Went to Michaels late this afternoon armed with a 40% off coupon to get a pack of Ds and a new Hi-Flier, and also packed up some rockets and my gear for a little launch action afterwards in case the wind died down (last time was nuts with the wind).
I threw a bunch of rockets in the box and had about 45 minutes by the time I got there, so I only ended up with 4 flights before daylight started heading west. Wind was fairly light (under 10mph), but it was pretty cold today; around 40, and it was cloudy with the sun low on the horizon, so it felt colder. There was literally no one else at the park except a couple of guys field training a retriever off in a field some ways away.
First up of my two my spare parts rocket the smaller "Argon" on an A8-3. This is my new mongrel 'sounding' rocket to see how the weather is.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=143303
I tilted the pad 5' into the wind, and was awarded with another nice tracking flight with a very gentle curve into the wind, and a clean ejection at apogee. The chute didn't fully deploy open(needs a swivel) and it came down a short walk from the pad, no harm done other than the another crecent moon dent in the balsa nose cone. Hey thats what FillnSand is for.
Next up was the other SPRocket, the larger Son of SAM looking one with the speculative parts and build quality. I wasn't really sure what the heck this would do off the pad, but since it was a bit heavier (AAA battery in the nose for weight), I friction taped a B6-4 in for its inaugral flight. When the wind died I crossed my fingers, said a prayer and hit the Fun-Button. It took off like a shot almost straight up (wow, string tests do work afterall). Very realistic flight off the pad about 350-400 feet. It ejected fine post apogee, everything held together, and it came down in a semi flat spin all in one piece. I was impressed and mildly surprised. It earned another trip out to the field when there would be witnesses.
Next up was my recently refurbed original Centuri Javelin. It has white with red fins and an original orange plastic nose. Kind of an odd color scheme, but I don't want to paint the nose over, and I like the red fins. No pics yet. Since its small and light, and kept it to an A8 for its maden flight under my command. Ignition was instant (the new controller has worked like a champ so far)and took the 5' launch angle and arced over a little bit more, but still went very high inspite of the curve and the A motor. Ejection was perfect, matter of fact, it was starting to get darker and I could visibly see the flash of the ejection charge and hear it pop. No mistaking where it was in the sky. I had to chance this down a fair bit as the 12" chute kept in the air for a while. post flight inspect showed a slight crimp in the top of the tube from the elastic cord hitting it with the force of the ejection.
Last up was the Lune R-1, again on a B6-4. I was rewarded with a very high impressive flight and was able to watch the glow of the motor as it took off in the rapidly diminishing sunlight. Right after apogee and ejection I reached down to switch off the controller arming switch and power, looked up and saw... nothing. I looked around all over the sky to no avail. So I made a mental note of where I saw it at ejection, and from the wind, made a guess as to where it should be and started walking. Sure enough a couple of minutes later, I saw the front end of the rocket sticking up out of the field, the pointy end of the NC having dug in when it settled down. There was no damage, and I consider myslef lucky ot have found it. No more sunset launches w/o spotters.
Any one else venture out today?
I threw a bunch of rockets in the box and had about 45 minutes by the time I got there, so I only ended up with 4 flights before daylight started heading west. Wind was fairly light (under 10mph), but it was pretty cold today; around 40, and it was cloudy with the sun low on the horizon, so it felt colder. There was literally no one else at the park except a couple of guys field training a retriever off in a field some ways away.
First up of my two my spare parts rocket the smaller "Argon" on an A8-3. This is my new mongrel 'sounding' rocket to see how the weather is.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=143303
I tilted the pad 5' into the wind, and was awarded with another nice tracking flight with a very gentle curve into the wind, and a clean ejection at apogee. The chute didn't fully deploy open(needs a swivel) and it came down a short walk from the pad, no harm done other than the another crecent moon dent in the balsa nose cone. Hey thats what FillnSand is for.
Next up was the other SPRocket, the larger Son of SAM looking one with the speculative parts and build quality. I wasn't really sure what the heck this would do off the pad, but since it was a bit heavier (AAA battery in the nose for weight), I friction taped a B6-4 in for its inaugral flight. When the wind died I crossed my fingers, said a prayer and hit the Fun-Button. It took off like a shot almost straight up (wow, string tests do work afterall). Very realistic flight off the pad about 350-400 feet. It ejected fine post apogee, everything held together, and it came down in a semi flat spin all in one piece. I was impressed and mildly surprised. It earned another trip out to the field when there would be witnesses.
Next up was my recently refurbed original Centuri Javelin. It has white with red fins and an original orange plastic nose. Kind of an odd color scheme, but I don't want to paint the nose over, and I like the red fins. No pics yet. Since its small and light, and kept it to an A8 for its maden flight under my command. Ignition was instant (the new controller has worked like a champ so far)and took the 5' launch angle and arced over a little bit more, but still went very high inspite of the curve and the A motor. Ejection was perfect, matter of fact, it was starting to get darker and I could visibly see the flash of the ejection charge and hear it pop. No mistaking where it was in the sky. I had to chance this down a fair bit as the 12" chute kept in the air for a while. post flight inspect showed a slight crimp in the top of the tube from the elastic cord hitting it with the force of the ejection.
Last up was the Lune R-1, again on a B6-4. I was rewarded with a very high impressive flight and was able to watch the glow of the motor as it took off in the rapidly diminishing sunlight. Right after apogee and ejection I reached down to switch off the controller arming switch and power, looked up and saw... nothing. I looked around all over the sky to no avail. So I made a mental note of where I saw it at ejection, and from the wind, made a guess as to where it should be and started walking. Sure enough a couple of minutes later, I saw the front end of the rocket sticking up out of the field, the pointy end of the NC having dug in when it settled down. There was no damage, and I consider myslef lucky ot have found it. No more sunset launches w/o spotters.
Any one else venture out today?
