The Captain's Personal Launch Report, LUNAR Snow Ranch 01/13/18

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

qquake2k

Captain Low-N-Slow
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Messages
13,574
Reaction score
65
It was another great day at the Ranch, albeit a bit cold. There was low overcast all day and a slight breeze, so it got downright chilly at times.
The sun tried to come out here and there, but never did poke all the way through. Regardless, there were some good launches and we had a lot of fun. There was even a stampede! It was good to see water in the creeks again.


IMG_6417.JPG

IMG_6419.JPG

IMG_6420.JPG

P1070400.JPG

P1070442.JPG

zcows01.jpg
 
Due to a waiver issue, it was an unprecedented low/mid power launch, which was fine with me. I was just happy they went ahead with the launch. I was planning on launching three, but BAR wasn't there, so I only had the two motors I already had. The first of mine was the venerable scratch built Who's Your Daddy, on a G53 Fast Jack. Fine flight to 800ft. Even with the low altitude, it disappeared into the overcast, but Olga saw it reemerge.

You know, in all the years I've been flying at Snow Ranch, I've never had a rocket land in a creek with water in it. Until yesterday, that is. Fortunately, the water wasn't deep, and my Altimeter Three landed on dry land. Glad I had a long harness on it and the altimeter was attached to the nose cone!


[YOUTUBE]y6cCLJbAziU[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]qDWPZDsbtVk[/YOUTUBE]

P1070370.JPG

P1110732.JPG

P1110733.JPG

P1070389.JPG

P1110756.JPG

P1110748.JPG
 
From personal experience in the same creek, my advice is to dry the airframe out with uncooked rice. That will shrink the spirals back to normal.

I always save dessicant packs from various packages for this purpose and store them in an air type jar.
 
The second of mine was my Meaner Machine on a G64 White Lightning. Good flight, but for some reason it only went to 700ft. This was the fourth time I've flown this rocket, all flights on G64's. Previous flights were all over 1000ft. It doesn't look like it hung up on the rail, so I don't know what happened. But it was fine, it stayed below the overcast, and the Chute Release worked great. I'm glad the $230 worth of electronics stayed out of the creek!

[YOUTUBE]1lsj7jw4QXM[/YOUTUBE]

P1070415.JPG

P1070417.JPG

P1110782.JPG

P1110783.JPG

P1110784.JPG

P1110794.JPG
 
We ate good, as usual. Those are our favorite pineapple sausages.

P1070447.JPG

P1070449.JPG

P1070445.JPG
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Olga is a joy! I really couldn't do it without her. She took the awesome launch photos, too!

P1070412.JPG

P1070409.JPG

P1070440.JPG
 
From personal experience in the same creek, my advice is to dry the airframe out with uncooked rice. That will shrink the spirals back to normal.

I always save dessicant packs from various packages for this purpose and store them in an air type jar.

I never thought about that. I just let it air dry after the launch. I don't think anything swelled.
 
Might not have taken on enough water...didn’t look like you would have had to pour any water out of the body tube as there were enough rocks underneath it to keep the openings out of the water.
 
Back
Top