This was my first launch of the new season at a HPR club, where I could take advantage of the high ceiling and fly multistage. It certainly was worth it!
My first flight was my repaired and prettied-up Super Hi-Flier. It got burned and banged up pretty bad at LDRS, but it was fully repaired and given a few coats of paint (the latter courtesy of my girlfriend, who very kindly offered her skilled hands for the job).
I wish I had gotten video of this flight, which went on a B6-0 / B6-6 stack. Clearly my nose weight was insufficient, as the thing pitched to a shallow nose-down angle about 100 ft off the pad, staged, then became stable and shot itself south of the access road. I thought I had lost it until another attendee spotted it and helped me track it down.
It impacted at a moderate angle and a high velocity, possibly under power, hitting fin-first and also scraping up the nose. Only one small fragment of the impacted fin was recovered.
The nice thing is that the rocket is still pretty quick off the pad, I think a bit of nose weight should be doable. I’m definitely doing my homework on the CG next time though, not just relying on Estes’s built-in idiot-proofing that had served me so well prior to this mishap.
Being a little bit embarrassed by my Super Hi-Flier’s hazardous failure, I prepped my Super Goblin with my chosen D12-0 / C11-7 stack and conducted two swing tests. Even starting it fins first, it righted itself and flew correctly after a few revolutions. Having satisfied the RSO, I lit it up and achieved a nominal flight with fully successful recovery.
View attachment trim.CC09C575-0428-4B3D-9549-6A452BA9E1AD.MOV
That was the end of my flying, nothing else was in a condition that satisfied me. I’m thinking I’ll skip a few launch events to get my fleet back in working order, only the Super Goblin is fully ready. My Fliskits Doubles needs assembly, my Luna Bug needs paint snafus fixed, my Hi-Flier sustainer needs replacement, my Hi-Flier XL needs a straighter body tube graft, and I’d like to have a booster ready for my Star Orbiter before I venture into F reloads for it. So maybe I’ll head back out to the flying field in a few months, once everything is looking pretty.
My first flight was my repaired and prettied-up Super Hi-Flier. It got burned and banged up pretty bad at LDRS, but it was fully repaired and given a few coats of paint (the latter courtesy of my girlfriend, who very kindly offered her skilled hands for the job).
I wish I had gotten video of this flight, which went on a B6-0 / B6-6 stack. Clearly my nose weight was insufficient, as the thing pitched to a shallow nose-down angle about 100 ft off the pad, staged, then became stable and shot itself south of the access road. I thought I had lost it until another attendee spotted it and helped me track it down.
It impacted at a moderate angle and a high velocity, possibly under power, hitting fin-first and also scraping up the nose. Only one small fragment of the impacted fin was recovered.
The nice thing is that the rocket is still pretty quick off the pad, I think a bit of nose weight should be doable. I’m definitely doing my homework on the CG next time though, not just relying on Estes’s built-in idiot-proofing that had served me so well prior to this mishap.
Being a little bit embarrassed by my Super Hi-Flier’s hazardous failure, I prepped my Super Goblin with my chosen D12-0 / C11-7 stack and conducted two swing tests. Even starting it fins first, it righted itself and flew correctly after a few revolutions. Having satisfied the RSO, I lit it up and achieved a nominal flight with fully successful recovery.
View attachment trim.CC09C575-0428-4B3D-9549-6A452BA9E1AD.MOV
That was the end of my flying, nothing else was in a condition that satisfied me. I’m thinking I’ll skip a few launch events to get my fleet back in working order, only the Super Goblin is fully ready. My Fliskits Doubles needs assembly, my Luna Bug needs paint snafus fixed, my Hi-Flier sustainer needs replacement, my Hi-Flier XL needs a straighter body tube graft, and I’d like to have a booster ready for my Star Orbiter before I venture into F reloads for it. So maybe I’ll head back out to the flying field in a few months, once everything is looking pretty.