caheaton
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2009
- Messages
- 500
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- 80
Hello. Headed out tonight after work for a couple of quick flights (I just had to, not a cloud in the sky and winds of 2 mph!). I only had about an hour, but managed to squeeze 4 flights in. The first two were with the Astrovision nose on my scratch build Little Al (a booster made specifically for the Astrovision). First flight was with a B6-4 and the second with a C6-5. The B6 flew true and landed very close to the pad. The C6 arced a bit and caused the landing to occur just barely inside the field (a little scary as I was afraid it might land in a fenced back yard....and I'm of the shy type and would be loathe to ask to enter someones yard for retrieval! ) Sadly, the Astrovision failed again to provide any video of the flight...even though in static tests it works perfectly! (Don't recall having this trouble with it before). I'll have to try some fresh batteries and see if that helps. The ones in there now are still the originals.
Next up was the digital Astrocam for its maiden flights. First flight I decided to play it ultra safe and used an A8-3. It flew true but the chute failed to deploy. Landing was close to pad. Minor damage to the top of the body tube. The next flight was on a B4-4. Landing was near pad, but a little farther than before. It likewise gave a nice straight flight, but again, the chute failed to deploy! This time there was moderate damage (mid body has a crumple). I suspect the bundled chute is simply too large (about 18") for a BT-50 tube. Perhaps it would be better nto ot fold in the conventional manner and just leaving it long inside the tube. I do like the minimal spin, so the fin can is good. I may scratch build a new booster and reuse the fin can.
Some other observations. Besides the tight fit for the chute, the tube feels a little thinner walled than other Estes tubes. And Estes has you run a string from the nose to the base of the nose (akin to the Oracle) and tell you to pull it tight when inserting the nose. This is nearly impossible as the groove for the string is too shallow...you can't help but have some slack in the string after insertion. The camera itself is easy to use, though the blue LED that indicates status is a bit tricky to see. Overall not a bad kit and camera quality is considerably better than its ancestors.
Next up was the digital Astrocam for its maiden flights. First flight I decided to play it ultra safe and used an A8-3. It flew true but the chute failed to deploy. Landing was close to pad. Minor damage to the top of the body tube. The next flight was on a B4-4. Landing was near pad, but a little farther than before. It likewise gave a nice straight flight, but again, the chute failed to deploy! This time there was moderate damage (mid body has a crumple). I suspect the bundled chute is simply too large (about 18") for a BT-50 tube. Perhaps it would be better nto ot fold in the conventional manner and just leaving it long inside the tube. I do like the minimal spin, so the fin can is good. I may scratch build a new booster and reuse the fin can.
Some other observations. Besides the tight fit for the chute, the tube feels a little thinner walled than other Estes tubes. And Estes has you run a string from the nose to the base of the nose (akin to the Oracle) and tell you to pull it tight when inserting the nose. This is nearly impossible as the groove for the string is too shallow...you can't help but have some slack in the string after insertion. The camera itself is easy to use, though the blue LED that indicates status is a bit tricky to see. Overall not a bad kit and camera quality is considerably better than its ancestors.
