Azalea Field Follies, 7-24-04

[jetra2]

Hey all,

Eugene and I went out to the local park today for some good flying. After getting a bit dissapointed by the brief "steamshower" earlier in the day, it cleared up quite nice and we had a nice 1.5 hours of launching under the mostly cloudy Florida skies .

I really didn't fly all that much, since our batteries died, but I got in what I wanted to fly. I flew my scratch built AIM-1987 (thread) on dual B6-4's, my beta test of the primer gray (hey, I'm outta white! sheesh!) Thrustline Tribute on a D12-5, and that was it, IIRC.

The AIM-1987 is a scratch built semi-esque-maybe military style rocket based around the BT-70 using the Fliskits cluster MMT kit. It's a great MMT - easy to use and build! It acheived an altitude of about 500 feet and came down under a nice Thrustline 18" orange nylon chute. No damage, but I just gotta find time to finish this bird! A great liftoff shot was captured by Eugene, and he will post later.

Now the Thrustline Tribute II beta test. This is a real cool BT-80 based rocket with some very cool styling. It has a central 24mm motor and two 18mm's for many, many cluster combinations. I threw a D12-5 into it for its first flight. I used a 18" STL Rocketry T-cup for recovery. I think it was because of the rod azimuth adjuster being a bit loose, but as this bird powered off the pad, it seriously weathercocked, going almost horizontal. It got about 200 feet in altitude before ejection, and the chute opened up nicely. As she descended, it looked to be heading for trees, but that turned out not to be the case. It simply SMACKED a damned concrete light pole! Luckily, the damage was to an already slightly damaged fin, so it wasn't a big deal.

I tried prepping the Tribute for another flight on 2x C6-3's, but by time I got it on the pad, the batteries were dead so no joy.

Eugene will post pix later!

Jason

 

[jetra2]

Oh, Eugene...post zee pics, before I gots to make ya hurt!

Jason

 

[eugenefl]

Sorry dude!

I had a few good flights and one major dud.

1) Edmonds CiCi...A8-3, OUTSTANDING glider. For this bird I'd burn A8s all day long.
2) Estes OOP BT80 V-2...D12-5, Great boost. Chute deployment right at apogee.
3) FunRockets Swinger...C6-3, worthless piece of junk. It got stuck on the rod due to a poorly preplaced launchlug. It ended up budging the rod mount loose. The lug broke free and it *maybe* went 5ft and power pranged into the ground. I'll NEVER buy one again.
4) FunRockets Zoomee...1/2A, nice straight boost, but the ejection popped the nosecone off. The Zoomee tumbled around.
5) Estes Gyroc clone...A8-3, WAY squirelly boost. Nice helicopter recovery.
6) Estes Fatboy (24mm MMT mod)...D12-7, weathercocked a bit. Very high boost, probably the highest for the day. Chute carried it into the street resulting in a rounded fin corner.

I think that's about it. We ended up running out of juice on the Command Control and called it a day. Bummer.

Attached is my CiCi lifting off. Nice A8-3 flame!

 

[eugenefl]

This is Jason's scratchbuild lifting off on dual B6s.

 

[eugenefl]

Here's a picture of our mess of rockets awaiting air time. Unfortunately not all got off of the ground due to a dead controller.

 

[eugenefl]

Jason ignites his new Thrustline BETA test. I don't recall the name of this rocket, but it flew nicely on a D12-5. The delay was a bit long and could probably use a D12-3.

 

[eugenefl]

...and here's the recovery on a SWEET STL T-cup!

 

[eugenefl]

My modified Fatboy punishes Azalea on a D12-7.

 

[eugenefl]

This is what it's all about folks. Here's Jason in some relax prep time. There's nothing better than clean cut golf grass to sit and fly rockets on!

 

[Karl]

Sweet! Looks like you had a good day apart from the dead controller. Your field you used looks very nice!

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by Karl
Sweet! Looks like you had a good day apart from the dead controller. Your field you used looks very nice!

Yes, this field is very well maintained. It would be great for a LPR/MPR club up to F or low flying G power. The rockets flown in this field have to have little drift otherwise they'll find the patiently awaiting RETs. This field is great for electric RTF R/C planes too.

My favorite thing about this field is that it draws kids to the nearby playground and basketball court. Jason and I have been known to attract kids here before. Check out <a href="https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5111&highlight=Azalea">THIS</a> old thread to see pictures from a nice day out at the park when we had a chance to entertain some youngsters.

 

[Karl]

Cool , looks like it was getting pretty dark when you started launching! I think it's time to get my fingers crossed that the weather is good for a launch on Saturday/Sunday! So I can get to use my new launch site......Hey this is off topic but could someone tell me if theres a place called ' Moss Sands' doesen't that mean that it's a part of a near-by beach , but no sea/water goes there?