LDRS 40 was absolutely insane, in all the ways I expected and several that I didn’t. With attendance and temperatures both in the hundreds, you can feel the dedication and enthusiasm in the air.
My experiences are mentioned and detailed elsewhere. What I haven’t talked about very much are the flights I made.
My first flight of the event was Thursday morning, my Super Hi-Flier on an A8-0 / C6-7 stack. I had thought this was an ambitious combination and I was right. I lost sight of the sustainer and I only recovered it because a spectator made visual contact with it over the east end of the flight line. The booster was easy, it landed right next to the pad.
View attachment trim.F6A86ACF-5BD2-4B83-8D90-67CC015B8043.MOV
Next flight was my Super Goblin on a C11-0 / D12-7 stack. This is the only time the sustainer has left the range without sustaining damage. That 12-inch parachute is just about perfect.
View attachment trim.5706E566-165C-4C44-A0B9-BB121F8D2BF5.MOV
Photographic evidence of the undamaged landing.
The last flight of the day was my Super Hi-Flier XL on an E12-0 / E12-8 stack. Going for broke, as promised. The pad manager was a bit nervous about my staging coupler fit, so I submitted myself to any required fixes but he offered none, just declared it a heads-up flight. The rocket boosted and staged beautifully, but the sustainer got cocked off vertical during separation and ended up about a quarter of a mile south of the Porta-potties, resulting in my longest recovery trek of the weekend.
View attachment trim.0560DF7F-B463-4A01-9599-56B3F92D1B4E.MOV
I returned to the LCO table to demonstrate successful recovery, where I got a few suggestions for straighter tube coupling and safer staging techniques.
That was my last flight of the day. Further flights took place Friday night, where I put my Super Hi-Flier through its paces as a night rocket, just as a single stager. A blinky light in the mostly opaque but slightly translucent white plastic nose cone was enough for me to get it back on a B6-6…barely.
View attachment trim.0B2312C1-5AC3-4A41-9038-A853BCC73FC2.MOV
Thanks to @kramer714 for talking me out of flying it on the D16-4, I had thought that would be easy to recover but the actual visibility from a distance would have made that impossible.
I had one last flight on the Super Hi-Flier in two-stage configuration, A B6-0 / A8-5 stack but I can’t seem to find the video for it. Either way, the booster got cooked because I had put too much fitting tape on the sustainer motor, and now it’s in the repair pile. Maybe a trimmed BT-20 thrust ring spacer with vent holes drilled in it will do the trick.
The last flight I want to mention was made by my girlfriend. She assembled a Goblin kit, the main modification being the installation of a 12-inch parachute, painted it to look like Captain America’s shield, and called it “America’s Ass” in reference to the film Avengers: Endgame
I believe she made that name up to challenge the LCO to say it over the PA with children around, but I was LCOing at the time and I have no such qualms.
The rocket made a beautiful flight on a C11-5 and it probably would have left the range without damage if it hadn’t landed on somebody’s car. The fin was cracked and now it’s in need of repair.
@curtisheisey got a great photo and was kind enough to reach out to me by DM and email to send it. Here it is, in all its glory. I wish I could get photos of my own rockets that look this nice.
That was it! Sunday morning was a slow start for us and we didn’t get out there before winds forced range teardown. 3 hours back to Poway and back to normal, boring, rocket-launchless days.
My experiences are mentioned and detailed elsewhere. What I haven’t talked about very much are the flights I made.
My first flight of the event was Thursday morning, my Super Hi-Flier on an A8-0 / C6-7 stack. I had thought this was an ambitious combination and I was right. I lost sight of the sustainer and I only recovered it because a spectator made visual contact with it over the east end of the flight line. The booster was easy, it landed right next to the pad.
View attachment trim.F6A86ACF-5BD2-4B83-8D90-67CC015B8043.MOV
Next flight was my Super Goblin on a C11-0 / D12-7 stack. This is the only time the sustainer has left the range without sustaining damage. That 12-inch parachute is just about perfect.
View attachment trim.5706E566-165C-4C44-A0B9-BB121F8D2BF5.MOV
Photographic evidence of the undamaged landing.
The last flight of the day was my Super Hi-Flier XL on an E12-0 / E12-8 stack. Going for broke, as promised. The pad manager was a bit nervous about my staging coupler fit, so I submitted myself to any required fixes but he offered none, just declared it a heads-up flight. The rocket boosted and staged beautifully, but the sustainer got cocked off vertical during separation and ended up about a quarter of a mile south of the Porta-potties, resulting in my longest recovery trek of the weekend.
View attachment trim.0560DF7F-B463-4A01-9599-56B3F92D1B4E.MOV
I returned to the LCO table to demonstrate successful recovery, where I got a few suggestions for straighter tube coupling and safer staging techniques.
That was my last flight of the day. Further flights took place Friday night, where I put my Super Hi-Flier through its paces as a night rocket, just as a single stager. A blinky light in the mostly opaque but slightly translucent white plastic nose cone was enough for me to get it back on a B6-6…barely.
View attachment trim.0B2312C1-5AC3-4A41-9038-A853BCC73FC2.MOV
Thanks to @kramer714 for talking me out of flying it on the D16-4, I had thought that would be easy to recover but the actual visibility from a distance would have made that impossible.
I had one last flight on the Super Hi-Flier in two-stage configuration, A B6-0 / A8-5 stack but I can’t seem to find the video for it. Either way, the booster got cooked because I had put too much fitting tape on the sustainer motor, and now it’s in the repair pile. Maybe a trimmed BT-20 thrust ring spacer with vent holes drilled in it will do the trick.
The last flight I want to mention was made by my girlfriend. She assembled a Goblin kit, the main modification being the installation of a 12-inch parachute, painted it to look like Captain America’s shield, and called it “America’s Ass” in reference to the film Avengers: Endgame
I believe she made that name up to challenge the LCO to say it over the PA with children around, but I was LCOing at the time and I have no such qualms.
The rocket made a beautiful flight on a C11-5 and it probably would have left the range without damage if it hadn’t landed on somebody’s car. The fin was cracked and now it’s in need of repair.
@curtisheisey got a great photo and was kind enough to reach out to me by DM and email to send it. Here it is, in all its glory. I wish I could get photos of my own rockets that look this nice.
That was it! Sunday morning was a slow start for us and we didn’t get out there before winds forced range teardown. 3 hours back to Poway and back to normal, boring, rocket-launchless days.
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