Luck of the irish

[Rob Fisher]

Got the day off work today so I decided to go fly some rockets at the local soccer fields. Started off launching my alpha on a C6-5 with a 12 inch chute with the spill hole cut out. Man that thing flew high!,glad I cut that spill hole out-perfect recovery. Next up was the maiden flight of my D powered fatboy. I already have a stock fatboy and have had problems with the chute getting burned, so I modified my D boy. I added a small piece of body tube to the end of the engine mount up to the nosecone. My chute and shock cord now sit down in a compartment where they are safe from ejection gases. I packed 4 sheets of wadding inside this middle tube then packed regular t.p. on top of the whole thing. 3 perfect flights w/o a hint of chute scorching! works awesome. OMG the fatboy kicks butt on D,s. 3rd rocket, my E powered, shortened maxi alpha 3. Awesome mid-powered flight-went plenty high. this rocket does a lot better on E's than D's. Came down nice on 24" nylon chute but one of the flimsy plastic fins broke off! oh well, easily fixed with epoxy. 2 more launches of the 24mm Fatboy (man I love this rocket) then one last launch of my Yankee on a B4-4 cause it was starting to rain. Other than the rain starting, a great day launching-beats the heck out of work any day!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fore Check]

Two questions:

Did you add any nose weight to your Fat Boy,

and where is your launch site? My brother and I will be launching in St. Louis soon.......

 

[Rob Fisher]

I did not add any nose weight at all and it flies great! The field that I fly at is located off of highway 370 and -god I can't think of the name of the road that you get off, but if you take 270 north to 370 I think its the first exit when you cross the discovery bridge. The area is a huge soccer field complex that runs right next to 370. There are very little trees and plenty of space. The down side is that on nice weekend days in the summer they have soccer practice there with like 10,000 kids there. They were practicing this past Sunday. I don't know if they are there on Saturdays. Its never a problem finding the place deserted in the winter or on a weekday. I'll make sure I find out exactly what the name is of the street tomorrow on my way to work and i'll post it for you tomorrow.

 

[Rob Fisher]

Forecheck-if you haven't launched your D fatboy yet, it kicks serious arse! I always felt my "stock" fatboy felt underpowered and was well deserving of an upgade. It really roars off the pad now and those D's shoot an awesome flame out the bottom! You definitely need a good sized launch site cause it goes more than twice its stock height. I ended up launching mine naked in white primer cause I just couln't wait any longer. Those flame decals I have will definitely be appropriate!

 

[Steward]

OH YEAH....NANY NANY BOO BOO.....

(patiently awaiting our next club launch date...)

Now I'm really getting excited about the 24mm FAT BOY...!!!

(green with envy)

 

[Rob Fisher]

Flew my 24mm Fatboy again today,-did I say how much I love this rocket/motor combo? Man........it goes plenty high, but I can still see it, it roars off the pad with a huge flame coming out the tail, is recoverable and it comes down great on an 18" chute not too far from the launch site. This kit should have been designed with a 24mm mount!

 

[Fore Check]

Hey Rob.

I really appreciate your enthusiasm for the power up on the Fat Boy.

I too have "upsized" the motor mount for D's on a pair of classics where 18mm engines were the design. And - *man* - I have no idea what Estes was thinking putting the A-B-C engines in them to begin with. The D's just bring these otherwise "ordinary" fliers to life!!!!! Namely, the Citation Patriot and Der Red Max.

 

[vjp]

Originally posted by Fore Check
I have no idea what Estes was thinking putting the A-B-C engines in them to begin with. The D's just bring these otherwise "ordinary" fliers to life!!!!! Namely, the Citation Patriot and Der Red Max.

The Fat Boy is also great clustered - I have a 4x18mm that soars on 4 C6-7's, and my next FB is going to have a central 24mm MMT, with 6 18mm MMT's around it.

Speaking of "ordinary" fliers mod'ed for D's, I just finished a Baby Bertha modified to fly on E's. Mwu ha ha ha ha.....