tmacklin
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- Feb 1, 2012
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We had a blast! First Nick Viggiano AKA TALON arrived at my house and we loaded up his AT RMS 29-40/120 hardware with a G64-7 for his Estes Ventris. There was a heavy ground fog when we headed for Gunter 14 miles as the crow flies west of my location. By the time we were about half way there, the fog began to lift and when we arrived the sky was showing patches of blue.
My first flight was my re-built Estes Renegade two stager, AKA "The Jinx". A little history. The Jinx began when an Ebay vendor sent it to me in error several years ago. (No problem, he sent me the kit I had ordered and said keep the Renegade. Maybe he knew something?) After a couple of years sitting in the build pile I finally built it...stock. The first flight was last fall on a C6-0 to a C6-5 IIRC and although it weather cocked badly, it staged perfectly and landed about 200/300 yards downrange with no damage. When I offered my young friend who had retrieved it a ride back to his house, he managed to sit on it right where I had placed it in the shotgun seat. DOH!
So after repairing and repainting the sustainer I was ready for last spring's Gunter launch. This time I wasn't so lucky, as it weathercocked badly and when it staged the sustainer went cruise missile and splashed down in the soil conservation lake east of the launch set up. Fortunately, the booster was retrieved intact. Rebuild number two.
So a couple of months ago, I made a new sustainer from parts I had on hand and rebuilt the booster, this time with a 24 mm motor mount instead of the woefully inadequate 18 mm stock mount. About a month ago I did a test flight with a C11-0 to a B6-4 which was seamless. OK, another test flight with a D12-0 to a C6-5 should be a piece of cake...right? Wrong! Here's the video of that misadventure.
[video=youtube;Smzxcpe99CY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smzxcpe99CY[/video]
While it boosted and staged just fine, the motor mount of the sustainer failed and acted like a piston, deploying the laundry while under thrust and required yet another re-built. :rant:
But wait...there's more!!!
My first flight was my re-built Estes Renegade two stager, AKA "The Jinx". A little history. The Jinx began when an Ebay vendor sent it to me in error several years ago. (No problem, he sent me the kit I had ordered and said keep the Renegade. Maybe he knew something?) After a couple of years sitting in the build pile I finally built it...stock. The first flight was last fall on a C6-0 to a C6-5 IIRC and although it weather cocked badly, it staged perfectly and landed about 200/300 yards downrange with no damage. When I offered my young friend who had retrieved it a ride back to his house, he managed to sit on it right where I had placed it in the shotgun seat. DOH!
So after repairing and repainting the sustainer I was ready for last spring's Gunter launch. This time I wasn't so lucky, as it weathercocked badly and when it staged the sustainer went cruise missile and splashed down in the soil conservation lake east of the launch set up. Fortunately, the booster was retrieved intact. Rebuild number two.
So a couple of months ago, I made a new sustainer from parts I had on hand and rebuilt the booster, this time with a 24 mm motor mount instead of the woefully inadequate 18 mm stock mount. About a month ago I did a test flight with a C11-0 to a B6-4 which was seamless. OK, another test flight with a D12-0 to a C6-5 should be a piece of cake...right? Wrong! Here's the video of that misadventure.
[video=youtube;Smzxcpe99CY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smzxcpe99CY[/video]
While it boosted and staged just fine, the motor mount of the sustainer failed and acted like a piston, deploying the laundry while under thrust and required yet another re-built. :rant:
But wait...there's more!!!
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