New Year's Day Launch @ Carter Finley

[TheRadiator]

I decided to try launching at NCSU's Carter-Finley Stadiums parking lot today, after a hint by TRF member "buzz". It was a little nasty today, as the clay was still moist and unfortunately tracked some into my house.

If I took note of the wind first, I might have positioned myself a little further from the treeline, but 6 went up and 6 came back, all in all, not a bad day!

Todays lineup

1) Estes Rampage (B6-4)
2) Estes Star Dart (A8-3)
3) FlisKits Flea (A8-3)
4) Estes Baby Bertha (C6-5)
5) Edmonds CiCi (A8-3)
6) Thrustline Cherokee-D clone (B6-2)

Unfortunately I missed the liftoff photo of the Rampage! as the batteries decided to die. Fortunately I always carry some extra alkalines for a case such as this!

The Rampage had a beautiful flight and flew straight and true. I reckon 400 or 500 feet, but that's just a guesstimation. It took a while to come down, but returned home safely. 4 flights on this bird and amazingly enough the stock E2X shock cord mount is in GREAT shape! Thank you to dog barf wadding!

Another note, I grounded a few birds today, the Arrow and Solar Sailer II since they are vintage birds. The motor retention ring on my Chrome Dome is stuck at the moment, and a Custom Aztec just because it flies too high for the particular spot I was in, and I was too lazy to move my site back.

 

[TheRadiator]

Second flight was my Star Dart. I just finished painting this one about two weeks ago. It has stealth mode, but I didn't use it as I only let it fly on an A8-3. It's a stable monster though, it looked as if someone was pulling it into the air on a string. A shroud line burned in half but chute recovery was successful anyways.

 

[TheRadiator]

This is for you Jim! Flew your Flea for the first time, and she too is a stablity monster! It flew straight as an arrow...... up and down. I packed the streamer a little too tight in the body tube, so it never deployed. However it provided a protective barrier and prevented the Flea from taking a core sample of the North Carolina clay. The Flea is fine and will be flying again the next time I go out. For those keeping score at home, the failed deployment is "user error".

 

[TheRadiator]

Flight #4 is the Baby Bertha. The third rocket in a row on it's first flight. I used a C6-5, and used a mylar chute which worked perfectly! I think this thing flies a little higher than advertised. The packaging says 575 feet, but I'm willing to bet its closer to 700. The flight was nice, and the charge was about ½ a second after apogee. It came down nice and slow, but I had a little bit of a scare as the chute was hung up on a small branch in a rocket eating tree. After three of four minutes of slapping the tree branch with a stick, it decided to release the Baby Bertha.

 

[TheRadiator]

Next is the Edmonds CiCi. IMO, I think I like this photo the best. It arched backward a little on the boost, but once it kicked the motor, it found its gliding form almost immediately. It decended a little faster than I would have liked, but the glide was still really nice. CiCi decided to land in a small patch of gravel, so it'll be seeing a little filler to fill in the nicks and scrapes.

 

[TheRadiator]

The finale is the Cherokee-D clone which I bought from Flying Silverado. It's a wonderful classic, and I would have really like to have used a D12, but with one ending up in a tree, I used a B6-2, which I had mistaken for a B6-4. I made an 18mm adapter for windy days. I got tired of not flying this one because of the wind. The boost was straight and true, and the 2 second delay was more like 3. The chute came out on the way up, but slow enough for no zipper. It came back on a mylar chute nice and slow like. Beautiful flight and a beautiful day for flying.

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by TheRadiator
This is for you Jim! Flew your Flea for the first time, and she too is a stablity monster! It flew straight as an arrow...... up and down. I packed the streamer a little too tight in the body tube, so it never deployed. However it provided a protective barrier and prevented the Flea from taking a core sample of the North Carolina clay. The Flea is fine and will be flying again the next time I go out. For those keeping score at home, the failed deployment is "user error".

Very nice I love flying my Flea and the kids seem to love it too. I do a series of 4th grade classes with it each year here in NH and have a ball!

 

[TheRadiator]

Wow, FlisKits in schools! I wish I was so lucky!I came up through school in my first rocketeer incarnation during the dark ages of rocketry (mid to late 80s). Alarmingly enough, we used Yankees while they still had balsa NCs, probably the last of the breed.

Anyways, back to the Flea, I stuffed a little too much dog barf in it. That was the reason for the failure. Looking forward to another flight!