Commanche 3 is back

What a blast, three stages with a D12, C6-0, C6-7. Out of sight , kept losing the 2nd stages though

I ordered one earlier this week, Can not wait, going to be fun to build and fly.

Great rocket. I had one but it got battered so I scrapped it. I'll probably build another one at some point.

I flew mine with a D12-0, B6-0 and A8-5. Flew great and I recovered all 3 stages.

The only problem with this rocket along with potentially losing it is that it tends to break the sustainer fins off upon landing as they hang a bit below the BT and are surface mounted. This is one rocket that would definitely benefit from TTW fins.

I've bought about 4 of them but always scavenged the parts for kitbashes. I think this time I'll get one and build it.

Actually have one on the shelf from last time! Yeah, you all just inspired me to build the next thing!

I need to acquire the parts/kit to build another one, as my current one just got crunched...again. For those who are interested in building the OOP original decals version Tango Papa shows them as being available, or if your a vinyl kind of person contact Mark at Stickershock23 he can probably do them.

tulowstar said:

What a blast, three stages with a D12, C6-0, C6-7. Out of sight , kept losing the 2nd stages though

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On your next one, try E12-0 to E9-0 to E9-8... Yeah, a little modification is necessary. :wink:
I did D12-0 to E9-0 to E9-8 several years ago before the E12 was available. Pretty fun, but a little harder to recover
I got a couple left to build to try with the E12's one of these days...

Adrian

Have one, built it, afraid to launch it.

cobra1336 said:

Have one, built it, afraid to launch it.

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Long, long streamers are a good way to help locate/recover (get back, not just "get on the ground" recovery) high flying rockets. Aluminized mylar for part or all of the streamer is good, but a 6 or 10 foot piece of flameproof party streamer works. I've also found that, unlike a parachute, streamer will lay on top of plants/shrubs/crops and help locate downed rockets.

I've only seen one Commanche-3 flown. It was the full D12-C6-C6 stack. We watched the boosters to make sure they were found, and nobody could really follow the upper stage very well due to extremely bright sun, and cloudless blue sky. After what seemed like minutes we finally saw the upper stage descending on its streamer. It landed about 30 feet from the launch pad. Simply amazing.

Trident said:

I've only seen one Commanche-3 flown. It was the full D12-C6-C6 stack. We watched the boosters to make sure they were found, and nobody could really follow the upper stage very well due to extremely bright sun, and cloudless blue sky. After what seemed like minutes we finally saw the upper stage descending on its streamer. It landed about 30 feet from the launch pad. Simply amazing.

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This is actually more common than most believe, unless its windy the sustainer is recovered within 50-75yds in my experience having built and flown 3 different kits over the years. First kit suffered a staging issue and cooked the second stage, next two were casualties of frequent moves, probably more than 15 flights each model.

An object that is less than one inch in diameter is pretty hard to see at .5 mile distance, especially considering you'll be looking at the business end of things. Find a long straight country road and set your Comanche III in launch position along the shoulder where it won't get run over by a passerby. Then drive 5/10s of a mile and try to spot it. If you can, you are hired!