Prior to this morning, I hadn’t flown anything since my own launch at Jesmond Dene Park. Transmission issues with my truck the day before DART’s November 21 launch knocked me out of that one, and TRASD’s ongoing issues at Holtville kept me grounded for their planned December 4-5 launch.
My Super Star Trooper was a success! It catapulted itself towards the dog park when flown as a single stager, but the lug stayed on. I may have to make some adjustments to it before trying that again, but that at least validated the glue joints on the fins and shock cord mount.
After briefly discussing the two-stage configuration’s estimated stability and demonstrating that the upper lug was still good, the RSO cleared it to it fly at its full rated total impulse. The upper stage lit and separated without a hitch, and both components were recovered on the field.
The Generic E2X was the most frequent performer, flying and recovering on B6-4s and C5-3s. The sole C6-3 flight of the day renewed my Goldfish Club membership, and that ended up being the club’s last flight of the day. I recovered it after a brief swim in the chilly bay water.
The Goblin punched a hole in the altitude ceiling on a D12-5, tangling the chute and breaking a fin on landing. Parachutes were uncooperative for me all day, but folding the Generic’s parachute in half instead of thirds seemed to alleviate this issue.
A quick field sim confirmed that my Hi-Flier XL is a ceiling buster on an E12-6. That didn’t fly, but I may take it up to ROC when I get my fill flying LPR.
My Super Star Trooper was a success! It catapulted itself towards the dog park when flown as a single stager, but the lug stayed on. I may have to make some adjustments to it before trying that again, but that at least validated the glue joints on the fins and shock cord mount.
After briefly discussing the two-stage configuration’s estimated stability and demonstrating that the upper lug was still good, the RSO cleared it to it fly at its full rated total impulse. The upper stage lit and separated without a hitch, and both components were recovered on the field.
The Generic E2X was the most frequent performer, flying and recovering on B6-4s and C5-3s. The sole C6-3 flight of the day renewed my Goldfish Club membership, and that ended up being the club’s last flight of the day. I recovered it after a brief swim in the chilly bay water.
The Goblin punched a hole in the altitude ceiling on a D12-5, tangling the chute and breaking a fin on landing. Parachutes were uncooperative for me all day, but folding the Generic’s parachute in half instead of thirds seemed to alleviate this issue.
A quick field sim confirmed that my Hi-Flier XL is a ceiling buster on an E12-6. That didn’t fly, but I may take it up to ROC when I get my fill flying LPR.
Last edited:
