- Joined
- Jan 19, 2009
- Messages
- 3,441
- Reaction score
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My little girl bought me 2 kits for father's Day, Transwing Glider and shuttle Express. She asked me to put them at the top of the build queue (she knows I have lots). She then was going to go with me to fly them.
Well, I got them built but one thing or another kept us from flying. Finally, the last "official" weekend of the summer we got to go fly. Off to the school yard we went. It was about 75 degrees and very little wind. Perfect flying weather.
We grabbed the rockets and a few other. First up was the Transwing Glider. The glider tangled with the booster and had a hard landing. Fotunately, no damage. Next up was the Shuttle Express. Nice straight flight and the gliders separated ok, but despite the elevators pushed up they nose dived done. Again, no damage.
By then, I also started getting an audience from a nearby playground
Next was my Big daddy. The rocket started pinwheeling once it left the launch rod.:y: It crashed about 5' from me (the Estes controller does only have a 15' cord). I was yelling for everyone else to stay clear. The ejection charge then went off so we were safe. I checked and found the Estes D12 blew of portion of its nozzle. I have submitted a MESS report.
We also flew my Executioner, Renegade, Alien 8, and Sea Hawk. The only other issue was the Renegade tipped significantly with its booster and when the second stage went off it went a long distance. The booster came down in a weed field which took a while to find. We recovered both pieces with no damage. Our final flight was to try the Big Daddy again. It flew without an issue.
Below are some pix of the rockets with my girl.
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OK - yes - she will always be "my little girl", even though she is just about to turn 24 :neener:
She did comment she had forgotten how much fun flying was, so maybe she'll join me for other launches? :confused2:
Well, I got them built but one thing or another kept us from flying. Finally, the last "official" weekend of the summer we got to go fly. Off to the school yard we went. It was about 75 degrees and very little wind. Perfect flying weather.
We grabbed the rockets and a few other. First up was the Transwing Glider. The glider tangled with the booster and had a hard landing. Fotunately, no damage. Next up was the Shuttle Express. Nice straight flight and the gliders separated ok, but despite the elevators pushed up they nose dived done. Again, no damage.
By then, I also started getting an audience from a nearby playground
Next was my Big daddy. The rocket started pinwheeling once it left the launch rod.:y: It crashed about 5' from me (the Estes controller does only have a 15' cord). I was yelling for everyone else to stay clear. The ejection charge then went off so we were safe. I checked and found the Estes D12 blew of portion of its nozzle. I have submitted a MESS report.
We also flew my Executioner, Renegade, Alien 8, and Sea Hawk. The only other issue was the Renegade tipped significantly with its booster and when the second stage went off it went a long distance. The booster came down in a weed field which took a while to find. We recovered both pieces with no damage. Our final flight was to try the Big Daddy again. It flew without an issue.
Below are some pix of the rockets with my girl.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
OK - yes - she will always be "my little girl", even though she is just about to turn 24 :neener:
She did comment she had forgotten how much fun flying was, so maybe she'll join me for other launches? :confused2:
