Great Dad's Day Launch, Great Pics

[Fore Check]

Well, my wife woke up and told me we could do whatever I wanted today. After slapping me for the initial look that I gave her, it was off to fly rockets today.

Great weather for flying, very light winds, very sunny - but it was *hot*!!!

Anyway, I finally figured out the camera for launch pix. It's a fancy camera, you see, and I couldn't decipher the 800 pages of instructions that came with it because they're loosely translated from Japanese. Leave it to good ol' trial and error, I finally figured it out.


First flight of the day was the maiden voyage of the SS Cassiopiea on a C6-5. Kind of a slow boost, with a bit of wobble, but a very nice flight to about 650' and a great recovery on an 18" Thrustline ripstop chute.

And here's my first ever successful launch pic.

 

[Fore Check]

Next up was my Advanced Target Drone clone on a C6-5. I was amazed at how arrow-straight and darn high this thing flew! The catalogs say about 700' or 750'. I got about 1000'. What a great flight! And a picture - perfect recovery on a 12" Thrustline ripstop chute.

My luck continued with the launch pics.

 

[Fore Check]

With the relatively short walks on the first two launches, I was feeling lucky. Time to break out the Photon Probe for its maiden flight. Packed in a hot pink 18" Thrustline ripstop chute and loaded up an E9-6.

Another fantastic flight! That E kept burning and burning as the Probe climbed higher and higher, I'd say 1500' +. And a nice, gentle recovery. After inspection, there was *a lot* of BP residue on the outside of the body tube just below the nose cone shoulder. Rather unsightly, but it cleaned up well with a damp cloth. The first time I've seen that before.

Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this launch pic thing.

 

[Fore Check]

The long burn of the E9 in the Photon Probe drew the interest of some other folks in the park, who stopped over with interest. We talked a bit, and I thought it was time for a demo type launch. The maiden flight of the upscaled Solar Sailer II was just the ticket!

Folks, this was the most impressive launch I've done. What a fantastic flight! I packed in a 36" military surplus "flare" chute (white ripstop) and an E9-6.

This baby lifted off majestically. I mean, that E just roared, and it slowly went skyward. Never picking up a lot of speed, the long burn and large amounts of smoke from that E were just stunning. It climbed higher than I thought - probably 900'+, but way more impressive than any other bird at that altitude.

At apogee, it just kinda layed over on its side, and kinda back slid through the tracking smoke for a second, well within view. Then *POP* out came the big white flare chute. It opened perfectly, and the big bird came gracefully down with nary a wobble or spin. Unbelievable!

Check out the launch pic.

 

[Fore Check]

There was actually some *applause* from the handful of interested spectators on the SSII launch. The kids said "Send one up really high!"

So, again, I'm feeling lucky. I load up the Blue Bird Zero clone with an E9-6 and a 24" Thrustline ripstop chute.

They were not disappointed - the BBZ leaped off the pad and just kept on going - higher than Photon Probe, probably like 1700'. And a great recovery without a scratch!

Here she is lifting off.

 

[Fore Check]

The kids were just thrilled! So I talked with the parents a bit and started flying some kit type rockets and let them take turns pushing the button. They loved it! And they even chased down the rockets!

I let them "fly" my Custom Razor a few times on C6-7's (what a hit!), my Quest Pip Squeak on B6-6's, and a flight of my Estes Patriot Missle on a D12-5.

Then we were getting hot and it was time to go cool off. The parents of the kids were nearly as jazzed as the kiddos were, and I *think* there may be a few future rocketeers in North Texas after that one.

We had a ball!

 

[Stymye]

cool launch report,,very nice rockets ,,and even better pics!!

thanks for sharing

 

[Aerobee300]

Awesome Fore Check !!! .... My family had a "Fathers Day Launch" too !!!

Pentrator (maiden voyage ... 2 flights ... perfect both times !)
Big Bertha (1 flight ... parachute didn't eject properly ... wading too tight ... but only minor damage)
Mosquito (1 flight ... perfect flight and recovery)
E powered Venus Probe (1 flight ... perfect pod recovery ... sustainer lawn darted ... destroyed ... oh well )
Corkscrew (1 flight ... perfect)
Alpha III (1 flight ... perfect)
Stock Venus Probe (never left the launch pad ... ejection charge popped the pod out and it made a perfect 3 point landing ... was hilarious ... lol )
Blue Ninja (3 flights ... 2 perfect ... 3rd time up the fin-can separated .... found it ... Ninja will fly again)

Didn't feel like messing with the camera so no pics ... sorry

 

[firemanup]

Wow, i'd say ya have the camera figured out.. awesome pics..