Ccolvin968
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- Oct 10, 2016
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Launched my F75 on a 29mm H123 Skidmark today on it's maiden flight and my first Certification attempt.
I really wanted a Skidmark for her first flight, but there were no 38mm H123's left so I bought the adapter and launched it on a 29mm.
I am now Level 1 certified and it was a bit of a scary launch.
A fellow club member let me borrow his Altimeter One. (After the flight, he let me keep it!)
Putting it on the pad, inserting the igniter, hooking up the leads... It all just kept building up.
Finally... T minus 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... The unmistakable sound from a Skidmark and sparks and smoke to accompany it.
It shoots up to 874 ft. Determined by altimeter, my predicted altitude was 913... pretty close.
I don't think I trimmed the delay portion enough. It was a H123-12. I trimmed it down to 7... Or so I thought.
I don' think I pressed it down hard enough, so it ended up being closer to an H123-9.
It fell pretty quick, and the chute opened at about 350-400 ft. Everyone was yelling to look out and the airhorn was blasting.
Luckily, the chute was fine and the shock cords did their job despite the decent velocity it was falling at.
All is well, and I managed a second flight on an H140-7, (actually 7 seconds this time, made EXTRA sure of it).
I hit 1240 ft. on this one, and our ceiling was 2500 today due to low clouds. Our waiver is always to 20,000 at our launch site.
Long story short, it was a great day, I'm Level 1 certified, I still have a rocket in one piece, and flyable after two launches.
All in all, it was a good day!
I really wanted a Skidmark for her first flight, but there were no 38mm H123's left so I bought the adapter and launched it on a 29mm.
I am now Level 1 certified and it was a bit of a scary launch.
A fellow club member let me borrow his Altimeter One. (After the flight, he let me keep it!)
Putting it on the pad, inserting the igniter, hooking up the leads... It all just kept building up.
Finally... T minus 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... The unmistakable sound from a Skidmark and sparks and smoke to accompany it.
It shoots up to 874 ft. Determined by altimeter, my predicted altitude was 913... pretty close.
I don't think I trimmed the delay portion enough. It was a H123-12. I trimmed it down to 7... Or so I thought.
I don' think I pressed it down hard enough, so it ended up being closer to an H123-9.
It fell pretty quick, and the chute opened at about 350-400 ft. Everyone was yelling to look out and the airhorn was blasting.
Luckily, the chute was fine and the shock cords did their job despite the decent velocity it was falling at.
All is well, and I managed a second flight on an H140-7, (actually 7 seconds this time, made EXTRA sure of it).
I hit 1240 ft. on this one, and our ceiling was 2500 today due to low clouds. Our waiver is always to 20,000 at our launch site.
Long story short, it was a great day, I'm Level 1 certified, I still have a rocket in one piece, and flyable after two launches.
All in all, it was a good day!