In consideration of dial-up users, I going to use links to pics, rather than inline images...
Today was the monthly launch of Nashville's MC^2 and Huntsville's HARA, located at a scenic sod farm near Manchester, TN. I arrived about noon with a couple of friends who had never experienced a club launch and were eager to see HPR for the first time. The range had been going for a couple of hours, and I could see a fair amount of activity around the LCO tent:
View of range
My first launch of the day was an AT Initiator on an F25W; here's a short movie clip:
Initiator launch
I then prepped my 1x Red Max clone and an Estes Solar Probe with B6-4s. Both flights went without a hitch. After collecting the birds, I decided to have lunch, so I sat down with a sub sandwich and a sprite and took in the action. Some of it got rather close, as can be seen by this bottom view of a Quest Nike Smoke descending on its chute.
Nike Smoke coming down
Todd Jurhs of my club has two young daughters who are into rocketry - They name the rockets Dad builds for them after storybook or movie princesses like Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel. The latest addition is the Pink Princess Castle Rocket:
Pink Princess Castle Rocket
Last month I managed to get pics of several rockets just leaving the pad; today, all I got was smoke. Here's the trail left behind by the Princess rocket as it jumped of the pad on a G:
Princess smoke trail
And here it is on its chute:
Pink Princess Castle Rock with chute
The biggest bird I saw fly today was Chuck Pierce's Arcas, on a K motor. Here's a 3 Mb movie of the launch - forgive the grass at the end, please. I was so wrapped up in watching that I forgot to stop the exposure:
Arcas launch
The deploy of the Arcas' very green chute seemed a bit late; fortunately, there was no damage to the rocket, and Chuck trundled off with it on his shoulder.
Arcas green chute
Chuck and Arcas
My lunch over, I selected a D12-7 for the maiden voyage of my Cherokee-D clone. As I was hooking it up on the pad, I noticed that the 2 stage gap stager next to me was the same one that gave a good show at last month's launch:
Cherokee-D on pad
Gap stager launch
I had installed a streamer in the Cherokee-D, 'cause I did not want to walk much with a full belly. The flight went well, with deployment just past apogee.
Cherokee-D on streamer
Next I loaded an E9-6 into my Centuri ThunderRoc clone and readied it on Pad 4. Alas, it was not to fly, as I yanked it from the flight line after 3 ignitor failures. Three strikes and you're out, baby!
ThunderRoc on pad
It does fly well when the motor ignites, as can be seen in this movie from last month's launch:
ThunderRoc flight
Pad 4 was not the only one that seemed jinxed at times. The owner of this bird, the S.S. Endeavour, went through 4 recycles before it finally left Pad 8 for the wild blue yonder:
S.S. Endeavour
My last flight of the day was the first flight of my Apogee Aspire. Fitted with a D12-5, she raced skyward off Pad 5 and deployed a streamer right at apogee:
Aspire on Pad 5
Unfortunately, the Aspire came down a little too fast (even though I used the mylar streamer provided with the kit) and landed hard on its rear. A fin was sheared away from the body tube, which was crumpled along with the 24 mm motor adaptor. Here's a shot of the damage, followed by a close up. Can anybody tell me how to fix this, since I am leaning towards cannibalizing the bird for parts and ordering a new kit?
Damage to Aspire
Damage close-up
I had to leave around 3, as my friends were eager to get back. Flying rockets may be fun, but they must take a back seat to watching Alabama football games
A good day - can't wait for next month's launch!
Today was the monthly launch of Nashville's MC^2 and Huntsville's HARA, located at a scenic sod farm near Manchester, TN. I arrived about noon with a couple of friends who had never experienced a club launch and were eager to see HPR for the first time. The range had been going for a couple of hours, and I could see a fair amount of activity around the LCO tent:
View of range
My first launch of the day was an AT Initiator on an F25W; here's a short movie clip:
Initiator launch
I then prepped my 1x Red Max clone and an Estes Solar Probe with B6-4s. Both flights went without a hitch. After collecting the birds, I decided to have lunch, so I sat down with a sub sandwich and a sprite and took in the action. Some of it got rather close, as can be seen by this bottom view of a Quest Nike Smoke descending on its chute.
Nike Smoke coming down
Todd Jurhs of my club has two young daughters who are into rocketry - They name the rockets Dad builds for them after storybook or movie princesses like Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel. The latest addition is the Pink Princess Castle Rocket:
Pink Princess Castle Rocket
Last month I managed to get pics of several rockets just leaving the pad; today, all I got was smoke. Here's the trail left behind by the Princess rocket as it jumped of the pad on a G:
Princess smoke trail
And here it is on its chute:
Pink Princess Castle Rock with chute
The biggest bird I saw fly today was Chuck Pierce's Arcas, on a K motor. Here's a 3 Mb movie of the launch - forgive the grass at the end, please. I was so wrapped up in watching that I forgot to stop the exposure:
Arcas launch
The deploy of the Arcas' very green chute seemed a bit late; fortunately, there was no damage to the rocket, and Chuck trundled off with it on his shoulder.
Arcas green chute
Chuck and Arcas
My lunch over, I selected a D12-7 for the maiden voyage of my Cherokee-D clone. As I was hooking it up on the pad, I noticed that the 2 stage gap stager next to me was the same one that gave a good show at last month's launch:
Cherokee-D on pad
Gap stager launch
I had installed a streamer in the Cherokee-D, 'cause I did not want to walk much with a full belly. The flight went well, with deployment just past apogee.
Cherokee-D on streamer
Next I loaded an E9-6 into my Centuri ThunderRoc clone and readied it on Pad 4. Alas, it was not to fly, as I yanked it from the flight line after 3 ignitor failures. Three strikes and you're out, baby!
ThunderRoc on pad
It does fly well when the motor ignites, as can be seen in this movie from last month's launch:
ThunderRoc flight
Pad 4 was not the only one that seemed jinxed at times. The owner of this bird, the S.S. Endeavour, went through 4 recycles before it finally left Pad 8 for the wild blue yonder:
S.S. Endeavour
My last flight of the day was the first flight of my Apogee Aspire. Fitted with a D12-5, she raced skyward off Pad 5 and deployed a streamer right at apogee:
Aspire on Pad 5
Unfortunately, the Aspire came down a little too fast (even though I used the mylar streamer provided with the kit) and landed hard on its rear. A fin was sheared away from the body tube, which was crumpled along with the 24 mm motor adaptor. Here's a shot of the damage, followed by a close up. Can anybody tell me how to fix this, since I am leaning towards cannibalizing the bird for parts and ordering a new kit?
Damage to Aspire
Damage close-up
I had to leave around 3, as my friends were eager to get back. Flying rockets may be fun, but they must take a back seat to watching Alabama football games
A good day - can't wait for next month's launch!
