 Ns total impulse, as compared to a B6 which has less thrust (6) but more impulse (4.9). Higher thrust helps mitigate weathercocking. .
Good general theory. But in this case, a misunderstanding of the actual thrust levels of an A8 vs a B6.
The A8 has a peak thrust of about 10 Newtons, then drops to sustainer of about 2.25 Newtons.
The B6 has a peak thrust of about 12 Newtons, then drops to a sustainer of about 4.7 Newtons.
The A8 is therefore somewhat misleadingly labeled. Its average thrust is 3.18 Newtons. While the B6 average thrust is 5.03 Newtons.
Now, the "A10" actually has a peak thrust a bit over 12 Newtons, but it is so short, and the sustainer so wimpy, that its average thrust is 2.35 newtons. But the A10 definitely gets a 13mm rocket moving a lot faster than an A3. And probably gets a rocket moving faster than an A8 (My Rocksim is out of commission at the moment)
So, in the examples given, an A8 would not take off faster than a B6 powered rocket does. Of course, when it is windy, there are good reasons to use smaller engines to not fly as high and therefore not drift as far as mentioned earlier (" Lower impulse keeps it low and recoverable"). But the rocket won't fly better in wind on an A8 than a B6, it'll fly worse because it has lower thrust. But unless the wind is really bad or the rocket is particularly heavy or tends to weathercock a lot, it's a reasonable compromise to fly on a lesser engine like A8 than B6. Or B6 rather than C6, and so on.
This is why it is so important to check and compare thrust curves, not just go by the engines "name" average which can sometimes be misleading. A good source to check is the NAR website's certified engine list:
https://www.nar.org/standards-and-testing-committee/nar-certified-motors/
In addition to some basic information, there are also links to PDF files that have more test-firing data, as well as actual thrust curves which may be different from manufacturer's advertised thrust curves.
- George Gassaway