Launch of Attrition

[TheRadiator]

Ever have one of those days where little goes right? Well, I'm just glad I was just using BP today. Launched an old Estes Sparrow on an A10, and that was one of two uneventful launches. Goes up, perfect recovery, ready to go again.
2nd on the pad was a cheapo X-Flyer I got at Wal-Mart. E2X shock cord mount, not very good, had shock cord seperation, and the parachute landed 20 feet up in a tree. I thought, "Oh well, that's an E2X mount for ya. I've got a few NC's to replace that one. Go with a kevlar mount next time."
Launched an Estes Bandit, chute got wrapped around fins, landed hard. Ouch!! Well, plastic is easy to fix.
4th launch - Aardvark BT-50 American Dream. Good looking going up, but the ejection charge melted part of the mylar streamer. I thought I had packed it pretty well..... guess not.
Only other decent launch was a Quest Lightning. Nothing out of the ordinary there. It flew a bit low for a B6, but it came back in one piece, so I won't complain.
Launced a Fun Rockets Wicked Winnie (the styrofoam one) with an earthworm for a payload. The flight went fine, but the tape on the NC didn't hold. I never did find the worm. Oh well, hope he landed in something soft, but he's prolly splattered all over the tarmac in the parking lot.
Grand Finale (or Flop). Tried to launch a D9-4 in a Silver Comet. The batteries went dead with my Aerotech controller so the igniter never went off. Switched up to a D12-3 and LPR controller. Igniter #1 popped out. Igniter #2 did the job, and the Comet got out of Dodge. Once again, the bad parachute-pack bandit (myself) struck again, and the 'chute melted together and was coming down quick! I tried to catch it to keep the fins from breaking on the cold, hard ground, but I bobbled it a bit, and broke one of the fins in my effort to save the fins. Fortunately the break was clean and along the grain, so a little thick CA and epoxy should take care of that.
All in all it could ALWAYS be worse. I usually never have so much trouble in a single launch, but I can never stop myself from thinking "What did I do right before?" and "What am I doing wrong now?" On the bright side of things, I got to smell burning black powder today. All in all, not a bad day! :kill: Ah, who am I kidding? I know I need to get some better 'chutes anyhoo!

 

[sandman]

Hey!

At least you got to fly rockets...better than modt of us did today!

sandman

 

[eugenefl]

Sorry to hear about the mishaps.

I think the biggest misconception I had when I got back into rocketry is that I would be able to control and correct the things that caused me to lose rockets as a kid now that I'm older. What I've learned is that I've become more hardheaded and more apt to lose rockets as an adult.

Sometimes you just have to stick a motor in it and let it rip! Take pictures, have fun with the kids, and at the end of the day be thankful to have flown rockets! That's my motto anymore.

Thanks for sharing. Better luck next time. Oh yeah, get yourself some nylon chutes for those BT60+ airframes. They're cheap these days and are far more reliable than the plastics.

 

[graylensman]

Originally posted by eugenefl
I think the biggest misconception I had when I got back into rocketry is that I would be able to control and correct the things that caused me to lose rockets as a kid now that I'm older. What I've learned is that I've become more hardheaded and more apt to lose rockets as an adult.

Those are the pearls of rocketry wisdom I needed to see. I've realized lately that I've dropped off building and flying, and told myself a bunch of hooey as to why... but it really boils down to not wanting to lose any rockets - and the only way to not lose rockets is to not fly 'em. And where's the fun in that?