HWY56 - HERC Sport Launch, Ups&Downs

[eugenefl]

Today (Saturday) was a bittersweet day of rocketry. Several elements made the day wonderful and a few crashes made it bittersweet. First off, we were happy to have the local TRFer "ZippyOgiveHead" join us for a day of flying. He had some cool flights. Also new out to the HERC (unofficial club name) launch was Jason W. Although he's not a current TRF active member, after today I have a feeling he will be. Jason (jetra2) spotted him selling some stuff on the ROL auctions and recruited him. At any rate, Jason W. happened to have a few Estes rockets packed in his car. After a little coersion, we got him to participate. Also new was a gentleman by the name of Joe M. This was his 2nd time coming out to the HWY56 field. He was originally a passerby that noticed us flying and decided to come chat with us. Joe happens to be into rocketry but has no presence on the internet which made it difficult to contact him. We now have his info and can't wait 'til next month. Apparently, he's flown his 4-29SS on 2 G35s on that field. We've seen his work. Having access to automotive detailing products (ie - vinyl, carbon and fiber composites, and paint compressors) he will certainly be a GREAT asset to the formation of our club. Cool to pick up another rocketeer by off chance huh?

Throughout the course of the day we had THREE families stop and watch us fly rockets! In good TRF fashion, all were welcomed and the kids invited to "push the button." Jim Flis had left me a stack of catalogs when he came down to Florida. I was certain to hand a few out and get the name out there. (Hey, we needed something to write our information on too. Serves a dual purpose right? ) What made this day positive is that we made A LOT of contacts. The field we're flying on just happens to be on the outskirts of new developments. NEW communities + lots of young families = EXACTLY what this hobby needs. Heck, one of the dads offered to have his company SPONSOR a local club! How cool is that?!

At any rate, the pictures are coming....and yes, some of the flights were cool too.

 

[eugenefl]

FLIGHT LOG:

Field Conditions - grassy field, overcast sky, slight wind/breeze, ~72 degrees

(Forgive me if I miss a few motors or flights.)

MY FLIGHTS:

1) 3" Bullpup - G40-7W, G35-4W...perfect flights. The delay on the G40 was a tad long, but kept it in the field. The winds drifted a few models off site. (Scratch build)

2) 4" Upscale Der Red Max - F40-4W...underpowered flight. The ejection charge never got off and the rocket pranged. Damage minimal. The first 3" of tube needs replacement. The nosecone looks like an accordion and is a total loss. (Scratch build)

3) 2.6" HAWK MIM23-A - E18-4W...even with 2oz. of added noseweight, the HAWK flew vertical to about 125ft and then changed directions. It ended up going horizontal where it later re-kitted itself. The HAWK is a total loss. (The Launch Pad)

4) 2.6" FALCOM AIM-4C - 4xC6-3 cluster...all 4 motors ignited. UGLY flight. The flight path was erratic and looked much like a classic sky writer style flight. It landed in the street where it later cracked 2 fins. The FALCON is now retired. (Scratch build, The Launch Pad clone.)

5) Estes Snitch - B6-0...good 'ol reliable. Nice for the kids to chase.

CHRIS VG:

1) Estes Blue Ninja w/ onboard xmit video - (2 Flights) D12-?...video signal dropped in and out. Very cool no less.

2) 3" VanRam - G35-4W...the VanRam always impresses. Very nice boost. Nice recovery. (Scratch build)

3) Estes Big Daddy - E9-?...gotta love pushing the Big Daddy on long burn motors!

4) FlisKits Deuces Wild! - 2xC6-5...holy high flight Batman! This one drifted off site into the new development. It landed right in the model home yard. Nice flight. It comes home safely.

ZippyOgiveHead (MH):

1) Yank Astrobee D - G64-?W...SWEET flight! Very high, nice straight boost. Drifted off site, but recovered safely.

2) 1.6" (?) Falcon AIM-4C - motors unknown. Flew erratically and ended up going horizontal WAY off site. I don't think it was ever found. (Scratch Build)

3) Estes Patriot (Enduring Freedom) - 2 flights, motors unknown.

4)... I forgot what else....

Russell (rock2p):

1) Quest Icarus - 1 flight, motor unknown.

Thanks to Russ for getting all that "under the rocket" digicam footage.

Jason W.:

1) Estes Mosquito - A10-3T...thanks for making a donation to the rocket gods! I missed this flight. Blinking tends to do that.

2) Quest (Totally Tubular?) - motor unknown...straight boost, nice streamer recovery.

3) Estes Stars & Stripes - C6-?...VERY high flier! Drifted into the development. Recovered just fine.

Jason (jetra2):

1) AT Mustang - E11-3J, E30-4T...Gotta love BlackJack motors! The E30 was flown for a family that later showed up. Having never seen anything other than Estes, they were quite impressed!

2) Terrier/Sandhawk - Terrier 2xB6-0/1xB6-4 cluster; Sandhawk C6-5...the two B6-0s lit. The Sandhawk did not ignite. Both came down connected but had a nice horizontal landing. No damage! We suspect the B6-0s didn't have enough BP to traverse the long gap stage.

3) Estes Guardian - A8-3...Pffft...I could have thrown it higher. LOL!

4) FlisKits Praetor - D12-0 to C6-3 CHAD staged. HIGH and FAST flight! This one also landed in the model home's yard. One of the reps picked it up and brought it inside. We later went by there and the nice lady gladly handed it over. She thought it was "cool."

 

[eugenefl]

Er, pictures? Here's my Bullpup boosting on a G40-7W. Schweet....

 

[eugenefl]

Here's a FANTASTIC shot of the Bullpup boosting on a G35-4W. Nice shot Jason!

 

[eugenefl]

Here's ZippyOgiveHead's Yank Astrobee D boosting on the G64. Sweet flight! Very high!

 

[eugenefl]

Jason Toft's Praetor takes off in a hurry on a D12-0 to C6-3 CHAD stage.

 

[eugenefl]

ChrisVG's Big Daddy does its thing on an E9. Pretty brave of Chris. He's starting to live on the wild side.

 

[eugenefl]

Jason Toft's Mustang lazily boosts under E11-3J power. Nice motor! Sputtered all the way up!

 

[eugenefl]

Here's Jason Toft's Terrier/Sandhawk lifting off on only 2 B6-0s. The gap stage was unsuccessfull resulting in a very lucky horizontal and damage free recovery.

 

[eugenefl]

Here are the remains of the HAWK. RIP nice HAWK. I was actually rebuilding it too. Glad I never got to the finishing stages! In this picture you can see that the kit is about 6 inches shorter.

 

[eugenefl]

....and another view of the wreckage

 

[Rocketmaniac]

Originally posted by eugenefl
3) 2.6" HAWK MIM23-A - E18-4W...even with 2oz. of added noseweight, the HAWK flew vertical to about 125ft and then changed directions. It ended up going horizontal where it later re-kitted itself. The HAWK is a total loss. (The Launch Pad)

I am sorry to hear about the Hawk.......... I really like that rocket, you did a great job building it......... Just build another one

 

[KenParker]

Great report, as usual, Eugene. I'm dying to fly, but the darn weather just isn't cooperating. Mark Brown and I got together yesterday at his house to commiserate over the lousy weather... and to mix some propellant !!!

But we would much rather have been flying. I'm sitting here now looking out the window at the ice storm covered ground and street. Not a nice day here. The "North" is definitely in North Carolina today.

Sorry to hear about the Hawk. More weight !! More power !!

[Star Wars Yoda voice - sotto voce: Build another one you will, young padawon. Learning much you are. Good things you are bringing to young people. Also... prepare you must for Whitakers gathering in April... many rockets you must have.]

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by eugenefl
Jason Toft's Praetor takes off in a hurry on a D12-0 to C6-3 CHAD stage.

that's very cool. I had never considered CHAD staging the Praetor. Will have to give that one a try

Great report guy. Wish we could fly up here... we got hammered with a nor'easter (up to 51" in some places here in NH), followed by 2 days of heavy rain and tonight we're looking at 10-20" with sleet...

jim

 

[Zippy]

Great pictures. I bet you can guess wich one I lifted for my own site.

 

[Stones]

Eugene...
Great report. Pics are awesome. Your positive and enthusiastic attitude about rocketry always motivates me.
Sorry to hear about the "not so sweet" flights but, as you know, it comes with the territory.
About 30* out here and only 3 mph winds....I should be ringing up Kermie and the gang to go out ....
Packers are playing San Diego in 1/2 hour...guess we'll have to wait.

 

[jawa]

Wow, good memory!

I flew a Totally Tubular on a B6-4, and the Stars and Stripes on a C6-5.
I used the 40% off at Michael's yesterday on a Fat Boy...brought it down $10...then went to Wal-Mart and the regular price was $9, lol. The best use for those coupons are engine packs.


Next time I should have a few more rocs to fly!

- Jason

 

[rock2p]

Eugnene nice report of the day's activities.

I always appreciate how detailed you are.

Then I can just come back later and add a tid bit here or there.

jawa nice to see you on the forum and this past Saturday out at the launch.

I just wanted to post this one of Eugene's upscale Red Max.

First rocket I've ever seen to bounce off the ground after lawn darting.

It must of got a good 2 feet of air after impace

Must have been that spring loaded nose cone he was using.

 

[jetra2]

Actually, I was closer to the impact site (walking back from getting my Mustang). What happened is the Ejection charge went off right as the rocket impacted. It didn't bounce - sorry to burst your bubble, Russ!

Jason

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by jetra2
Actually, I was closer to the impact site (walking back from getting my Mustang). What happened is the Ejection charge went off right as the rocket impacted. It didn't bounce - sorry to burst your bubble, Russ!

Jason

Oh, you mean the 4 second delay ejection charge that was supposed to go off in midflight like you had assured me would? :kill:

There's about 4" of upper tube that needs to be replaced. I may end up having to hack nearly 1/2 of the tube off just to be able to fit a custom coupler in there. I'm debating as to what route I want to take on this one. I certainly was not expecting to crash this rocket on its SECOND flight.

 

[rock2p]

Film Strip

This is from some video I took from underneath of Eugene's Fatal flight of the Upscale Red Max. on an Aerotech F

not the best quaility but who would want to stick a high quality camera right underneath a rocket motor.

 

[BlueNinja]

Cool! The closest thing I've ever seen to that is the Rocket Challenge pic of the big rockets launching.

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by rock2p
Film Strip

This is from some video I took from underneath of Eugene's Fatal flight of the Upscale Red Max. on an Aerotech F

not the best quaility but who would want to stick a high quality camera right underneath a rocket motor.

SWEET! Very nice Russ! I had no idea you had that many frames captured. I like that a lot. Now I'm curious as to what else you have. Hmm....