Not that a day launching rockets is ever a "bad" day, it wasn't a good day for my rockets today.
I'm putting this in the MPR because that is what I flew, except for the first flight, the Estes Eagle boost glider.
I got to the field about an hour after the launching started, about 11:00. The wind increased all day, so I missed the calmest part of the day. I also missed the coldest part, it was 16º at dawn with a mid afternoon high in the mid 40ºs.
The first flight was the Estes Eagle. I had problems with it the last time it flew and I replaced the rear wing. It was trimmed almost perfect. The launch and flight on a C6-3 was near perfect to at about 400 ft. It ejected just after apogee, the glider started it's circles and the booster dropped on it's streamer, landing 50 ft from the pads. The glider kept making this flat circles while drifting on the wind. It touched down in the top of the only big tree in the center of a field an eighth mile away. Guess we all need to feed the trees sometime.
The next flight was an Estes Stormcaster. This is stock Estes kit with two exceptions. The fins were tip to tip coated with paper and thinned wood glue and there was an extra six feet of 1/4" elastic tied to the end of the original 24" shock cord. The flight on the F24 was great! Loud and fast! When 1,200 to 1,500 ft. A problem was soon noticed when the black dot that was the chute was getting further and further from the body of the rocket. The BT fell almost flat and landed a 100 ft from the pads. The nose cone and chute were watched by a couple people with binocular and was seen hitting the top of a silo on the farm a half mile away. All I saw was the flock of birds that erupted from the silo when it hit.
My third flight was my Sunny Side Up. This is a scratch build rocket I used for an altitude contest last fall. The rules required a G motor and at least 54mm OD somewhere on the rocket. Mine was baseball bat shaped with the fins on the thin handle end. I won the contest on a G75. This time I flew it on a G53-10J. Great flight. Some corkscrew which it always does, I think it's a design flaw. The streamer deployed and everything looked great. The altimeter beeped out 2,847 ft. Not too bad and about what I expected. The fins were 3mm ply and filleted and coated mid fin to mid fin with 6oz glass. It must of landed right on the tip of one fin because it cracked the fin loose and broke through the glass on one side and half way through on the other. It will fly again!
My fourth and final flight was my Kraken II. My original was lost in Richmond on a hot sunny day with the original black chute. It was last seen going up over some woods over a quarter mile away. This time I used a E9-6. What a great motor for the Kraken! Just about a perfect flight. Ejection was at 1,000 to 1,200 feet. This one had the slightly smaller orange chute on it. It seemed to drop to about 400 to 500 ft. and then stay at that altitude as it drifted on the wind. It was last seen by the folks with binoculars when it drifted from sight over some woods, 1/2 to 3/4 mile away.
Over all, not a good day for my rockets. Can't say it wasn't fun. I always enjoy getting out to the launches, meeting new people, in this case, some U of Maryland students out practicing for the Battle of the Rockets coming up in April. I did have one good piece of luck. I stopped by the farm with the silo on the way home, met the landowner, had a nice conversation, and found the chute and nosecone from my Stormcaster between the driveway and the barnyard. If it had came down 10 feet shorter, it would have been in with the cows and if not stepped on, it would have been covered in that rich fertilizer found in barnyards. Turned out the original shock cord broke an inch from where the new piece was tied on.
Guess two? out of four isn't too bad.
I'm putting this in the MPR because that is what I flew, except for the first flight, the Estes Eagle boost glider.
I got to the field about an hour after the launching started, about 11:00. The wind increased all day, so I missed the calmest part of the day. I also missed the coldest part, it was 16º at dawn with a mid afternoon high in the mid 40ºs.
The first flight was the Estes Eagle. I had problems with it the last time it flew and I replaced the rear wing. It was trimmed almost perfect. The launch and flight on a C6-3 was near perfect to at about 400 ft. It ejected just after apogee, the glider started it's circles and the booster dropped on it's streamer, landing 50 ft from the pads. The glider kept making this flat circles while drifting on the wind. It touched down in the top of the only big tree in the center of a field an eighth mile away. Guess we all need to feed the trees sometime.
The next flight was an Estes Stormcaster. This is stock Estes kit with two exceptions. The fins were tip to tip coated with paper and thinned wood glue and there was an extra six feet of 1/4" elastic tied to the end of the original 24" shock cord. The flight on the F24 was great! Loud and fast! When 1,200 to 1,500 ft. A problem was soon noticed when the black dot that was the chute was getting further and further from the body of the rocket. The BT fell almost flat and landed a 100 ft from the pads. The nose cone and chute were watched by a couple people with binocular and was seen hitting the top of a silo on the farm a half mile away. All I saw was the flock of birds that erupted from the silo when it hit.
My third flight was my Sunny Side Up. This is a scratch build rocket I used for an altitude contest last fall. The rules required a G motor and at least 54mm OD somewhere on the rocket. Mine was baseball bat shaped with the fins on the thin handle end. I won the contest on a G75. This time I flew it on a G53-10J. Great flight. Some corkscrew which it always does, I think it's a design flaw. The streamer deployed and everything looked great. The altimeter beeped out 2,847 ft. Not too bad and about what I expected. The fins were 3mm ply and filleted and coated mid fin to mid fin with 6oz glass. It must of landed right on the tip of one fin because it cracked the fin loose and broke through the glass on one side and half way through on the other. It will fly again!
My fourth and final flight was my Kraken II. My original was lost in Richmond on a hot sunny day with the original black chute. It was last seen going up over some woods over a quarter mile away. This time I used a E9-6. What a great motor for the Kraken! Just about a perfect flight. Ejection was at 1,000 to 1,200 feet. This one had the slightly smaller orange chute on it. It seemed to drop to about 400 to 500 ft. and then stay at that altitude as it drifted on the wind. It was last seen by the folks with binoculars when it drifted from sight over some woods, 1/2 to 3/4 mile away.
Over all, not a good day for my rockets. Can't say it wasn't fun. I always enjoy getting out to the launches, meeting new people, in this case, some U of Maryland students out practicing for the Battle of the Rockets coming up in April. I did have one good piece of luck. I stopped by the farm with the silo on the way home, met the landowner, had a nice conversation, and found the chute and nosecone from my Stormcaster between the driveway and the barnyard. If it had came down 10 feet shorter, it would have been in with the cows and if not stepped on, it would have been covered in that rich fertilizer found in barnyards. Turned out the original shock cord broke an inch from where the new piece was tied on.
Guess two? out of four isn't too bad.