March 30th AMOREA launch

Hi everyone,

I attended my first launch of the year, with the AMOREA club in Indianapolis. A great bunch of folks, and I recommend anyone who is in the area to attend the next launch the last Sunday in April.

Anyway, I'll document the launches I made here in this thread. It was a good day out, with fabulous weather. I lost no rockets and only had one fin break to fix.

The first launch of the year always has me shaking off all manner of cobwebs, not the least regarding my camera skills.

The first launch was the maiden flight of an Estes Photon Probe. Oops. I had the camera in video mode instead of stills.

Here are some shots of the flight on a B6-2:




Here's the video... I managed to mostly keep it in frame:

[YOUTUBE]U0PeheM6fiw[/YOUTUBE]

Next up was the maiden flight of my SEMROC Retro Repro Estes Trident. I managed to get the camera into shutter priority mode and got a couple decent shots of it on an Estes C6-3:




Good ejection and nice ride down.



It landed on asphalt so got a bit of rash, but nothing major. Badges of honor, I call such dings.

Next launch was a min Icarus clone... BT20, on an A10-3T. Sorry, lots of pictures of smoke, not much rocket. It was way up there before I got it in sights:

Next up was the maiden flight of Long Tom on B6-0 to B6-6. It was a great flight, enhanced by the fact that I kept the rocket in frame pretty much all the time and had the camera settings fairly close to optimal for the flight. So, here's a series of pictures:







I was lucky to catch ejection:







I like this one of the booster tumbling while the sustainer streaks away:


Perfect ejection and recovery:

Next up: Vagabond downscale (BT-55) on a Quest D5-4 engine. I love those D5s, and I'm bummed they are out of production. I have a small stash...



Nice shot up, and safe trip back down on a streamer.

Great pictures!

Next up is an old beater rocket, a Der Big Green Max. I messed up the decals and they are peeling off. Note to viewers: don't try to apply decals to a fluorescent-painted rocket (Rustoleum fluorescent, at least) without clearing first for smooth surface for adhesion.

It has an interchangeable motor mount, with a module for D engines, but I decided to shove an E12-6 in there. I just received my first shipment of E12 engines, and frankly I rarely launch anything above D due to size of field issues. But the AMOREA group had a relatively big open space today, since the Soccer crowd hadn't come to use the adjacent fields. So, I loaded her up and let her rip.

I put a keychain camera on the rocket, but did something wrong and didn't get video. Just got a single still frame of the rocket looking down at the pad.



The roar was very gratifying!

It shot up fast and just kept going up and up.



Eventually ejection happened and down it came. HEre's a shot at max zoom:

Really nice looking kits and pics! Seems like you're a really good builder and finisher.

It seems to me that the Photon Probe needs a bit longer delay. I believe I saw ejection before apogee in the video. Just a thought.

It was getting toward the end of the day. I decided to use up an oldish D21-4T single use engine.

I put it into a BT-60 upscale of a Screamer... the original (BT-5) Screamer was my very first rocket ever as a kid. I have a Screamer family now.

The Copperhead took several seconds even with a serious 12V system the club uses, but eventually she ignited and got her going:



Sorry, quite a bit out of focus. Anyone who has used a D21 probably understands the teleport effect. The next several frames were of smoke trail. By the time I got it in frame it was basically a small orange blob in the camera.

Deployment was fine but the rocket spun a lot on the way down, so when it hit the ground it ripped a fin off. It's hanging by a flap of paper. Nothing some glue won't fix right up, though. She'll fly again soon!

The final rocket of the day for me was a maiden launch of my new Photon Disruptor. The original died when the shock cord broke at ejection and it core sampled and bent. So, this replacement (for ~$5 from an Estes sale) takes its place. I feel bad I didn't turn the rocket so the best decals faced camera, but it was a nice flight on B6-4 power:







That's all folks! All in all, a great day to start the year off!

Marc

Bat-mite said:

Really nice looking kits and pics! Seems like you're a really good builder and finisher.

It seems to me that the Photon Probe needs a bit longer delay. I believe I saw ejection before apogee in the video. Just a thought.

Click to expand...

I agree completely! Check out the Photon Disruptor (similar weight, just a tad heavier) I just uploaded. Seeing the somewhat early ejection on the 'Probe, I switched to a B6-4 for the Disruptor. No video, but ejection was just a bit late rather than early.

My first Photon Disruptor (may she rest in pieces) was over-built and over-finished. It needed a B6-2 or C6-3... anything longer delay and it was clearly too late. I think I hit the sweet spot for weight for this year's Probe and Disruptor. Thanks for the compliments. I enjoy building and finishing as much as I enjoy launching.

Marc

Wish I could've hung around longer today. Although my 1-year-old was a little frazzled, my 4-year-old talked about rockets the rest of the afternoon. It was definitely the best Indiana March day for rocketry that you could ask for, weather-wise.

It was great seeing your Trident fly, Marc. Very nice work. Those staging pics of your Long Tom are terrific, too!

Great photos! Looked like a good day too....

That sequence of stage separation photos is beautiful.

I just around to checking out the thread here—wonderful. The Trident turned out very well and, to echo others, your flying shots are fun and gratifying to see. I'm with Dean B, those Long Tom staging shots are terrific—as are the others.

You're one of my favorite posters Marc. Great work all around and another fine thread.

Edit: I expect you've been asked before, but what camera are you shooting with?

Thanks for the compliments!

I enjoy shooting pics of these rockets... adds a whole new dimension of challenge.

My camera is a Nikon 1 V1. I bought it close to two years ago after much investigation into which camera would best suit me. Wanted a true DSLR, but one that would capture enough frames per second with autofocus would have set me back too much. The N1V1 captures 10 frames per sec with autofocus and can keep shooting for about 3.5 secs before running out of buffer. At the time, that was the deciding factor.

There has since been released the Nikon 1 V2 which includes a flash (missing from the V1, don't need it for rocketry), higher res detector, and somewhat different specs. I recall looking at them when the V2 came out and thinking something wasn't better for my application so never thought about upgrading.

I have the 1 system zoom lens and use it for these shots. I forget the specs but can look it up if anyone cares.

When I can get a true DSLR that can do 10-15 shots per sec for at least 3 secs with autofocus, with zoom lens, for under a grand I will probably upgrade. For now I'm happy enough.

Marc