Stones
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- Aug 15, 2012
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It was another good day for flying for The OTRFA (Oshkosh chapter of the Rocketry Forum Association) here in WI on Saturday. I put in a full 8 hour day being the LCO (I guess that's what you are when you bring all the equipment). 
Started loading the truck at 8 a.m. and it was almost 5:30 p.m. before I got it all put back away. And this was a local launch!
The winds were a little stronger than what was forecasted but, we made due. I'd say we had about 50 flights from the biggest turnout yet, with flyers and spectators, alike. Plenty of BP was burned and a fair share of AP too.
Notable flights included:
Kermie's Deltee Thunder boost glider on a D12(?). Nice slow boost with seperation just over the top. Kermie had the glider trimmed perfect as it looked like it would fly with the wind all day and made a gentle soft landing to applause from the crowd. Very nice Kerm!
Kermie also flew his Moostang on a motor I too am very impressed with, the F25. Warps the 'stang off the pad and a 3 second burn to boot. Real crowd pleaser.
Dave (owner of Sirius Rocketry) had a fair share of flights. His Mean Machine on F12 blackjack reloads were nice slow boosts. Another 3 second burn motor. He had a few in the crowd interested in some kits he sells for some guy named Jim...Fliskits I believe the company is called.
The local sherriff stopped by (he's out there usually everytime we fly now) and stated that we "have quite an event going on here". He stayed for a couple flights and left us to our "event". Nice to have the local "law" "on your side" for a change.
My bigger flights included:
Executioner on F12 reloads. This was my first launch using rms vs. Econos. I can't say that blackjack propellant cleanup is one of my favorite things but, the 3 second burn times are nice. The Warthog went up on a F39 reload. Must of had a weak ejection charge as it barely got the NC off and about a foot of the 10' shockcord out of the BT. I "talked" the chute out for what seemed like an eternity and it finally did at about 300' to the applause of the crowd. Looked alot like a dual stage "drogueless" recovery. Was a heart stopper there for a second!
The AstrobeeD on a G35. Got to use the homebuilt railpad for this one, which worked like a charm. Nice loud boost and a perfect dual recovery. Being the ground was a little soggy here yet, not even a single scratch on the fins or NC. Wish they were all like that.
My flight for the day. The scratchbuilt 4" Phoenix on a G80. Very impressive looking sitting on the pad and even better lifting off on the blue thunder propellant. Loud to say the least! Must have either been the leftover propellant burning off or possibly the delay but, there was a heck of a glow under that bird just before it hit apogee. I thought maybe it caught on fire but, she rolled over and popped the 40" chute and started it's way back down. Up to this point everything I flew had been blessed with great flights and recoverys. The rocket gods didn't allow that on this last flight. With all the field we have there is a fair amount of road surface and ponds to deal with as well. I talked it away from it's demise in the pond but, those fins that are notorious on any Phoenix scale, to damage, succumbed to the the last 6" of a roadway and took off about a 1/2" from 2 of the fins. The good news is, it's all repairable and the Phoenix WILL fly again.
I literally did not have time to take pics (easy now guys) but, I should be getting some great video from 2 to 3 cameras that were documenting the bigger flights. I'll post pics and video when its available.
Anyways, all in all, a real good day of flying and met some new flyers and fans of rocketry on top of it. Hope all your launches go as well.
Started loading the truck at 8 a.m. and it was almost 5:30 p.m. before I got it all put back away. And this was a local launch!
The winds were a little stronger than what was forecasted but, we made due. I'd say we had about 50 flights from the biggest turnout yet, with flyers and spectators, alike. Plenty of BP was burned and a fair share of AP too.
Notable flights included:
Kermie's Deltee Thunder boost glider on a D12(?). Nice slow boost with seperation just over the top. Kermie had the glider trimmed perfect as it looked like it would fly with the wind all day and made a gentle soft landing to applause from the crowd. Very nice Kerm!
Kermie also flew his Moostang on a motor I too am very impressed with, the F25. Warps the 'stang off the pad and a 3 second burn to boot. Real crowd pleaser.
Dave (owner of Sirius Rocketry) had a fair share of flights. His Mean Machine on F12 blackjack reloads were nice slow boosts. Another 3 second burn motor. He had a few in the crowd interested in some kits he sells for some guy named Jim...Fliskits I believe the company is called.
The local sherriff stopped by (he's out there usually everytime we fly now) and stated that we "have quite an event going on here". He stayed for a couple flights and left us to our "event". Nice to have the local "law" "on your side" for a change.
My bigger flights included:
Executioner on F12 reloads. This was my first launch using rms vs. Econos. I can't say that blackjack propellant cleanup is one of my favorite things but, the 3 second burn times are nice. The Warthog went up on a F39 reload. Must of had a weak ejection charge as it barely got the NC off and about a foot of the 10' shockcord out of the BT. I "talked" the chute out for what seemed like an eternity and it finally did at about 300' to the applause of the crowd. Looked alot like a dual stage "drogueless" recovery. Was a heart stopper there for a second!
The AstrobeeD on a G35. Got to use the homebuilt railpad for this one, which worked like a charm. Nice loud boost and a perfect dual recovery. Being the ground was a little soggy here yet, not even a single scratch on the fins or NC. Wish they were all like that.
My flight for the day. The scratchbuilt 4" Phoenix on a G80. Very impressive looking sitting on the pad and even better lifting off on the blue thunder propellant. Loud to say the least! Must have either been the leftover propellant burning off or possibly the delay but, there was a heck of a glow under that bird just before it hit apogee. I thought maybe it caught on fire but, she rolled over and popped the 40" chute and started it's way back down. Up to this point everything I flew had been blessed with great flights and recoverys. The rocket gods didn't allow that on this last flight. With all the field we have there is a fair amount of road surface and ponds to deal with as well. I talked it away from it's demise in the pond but, those fins that are notorious on any Phoenix scale, to damage, succumbed to the the last 6" of a roadway and took off about a 1/2" from 2 of the fins. The good news is, it's all repairable and the Phoenix WILL fly again.
I literally did not have time to take pics (easy now guys) but, I should be getting some great video from 2 to 3 cameras that were documenting the bigger flights. I'll post pics and video when its available.
Anyways, all in all, a real good day of flying and met some new flyers and fans of rocketry on top of it. Hope all your launches go as well.
