Brief Launch Report - Saturday 6/20 @ Bong.

Time to crack open a cold refreshing "Dog Drool" after a long hard day launching rockets with my friend and fellow WOOSH member Jon R.

Jon had a very successful L1 flight with an extended Dual Deploy Estes Leviathan on a CTI 6xl I-224. - Congrats! :clap:

We'll be back out at "Bong" tomorrow with a SHOVEL to try and recover the other half of my Super Science Bertha rocket. I had a separation @ 2000 feet. Nose-cone/payload section (with Eggfinder) drifted 4300 feet from the pad on the chute, while the fin can is likely buried 200 ft NNE of the pads in the tall grass/soft earth to the right of launch road.

Really want to find that fin can - to see if the 29/180 case is still usable, and perhaps recover video if the SD card in the Mobius action-cam is not corrupt or destroyed.

Let us know if the recovery mission is successful. Best wishes!

Still did better than me... My big LMTV that I launched towards the end of the day landed in the swamp north of the bird observation tower. I still had good signal, so I started looking... Wandering around in armpit deep water was not fun, but I was determined NOT to lose a 54/2560 motor, tracker and electronics. I finally found it, but got totally lost in the tall reeds. Luckily my iphone has a compass that works and I started heading south. I finally got out. Boy was I whupped from slogging through water, dragging rocket parts and tracker and dead reeds out... So I drive home in my undies (there's a image for you :y. Get home, SHOWER, unload the car, and start to clean the motor (funny, it was cool by then :eyeroll. The liner was stuck, so I go out to my parents farm and use the anvil and a hammer handle. Got the liner out, only to drop the case on the cement floor, totally turning it into a piece of scrap aluminum

Adrian ( who is now looking for a replacement 54/2560 case)

Sunday - Happy Fathers-Day
Started walking a search pattern With my buddy Jon and after about 30 minutes he calls out "Found it!"

Only made a 3 inch deep crater thanks to the lightweight materials crumpling on impact. The 29/180 case looks undamaged but the Mobius action-cam was no where to be found.

Beautiful flying weather today but a small "Fathers-Day" turn out. Jon flew and crashes his Extended Mega Mosquito on an E20.
I picked up a 2.6 V2 deal from Wildman (My wife got the Interceptor deal yesterday)
Last but certainly not least - picked up some valuable Pizza-Hut Dumpster Diving tips from Crazy Jim. :lol:

I recovered my 4" Miranda in the swamp northwest of the launch site, gathered all the components and reassembled it for easier transport to the car. In the short time she sat in the water, the cardboard got a little wet. Overnight, though, it swelled and fused together, and now I cannot pull them apart to get at the electronics in the av bay. Tracker still transmitting, and both StratoLoggers still beeping, so hoping the electronics all survive. Arrrrggggghhhhhh. So, in summary, wet shoes and socks, but no ticks, no mosquito bites, and all pieces safely home and drying out.

Overall a good day launching rockets with friends. Priceless.

SMR said:

... So, in summary, wet shoes and socks, but no ticks, no mosquito bites, and all pieces safely home and drying out.

Overall a good day launching rockets with friends. Priceless.

Click to expand...

My experience was *not quite* the same.

While forging my way through some very heavy brush out near hwy 142, I got bit by some big flying buggers multiple times. Nasty suckers - by the time I got to the car, I was bleeding pretty good. We brought some ticks home with us too. First time we ever found ticks after a visit to the Bong.

"Overall a good day launching rockets with friends. Priceless." yup - I totally agree!!!

SMR said:

I recovered my 4" Miranda in the swamp northwest of the launch site, gathered all the components and reassembled it for easier transport to the car. In the short time she sat in the water, the cardboard got a little wet. Overnight, though, it swelled and fused together, and now I cannot pull them apart to get at the electronics in the av bay. Tracker still transmitting, and both StratoLoggers still beeping, so hoping the electronics all survive. Arrrrggggghhhhhh. So, in summary, wet shoes and socks, but no ticks, no mosquito bites, and all pieces safely home and drying out.

Overall a good day launching rockets with friends. Priceless.

Click to expand...

Rocket is likely trash so cut it open and retrieve the electronics.

I flew my WM 5" Jart single deploy on a CTI 3 grain 54mm Sparky motor. Nice loud motor. Altimeter Two says 2862' 362mph. Plus it landed just North of launch site on dry land. I wonder if Scott G has found his 8" Gizmo? I think it landed South of the launch site. It may not be the best place to fly but Bong is all we got.

It was fun anyway

I did not know there was a launch otherwise I might have popped down. Oh well, got a little work done on the new rocket.

Went back to Bong today to try to locate my Mobius Action Cam - Missing since the Rocket Crash I had last weekend. The rocket hit the ground at probably about 75-100 mph. I wasn't holding out much hope for an intact/working camera. Really all I wanted was the SD card - to see if it contained any usable video.

I expected to search for about an hour before giving up empty handed. The Mobius is a tiny 1 x 2 inch black box….. Bong Recreation Area is 7000 acres of tall grass prairie, with lots of shrubs, swamps, etc. Finding a needle in a haystack would be as easy.

Good thing I brought Jon – “The Rocket Wizard” with me. He walked right to it - literally. We were back to the car and on our way home in less than 5 minutes. How the heck did he do that?!?!?! What makes him so good?!?!? I wonder if he plays pinball?

Sadly no video, however using recovery software, I was able to recover video from the previous launch.
I fully dissembled the Mobius – gonna need a new battery (water and impact damage) before I can power it up to check the camera out.

Does anyone know if Scott G. found his 8" Gizmo??

Gary

crossfire said:

Does anyone know if Scott G. found his 8" Gizmo??

Gary

Click to expand...

Yes Gary, his son helped him get it.

That's great news. I knew they went out again to look. Where his rocket went its not good to go out there alone.

Now, if you have any secrets for getting swamp smell out of shoes....
I've washed them 3 times (twice with larger and larger amounts of bleach) and still the smell uke: uke:
Maybe the only cure is stinkier feet? :eyeroll:

Adrian