Yesterday's Launch and my new favorite rocket

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cmmeyers

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Nice weather + low winds = let's launch rockets.

Yesterday sealed it. My new favorite rocket in my fleet is ...... the Deuce's Wild. I know what you're thinking : "Join the thousand other people who's favorite is the Deuces Wild." But I was just overtaken by it's coolness (as were seveal others)! I flew it naked twice a few weeks back, but yesterday it flew with its fresh new paint. Here it is on the pad. I kept the paint scheme simple.
 
No launch pic of the Cluster Bomb, but here is a recovery shot
 
Cosmic Cobra launch pic. This kids like the fact that the nose cone helicopters down.
 
Here is a recovery shot of the Cosmic Cobra. It's cool that the body and the nose cone are descending a the exact same angle.
 
I launched the Phoenix with a C6-5 in order to get a "wild smoking nose dive", which it did as advertised. It even whistles a little during the coast. I caught this cool picture just as the ejection charge deployed. The cone is off, but the parachute hasn't opened yet.
 
The Big Bertha on it's 2nd launch of the day (it's 24th launch overall)
 
Here's another recover shot of the Cosmic Cobra with both pieces in frame.
 
And the last launch of the day : the Deuce launching for the second time yesterday. Light was fading fast, so this rocket is blurry in this pic. Did I mention that this rocket is cool?
 
Jim can be extra proud that the previous rocket that held the title of "favorite of my fleet", was the FlisKits Praetor. It is still a close second. The Praetor has a really cool profile when in the air. It was launched once yesterday (no pics), but suffered some damage. The parachute got tangled during deployment, and was coming down pretty fast. I was able to catch it before it his the ground, but I broke one of the fins as I caught it. The fin has already been fixed. But what caused the damage was the snap back. The upper body tube section sliced a big chunk out of the balsa transition.
 
Here is one more pic. I'll have to fill, sand, and repaint, but she'll fly again.
I'm kind of surprised that this happened, since I built it with a longer than stock shock cord.
Overall we had a good time, an only one damaged rocket that can be repaired.
 
I feel like a proud papa :) Thank you much!

The Deuce's Wild! became and still is our best selling kit and has certainly exceeded all of *my* expectations :)

It'll be around for a while, that's for sure!

As for the Praetor, man, that was quite a chunk taken out of there. I take it you couldn't recover the missing piece?

The Praetor is one of our "unsung hero's", as it were. It's a good seller, but not a great one but still remains one of my favorite kits. Problem is, you have to see it built to really appreciate it!

jim
 
Originally posted by cmmeyers
But what caused the damage was the snap back. The upper body tube section sliced a big chunk out of the balsa transition.

Wow! A Fliskits dent is way more impressive than an Estes dent!
 
Originally posted by jflis
The Praetor is one of our "unsung hero's", as it were. Problem is, you have to see it built to really appreciate it!
Well then, come over this weekend, I'll BBQ and watch you build one. I'd be very appreciative. (ducks behind a not so Big Bertha)
 
Originally posted by cmmeyers
Nice weather + low winds = let's launch rockets.

Yesterday sealed it. My new favorite rocket in my fleet is ...... the Deuce's Wild. I know what you're thinking : "Join the thousand other people who's favorite is the Deuces Wild." But I was just overtaken by it's coolness (as were seveal others)! I flew it naked twice a few weeks back, but yesterday it flew with its fresh new paint. Here it is on the pad. I kept the paint scheme simple.

Very Nice Deuce...we just finished ours, she is not painted or flown yet but i think its is becoming my favoirte in our fleet.
 
Cool pix! I need to get one of those Deuce rockets.
I've never heard of the Cosmic Cobra, neat the way
the nose cone recovers. Is it an Estes kit?
 
Originally posted by buzz
Cool pix! I need to get one of those Deuce rockets.
I've never heard of the Cosmic Cobra, neat the way
the nose cone recovers. Is it an Estes kit?
I just got the Deuce after a sort of wanting it for a long time (1 year +). It was my first experience in clustering, and I didn't have the equipment to do it successfully, and that's why I held out for so long. So right after I bought it, I built myself a 12v controller. Now i'm eye-ing up every 2-3 clustered engine rocket out there! The FlisKits StarLoad is in my sights and on my Christmas list! Sidenote to Jim : someone posted a picture of their daughter holding a StarLoad and you put that picture on your website. That picture sold me. I didn't realize how big that rocket was until I saw that pic!

And yes, the Cosmic Cobra is an Estes Kit. It is one of their easy to assemble kits. I bought it for the kids, since they thought the helicopter nose cone was cool (and it is!). Plus (and most importantly) it was cheap. My only mod was that I used pinstriping tape to decorate it instead of the included sticker.
 
Originally posted by jflis
...As for the Praetor, man, that was quite a chunk taken out of there. I take it you couldn't recover the missing piece?...
You know what? I didn't even look for it! It didn't even occur to me until you said something. I was too concerned about the fin that broke. Dang!

I don't think that I would have found it, but man, it bugs me that I didn't even look.
 
Originally posted by JBeau
Well then, come over this weekend, I'll BBQ and watch you build one. I'd be very appreciative. (ducks behind a not so Big Bertha)

If you were closer, I would :) Heck, I could certainly build it a whole lot faster than you could BBQ... :D

(ducks behind a Richter Recker ... now that's *real* protection! LOL)
 
Originally posted by cmmeyers
Sidenote to Jim : someone posted a picture of their daughter holding a StarLoad and you put that picture on your website. That picture sold me. I didn't realize how big that rocket was until I saw that pic!

That's why I requested permission to post that picture. Heck, **I** didn't even know it was *that* big, and I fly the darned thing! LOL

Big rockets in little hands is quite a sight :)

Originally posted by cmmeyers
You know what? I didn't even look for it! It didn't even occur to me until you said something. I was too concerned about the fin that broke. Dang!

I don't think that I would have found it, but man, it bugs me that I didn't even look.

Doh!

:D :D
 
Those are some of the coolest Deuces Wild in flight pics I've ever seen! The smoke trails are so distinct & the flames are all so spectacular & bright! Were you launching near twilight?
The flame on the Big Bertha is unreal!!!:eek:
 
It was about 4:45pm when the last rockets were launched. It is getting dark around 5:10 pm here in Maryland right now. That's why the rockets are blurry in the picture. I guess I could have increased the shutter speed, but the pics would have been much darker. THe launches were cool because you could really follow the flames during the whole boost phase (especially the Deuce).
 
Originally posted by cmmeyers
Here is one more pic. I'll have to fill, sand, and repaint, but she'll fly again.
I'm kind of surprised that this happened, since I built it with a longer than stock shock cord.

Sorry about your in-flight mishap. Don't ya just love putting a nice paint job on a model and then having stuff like this happen?

On balsa NCs I put a thin layer of CA or epoxy on the base of the NC to toughen the fibers and reduce the chances for chipping damage like you experienced. On the shoulders you also might try covering the outer layers with a *light* touch of CA (sand smooth after the CA cures). I do this to add a little durability to the balsa because after very much use the wood fibers can start to crush, leaving the NC fit a bit loose.
 
Originally posted by powderburner
Sorry about your in-flight mishap. Don't ya just love putting a nice paint job on a model and then having stuff like this happen?
On balsa NCs I put a thin layer of CA or epoxy on the base of the NC to toughen the fibers and reduce the chances for chipping damage like you experienced.
Funny you should mention that. I built the Praetor about a year and a half ago. Since then, every kit that had a balsa nose cone received a good coating or two of at least wood glue on the end to strenthen it. Obviously I didn't do it to that balsa transition, and it is/was the only one that didn't get that treatment!
 
Yep, the DW is a cool kit and your's in particular -- nice paint job!
 
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