Today was one of those perfect fall days - clear, deep blue sky, temps in the mid 60's, and a light breeze. It was begging to see a rocket flight or two...
And I was happy to oblige.
Got together with my friend and his son, who just finished a Quest Totally Tubular last night. Set up 3 pads at the field near my apartment, from which we have an inspiring view of the Saturn V and 1B at the Space and Rocket Center.
Guess which rocket launched first? You got it - the Totally Tubular, on an A8-3. Perfect flight, and the streamer brought it down fairly close to the pad. It flew 3 more times - twice on B6-4's and once on a C6-7. All flights were great, and Chris (my friend's son) was a happy camper.
Next up was my Alpha clone on a B6-6. Good flight, with streamer deploy just past apogee.
My Renegade clone suffered an ignitor misfire, so I launched my home-brew tube rocket - the Algol - on a B6-4. It flew great! Yay - RockSim proves itself yet again.
My friend had repaired last weekend's damage to his Sputnik Too. Here it is on the pad, stuffed with a C6-7:
And here is a short Quicktime movie of the flight. I was surprised at how well it flew, and it was not damaged on landing.
I finally got the Renegade off the pad... It got up and went on a D12-5. Unfortunately, I was so concerned about it drifting outside the field that I used too small a chute, which resulted in one broken fin. Quite repairable.
My friend Rob put up his Estes Patriot on a B. Very nice flight, good chute deploy. You can see it on the pad in this pic, with an old Estes Athena on the left.
I then launched my Centuri Thunder Roc clone on a E9-6. Very spectacular flight! Here's the pad pic, next to a Semroc Lune R-1:
and a short Quicktime movie of the flight.
The Athena flew next, followed by the Lune R-1 on a B6-6. We then loaded a Firecat and my Sprint clone on the pads. Another set of flawless flights.
My last launch today was my AeroTech Initiator on a F20 White Lightning motor. The fire and noise took my firends and a spectator by surprise
Rob's last flight was his Enterprise, which flew last weekend:
This time it didn't do so well, arcing over and no deployed chute. It hit the ground with a noise that just screamed "I'm broke!" Here's a movie of the flight, which resulted in broken-off warp nacelles. Not to worry, though - we have placed a call to Mr. Scot.
The last flight was that of the Totally Tubular on a B6, after which we packed up and adjourned to one of the local hobby shops to replenish my engine stock. Chris also bought an Estes Skywriter to add to his fledgling fleet.
It was a very good Saturday, and flying rockets was the best way to spend it!
And I was happy to oblige.
Got together with my friend and his son, who just finished a Quest Totally Tubular last night. Set up 3 pads at the field near my apartment, from which we have an inspiring view of the Saturn V and 1B at the Space and Rocket Center.
Guess which rocket launched first? You got it - the Totally Tubular, on an A8-3. Perfect flight, and the streamer brought it down fairly close to the pad. It flew 3 more times - twice on B6-4's and once on a C6-7. All flights were great, and Chris (my friend's son) was a happy camper.
Next up was my Alpha clone on a B6-6. Good flight, with streamer deploy just past apogee.
My Renegade clone suffered an ignitor misfire, so I launched my home-brew tube rocket - the Algol - on a B6-4. It flew great! Yay - RockSim proves itself yet again.
My friend had repaired last weekend's damage to his Sputnik Too. Here it is on the pad, stuffed with a C6-7:
And here is a short Quicktime movie of the flight. I was surprised at how well it flew, and it was not damaged on landing.
I finally got the Renegade off the pad... It got up and went on a D12-5. Unfortunately, I was so concerned about it drifting outside the field that I used too small a chute, which resulted in one broken fin. Quite repairable.
My friend Rob put up his Estes Patriot on a B. Very nice flight, good chute deploy. You can see it on the pad in this pic, with an old Estes Athena on the left.
I then launched my Centuri Thunder Roc clone on a E9-6. Very spectacular flight! Here's the pad pic, next to a Semroc Lune R-1:
and a short Quicktime movie of the flight.
The Athena flew next, followed by the Lune R-1 on a B6-6. We then loaded a Firecat and my Sprint clone on the pads. Another set of flawless flights.
My last launch today was my AeroTech Initiator on a F20 White Lightning motor. The fire and noise took my firends and a spectator by surprise
Rob's last flight was his Enterprise, which flew last weekend:
This time it didn't do so well, arcing over and no deployed chute. It hit the ground with a noise that just screamed "I'm broke!" Here's a movie of the flight, which resulted in broken-off warp nacelles. Not to worry, though - we have placed a call to Mr. Scot.
The last flight was that of the Totally Tubular on a B6, after which we packed up and adjourned to one of the local hobby shops to replenish my engine stock. Chris also bought an Estes Skywriter to add to his fledgling fleet.
It was a very good Saturday, and flying rockets was the best way to spend it!
