One of my favorite rockets, the Estes Eliminator kit #1950 was lost to a rocket eating tree yesterday. It was that model that got my attention with it's appearance and specs while looking through the Estes catalog that got me back into model rocketry. Funny, but it's like losing an old friend. My own fault for launching it on an E9 on a day that was windy enough to send it drifting far away on it's chute. Bad judgment call there! I'm posting photos of the first launch on a D12 from which it was recovered, and then a video link of the fatal E9 launch. The Video is long since the flight duration was 2 minutes and the rocket isn't even visible for much of the video, but if you look closely in HD, you can see the Eliminator settle into the tree at approx. 2:01 time near the 3 soccer goals at the center of the frame. R.I.P. Looks like I'll be visiting my LHS this week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTRCMjGpDW8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTRCMjGpDW8