Launched rockets today

[adgators89]

Well it was a nice day out today to launch my two rockets. My 4 year old loves rockets so I bought him a RTF kit from estes and we launched his rocket with no problem at all, recovered in the neighbors yard (almost no wind)
Then I launched my AlphaIII with a C6-5 in it and I have no clue where it went. As I stated there was pretty much no wind today and it went almost straight up, but we did not see it come down. He was so sad for me he was trying to make me feel better, it was so cute.

 

[jflis]

Yeah, an Alpha III with a C motor is asking for trouble unless you have a big field and a lot of eyes on it

Sounds like you and your boy had a good time though, and that's what counts!

 

[Chrisn]

You didnt see it come down because you didnt wait long enough!

 

[RangerStl]

No kidding. You could'a had lunch and a nap in the mean time.

 

[DAllen]

An Alpha III on a C6 is a hoot. In fact, I still have mine and that's all I fly it with any more. It's had probably 20+ flights. Next time fly it with a streamer. Unless it lands just right on a really hard surface like pavement you won't damage it at all. The stock parachutes give it a really slow decent rate so they can drift forever even on a calm day.

I bought a roll of 2" wide surveyors tape from my local Ace Hardware and that stuff is great as streamer material.

-Dave

 

[MarkII]

Oh, I certainly saw my Alpha III come down when I launched it on a C6-7 a few years ago. I saw it drifting

down........down........down.......down........down.......down......

past the woods, off toward the river...

MarkII

 

[o1d_dude]

I lost my original Alpha III on a C6-7, too.

Lost a Gnome/Leprechaun (my daughter's) that same day.

Bought a Liberty and another Gnome/Leprechaun a few days later and still have both.

 

[RangerStl]

A lot of the existing Estes and Quest BT-50 ish sized rockets could really use a spill hole or streamer instead of a 'chute.

:cyclops:

 

[Pippen]

No kidding. You could'a had lunch and a nap in the mean time.

If that was my husband I'm pretty sure that would have been donuts and chocolate milk. He used to take the kids on "Secret Rocket Club Meetings" but I'm pretty sure there weren't always rockets involved.

Glad you two had a great time, adgators!

 

[MarkII]

If that was my husband I'm pretty sure that would have been donuts and chocolate milk. He used to take the kids on "Secret Rocket Club Meetings" but I'm pretty sure there weren't always rockets involved.

Glad you two had a great time, adgators!

In my house, going out for the donuts would be the cover story, allowing me to sneak off to a rocket club meeting.

Of course, the location of my club's meetings is a 3-hour drive away, so I would have to claim that they were really good donuts!

MarkII

 

[jorpet]

That reminds me of our last launch. Got the Estes Viking out and didn't have a streamer so I put on a chute with the center cut out. Sent it up (way, way up) on a C6-5, chute came out at apogee and then the drift... The kids never did spot it until it was only 6-700' up (that was like a minute or two after deploy).

Ended up on the covered playground areas roof right on the edge, chute was over the edge, rocket on top. By the time we were done an hour later it was back on the ground.

 

[novikov]

alphas are a fun little rocket... i looked at my daughters and said i wonder if it can handle a larger engine. dug out the random engine box and with a little rework and plenty of nose weight it has been successfully launched twice now, both times on an E9-8. it is sitting on the top of the book shelf behind me right now. saw the tracking chalk both times, lost sight of it after that though, just too high for such a small rocket to be easily tracked.

there was a bit of breeze so we angled the launch rod, Rocksim says if it went straight up it would hit 3100 feet. guessing with the angle and slight wind shift it still hit 2600 or so.

 

[adgators89]

So after losing the AlphaIII I bought a Screaming Eagle kit and put it together. Today was its first flight and it flew nice on a C6-5 and was recovered with a great catch. However my sons Code Red (starter Kit rocket) landed about 5 feet to far to the left and caught the top of a tree. He was so sad that he lost his rocket (he is only 4) I felt so bad.