Please review my flight plan!

[rocketcrazy]

Hi all-

It's been awhile since I posted, but I have been lurking and flying!

I'm working up a flight plan for tomorrow, Saturday, November 15th and would appreciate any comments. Even if I get replies after the launch date I would appreciate them! We can then review what happened. There is a LUNAR launch at Moffett Field (old NAS) out in front of Hanger One. It shouldn't get cancelled, it is supposed to be almost 80 degrees!! It is November, right? I'll check after I post this to make sure it's still on.

I couple years ago I posted https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=30040&highlight=rocketcrazy

that thread and it will be flown tomorrow also.

Quick Stats for the five rockets I plan to fly, stricktly on reloads. I am relatively new to RMS, but will be flying with a L1 friend, and LUNAR doesn't let folks get too out of bounds:

1. That Stretch Daddy: 24 mm, about 13 oz dry, no chute. 24" nylon chute recovery.

2. FatBoy: Stock: 18 mm, weighs next to nothing, no nose weight, 18" nylon chute recovery.

3. The Launch Pad Gecko: 24 mm, about 10 oz, 18" mylar chute recovery.

4. Executioner: Stock, 24 mm, about 11 oz, 24" nylon chute recovery.

5. Stretch Canadian Arrow: 24 mm, about 9.5 oz, 18" nylon chute recovery.


As I expect a bit of a breeze, my thinking is shorter delays. ALSO: 1000 ft launch ceiling

Available engines in 18 mm:

D13-4W
D13-7W
D24-7T

Available engines in 24 mm:

E11-3J
E18-7W
F12-5J
F24-7W

Flight plan for wind:

1st: Stretch Daddy on F12-5J

2nd: FatBoy on D13-4W

3rd: TLP Gecko on E11-3J

4th: Executioner on F12-5J

5th: Stretch Arrow on E11-3J

If there is no wind I will carefully power up and use a longer delay, while keeping in mind the ceiling.


Does anyone see serious issues with this plan? I know a couple of them might well need a bigger chute. There is ton's of room, I could likely catch a hot one before it hits. I also know FB could use some nose weight, but I'm thinking I'll be ok when I pack that heavy nylon chute in it.

Thanks for reading if you got this far!

Rob

 

[Pantherjon]

Looks like a good flight plan to me! Best of luck and have fun!

 

[talkin Monkey]

RC...Thnx, ya just made me totally homesick!...:lol:

I grew up in the Blossom Hill/ Meridian / Los Gatos / Santa Teresa area...Wish I was back home...:cry:

Were are ya flyin' to to accomodate 24nS motors? [EDIT] Sorry, didn't read close enough, Moffet would be a great place to fly...Not approachable while I lived there though.

Scott

 

[AKPilot]

Oh, I'm jealous - 80 degrees?!

I grew up in the Bay Area and actually lived on Moffett while stationed at Sunnyvale AFS (now Onizuka AFB). Miss the area dearly, but not the housing prices.

 

[Handeman]

The only thing I would question is that 18" chute on a FatBoy that weight "next to nothing". You might want to use a 8" or 12"

I have a FatBoy with a 3x18mm cluster and nose cone weight. I still use a 12" chute.

 

[rocketcrazy]

Handeman- yeah, I know that chute may be more than is needed, but it is the smallest nylon I have. I didn't want to use a plastic chute with AP and since there is TONS of room a little walk to fetch a rocket won't kill me. I also thought the extra weight would be a good thing. I might not even get to do FB, I noticed I'm going to have a clearance issue with the ejection charge clearing the fore end of the engine hook and I don't have a rattail file handy.

Headed out in about an hour, it looks dead calm and is gorgeous!

Rob

 

[gregpearson]

How did everytrhing go Rob?

 

[Mikus_Superfly]

4th: Executioner on F12-5J

How did that go? I zippered the crud out of my Executioner a couple of launches ago when an F12-5J flew more like a F12-8or9J.

 

[rocketcrazy]

How did that go? I zippered the crud out of my Executioner a couple of launches ago when an F12-5J flew more like a F12-8or9J.

Mikus / Greg -

I'll preface everything by agreeing to the above quote!!! :cry: Specifically the delay part. I need to learn Aerotech delays before I fly anything else:

My "Big Red" aka Stretch Daddy flew FRICKIN SWEET with that F12J, as far as the boost goes... About 200 feet from the ground that delay finally went off, but by then history was written. (I'll resurect my 2006 Big Daddy thread) The 6' shock cord snapped (1/4" elastic) and the body tube fell in an apparent attempt to core sample the runway. That left the rocket about 11 inches shorter, as far as how much I have to cut off to repair it. Crumped 3 or 4 inches.

The Gecko boosted sweet with the E11-3W, but again I need to learn the delay times and ejection power better, it deployed late but recovered. I lost a canard from the nose cone by way of the elastic coupling with the explosive BP to create a killer Estes dent that also took the canard. My bad.

For some reason my friend and I still wanted to fly, so I ok'd hm to load the RMS 24mm casing, with an F24. I thought about that for a second and realized the delay that comes with it must be a half hour. I thought it was 7 seconds. I didn't load the casing into the rocket, but rather called it a day to rethink things before I lost another rocket.

Sunday I went to my brothers and just had a ball launching Estes single use. I love those. We launched about a dozen or 15 flights with:

Rock-It and a D12-3 w/ 18 inch nylon chute. Beautifull!

The stock FatBoy mentioned for flight Saturday, with a C6-3 and 18 inch nylon chute. Beautifull!

That cluster bomb unit Estes made (might be BLU-74 or something) on a C6-3 goes sweet with that boattail! 12 inch plastic chute.

Der Red Max on a C6-5 w/ a 12 inch plastic chute. Woo Hoo!

Baby Bertha on C6-5's and a 12 inch plastic chute with a spillhole. High Flyer!


All rockets launched were recovered nicely. Only damage was a fin on Rock It since when I built him I hadn't quite mastered the glassine removal issue with Estes tubes. All of them landed with 100 yards of the pad, all in the field in front of me (the intended landing zone) except Fatty who landed on the street once. He is built like a tank though he is light.

Thanks for asking how things went, it was a crappy day at the office so I'd love to chat more. I have a pic or two I'll post in either this thread or the BD rebuild thread I'll have to resurrect.

Rob

 

[rocketcrazy]

These were the five I slated to fly. The Ex hasn't been painted and I never use Estes decals, I build, spray something on them and fly.

Rob