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- Jan 20, 2011
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Saturday the 14th of September was the September edition of the Rocketry Organization of California launch out on the historic dry lake bad at Lucurne Valley California. I awoke at 6:30 and was on the playa at about 8:45. I don't think my friend David saved that spot next to his trailer for me, but what heck... :eyeroll: temperature was about 28C and would climb during the morning to about 38C. Winds was calm. :smile:
I arrived just in time to see David launch one of those new Estes ETX rockets with the D12 add-on lower stage. It went unstable and drove the sustainer into the playa.
Re-edit: It was a booster 55 that simply should have worked. Poopy clay is a poopy argument I am not buying. I was there. I saw no vectored thrust. It was UNSTABLE as far as I was concerned. But I did remove Estes taunt. My friend launched an ETX-Rocket with a Booster 55 that to my eye was unstable. YMMV. ROCKSIM or OpenRocket is still you friend.
All my rockets were prepped about 45 days ago. :y: A vacation and work got in the way of getting to the launches last month. Good new is, all I had to do was unpack, verify battery voltages, fill out a flight card, and fly.
First I put the maiden voyage on the Warehouse Rocketry Formula 75 on a H180-8. The Perfect Flite Stratologger was in the nose cone and connected to an Archetype Rocketry Cable Cutter. I love these cutters. It's dual deploy my way. Let the motor kick the bundle out, let the altimeter cut loose the chute at 500'.
The H180 lit using the supplied Aerotech (First Fire?) igniter and off we went for a Perfect Flite recorded 958'.
A lob. But good for a first flight. The chute bundle was ejected a tad late but the cut delay according to the altimeter data was 9 seconds not 8. Close enough. The cable cutter went off as usual, no issue. Probably my 10th or 12th cable cut? The Formula series are basic, good looking, good flying, high value, 4FNC rockets.
The 48inch PML chute streamlined longer than I'd like but did finally catch air and all was well. Revcovered just beyond the far pads.
I arrived just in time to see David launch one of those new Estes ETX rockets with the D12 add-on lower stage. It went unstable and drove the sustainer into the playa.
Re-edit: It was a booster 55 that simply should have worked. Poopy clay is a poopy argument I am not buying. I was there. I saw no vectored thrust. It was UNSTABLE as far as I was concerned. But I did remove Estes taunt. My friend launched an ETX-Rocket with a Booster 55 that to my eye was unstable. YMMV. ROCKSIM or OpenRocket is still you friend.
All my rockets were prepped about 45 days ago. :y: A vacation and work got in the way of getting to the launches last month. Good new is, all I had to do was unpack, verify battery voltages, fill out a flight card, and fly.
First I put the maiden voyage on the Warehouse Rocketry Formula 75 on a H180-8. The Perfect Flite Stratologger was in the nose cone and connected to an Archetype Rocketry Cable Cutter. I love these cutters. It's dual deploy my way. Let the motor kick the bundle out, let the altimeter cut loose the chute at 500'.
The H180 lit using the supplied Aerotech (First Fire?) igniter and off we went for a Perfect Flite recorded 958'.
A lob. But good for a first flight. The chute bundle was ejected a tad late but the cut delay according to the altimeter data was 9 seconds not 8. Close enough. The cable cutter went off as usual, no issue. Probably my 10th or 12th cable cut? The Formula series are basic, good looking, good flying, high value, 4FNC rockets.
The 48inch PML chute streamlined longer than I'd like but did finally catch air and all was well. Revcovered just beyond the far pads.
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