This event was unusual in that I never actually pushed the launch button myself. By this definition, one could say that I didn’t technically fly anything.
I did, however, lend out a few of my rockets to a few guests I invited. A professional contact of mine knew that I was into rocketry and showed up at the range with his 11-year-old son. I allowed them to use a few rockets in my collection, walked them through flight prep and range procedures, selected motors, and oftentimes helped with recovery. So I did have a large degree of involvement in flying these, and a lot of the successes and failures came down to my choices.
Flight 1: Estes Phantom on a 1/2A6-2. This was a less-than-successful flight. The crack in the body tube split wide open and the parachute didn’t deploy, as I thought might happen. I’m still trying to decide whether to repair the rocket after this or junk it. It has flown and survived more than it was ever designed to, and it now lays in pieces. Oh well. At least my supply of 18mm 1/2A and A motors is exhausted now. Plenty of Bs, Cs, and Ds left to try though, if I decide to rebuild.
Flight 2: Estes Goblin on a C11-3. Prior to flight, I replaced one of the two streamers with the 9-inch parachute that ships with the Phantom. In low winds, the rocket landed within the boundaries of the range with no damage. This is the only the third flight to date on this airframe, and the only one to not suffer damage. This flight is what convinced me to order a 9-inch parachute specifically for this airframe and ditch the forward streamer. The aft one can stay: the fluttering motion provides additional visibility.
Flights 3 and 4: Simultaneous launch of an Estes Gnome on an A10-3T and my Estes Goblin on a D12-5. This Gnome is a new build, with the old one being cut up to create a booster. Successful recovery as a single-stager convinced me that the 2-stage design is viable. I have a pack of A10-0Ts and 1/2A3-4Ts in the mail. The Goblin drifted outside of the range and landed on an asphalt road, cracking a fin but otherwise returning undamaged. I made a quick field repair with CA glue but ultimately didn’t attempt to fly it again.
Flight 5: Estes Hi-Flier XL on a D12-5. I learned something incredibly important about this rocket on this flight: it floats!
It’s also large enough that I could see the fins a few hundred feet out in the water. I went swimming for it, and there was a canoeing team that was kind enough to scoop it up and meet me about halfway. This is the first time I’ve actually gone swimming to retrieve a rocket; all others were just too small or too far out to see.
Much to my dismay, the motor had taken on enough water to expand and get stuck in the motor mount. I took it home and left it to dry for a day before removing it, but it was still stuck enough that I ended up pulling out the entire motor mount.
That’s it, lying next to my Goblin decal sheet. Now I’ve got a hairdryer pointing at it and going full-blast.
I should have left it longer. The forward centering ring is still a little damp, no way were the forward end of the motor and the D-to-E adapter ring ready to come out.
That was the last flight of the day. Not too many overall, but certainly plenty of excitement and learning opportunities in that time.
I did, however, lend out a few of my rockets to a few guests I invited. A professional contact of mine knew that I was into rocketry and showed up at the range with his 11-year-old son. I allowed them to use a few rockets in my collection, walked them through flight prep and range procedures, selected motors, and oftentimes helped with recovery. So I did have a large degree of involvement in flying these, and a lot of the successes and failures came down to my choices.
Flight 1: Estes Phantom on a 1/2A6-2. This was a less-than-successful flight. The crack in the body tube split wide open and the parachute didn’t deploy, as I thought might happen. I’m still trying to decide whether to repair the rocket after this or junk it. It has flown and survived more than it was ever designed to, and it now lays in pieces. Oh well. At least my supply of 18mm 1/2A and A motors is exhausted now. Plenty of Bs, Cs, and Ds left to try though, if I decide to rebuild.
Flight 2: Estes Goblin on a C11-3. Prior to flight, I replaced one of the two streamers with the 9-inch parachute that ships with the Phantom. In low winds, the rocket landed within the boundaries of the range with no damage. This is the only the third flight to date on this airframe, and the only one to not suffer damage. This flight is what convinced me to order a 9-inch parachute specifically for this airframe and ditch the forward streamer. The aft one can stay: the fluttering motion provides additional visibility.
Flights 3 and 4: Simultaneous launch of an Estes Gnome on an A10-3T and my Estes Goblin on a D12-5. This Gnome is a new build, with the old one being cut up to create a booster. Successful recovery as a single-stager convinced me that the 2-stage design is viable. I have a pack of A10-0Ts and 1/2A3-4Ts in the mail. The Goblin drifted outside of the range and landed on an asphalt road, cracking a fin but otherwise returning undamaged. I made a quick field repair with CA glue but ultimately didn’t attempt to fly it again.
Flight 5: Estes Hi-Flier XL on a D12-5. I learned something incredibly important about this rocket on this flight: it floats!
It’s also large enough that I could see the fins a few hundred feet out in the water. I went swimming for it, and there was a canoeing team that was kind enough to scoop it up and meet me about halfway. This is the first time I’ve actually gone swimming to retrieve a rocket; all others were just too small or too far out to see.
Much to my dismay, the motor had taken on enough water to expand and get stuck in the motor mount. I took it home and left it to dry for a day before removing it, but it was still stuck enough that I ended up pulling out the entire motor mount.
That’s it, lying next to my Goblin decal sheet. Now I’ve got a hairdryer pointing at it and going full-blast.
I should have left it longer. The forward centering ring is still a little damp, no way were the forward end of the motor and the D-to-E adapter ring ready to come out.
That was the last flight of the day. Not too many overall, but certainly plenty of excitement and learning opportunities in that time.
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