I usually post in the launch threads but it was pointed out to me that my photos get buried that way, so instead, here we go!
Yesterday I spent hiding at home working on a new avboard for Little Dragon and a few other things. I headed out to the field at about 2:30, but by then everybody had taken off, so I chatted briefly with Tom McFee at his house and then headed back home. Curtis said I didn't miss much; it was overcast at 1000' and windy, so all that flew was a few small things.
But last night, lo and behold, things started to improve!
and on arrival this morning, the skies were blue, the winds were calm, and the temperature was rising. Finally, we can fly rockets!
After grabbing a coffee to keep my hands warm, I headed to the site, parked on the road, and looked out my driver's side window to see Justin Farrand! He's usually too cool for us, so it was a nice surprise
He had his camera too, hopefully we'll see some of his choice shots.
The Gross family was on the pad when I got there and pounded Jenny's Warrior into the sky on a J520SK. Holy cow did that thing move. Unlike Jenny, who was apparently totally incapacitated from last night's revelries Unfortunately, (a) I didn't get a photo and (b) the thing separated at apogee. Hopefully someone trips over it at Thunderstruck!
Claude (who was Justin's ride to the launch) got to the pads early with his Yellow Jacket with a CTI M2150RL.
This is the same motor, I think, that he flew in Peak Oil a few years back, and once again it did not disappoint!
The fins stayed on and the rocket flew dead nuts straight, with both events clearly visible in the blue sky. Dual deploy dropped it over in Jim Fields's back yard (or so it looked) and now I was seriously jonesing to fly.
Richard was on a mission to fly the alphabet. Though he got struck by an E9 cato (that totally, utterly destroyed his Big Daddy; I've never seen a BP motor cato so amazingly destructive), I think he successfully made it to at least H. Here he is loading up his D-powered Eliminator -- or at least until he realized he was missing the igniter
I finally headed out to the pads with my first flight of the new year-- my shiny new(ish) Gizmo dual deploy. For a shakedown flight, I had her loaded with a 4 grain K400 motor. Tom McFee couldn't read my handwriting (they were cold!) but despite that, liftoff was timely and graceful:
Solid dual deploy (though I wish I could fit more shock cord in the booster, I'm planning to rectify that design flaw soon) and it landed a short walk away after a 3500' flight. It did pop off the aft rail button, but no big deal.
And then there was Gus. Oh, Gus! He came loaded for bear. The first one off the pad was his 5.5" Constipated Duck. He got some help loading the pad from Jacob, whose car chose that exact moment to die while parked next to the pad. So, that's the car you're going to see in these photos.
Anyway, Constipated Duck. CTI 98 6GXL N4100RL. On-board video. Dual deploy. The whole package. Last month, blue was the fashion... this month, RED!
(anyone who doesn't think rail whip is a problem, look at that 1515 flop around...)
It landed a short distance away, again in Jim Fields's backyard.
After Gus's flight, I headed back to the rangehead and chatted with Randy from rail-buttons.com for a bit -- good to have you back! I also bugged Claude to fly his Competitor 3 on the K1440, I was so stoked to see this happen.
MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH! But those of you who have photographed White Thunder will understand. And a 6G 54 White Thunder in a 3" rocket... I mean, really, come on, cut me some slack, I miss 'em every now and then
Brent Justice was going for his Level 1. This one ended badly, ballistic into the field.
He went and got a shovel. More to come.
Since I had talked Claude into flying his 3" rocket on a wicked fast motor, I decided I should fly my 3" rocket on a wicked fast motor too. This was a 5G 1750 loaded with Turbo White, which is my attempt to clone White Thunder.
Holy cow. It was like a K1500. GONE to 8900 and change, and the Beeline led me right to it. Of course it decided to land (a) directly across the fence from where I was walking, so I had to walk down and back again to get it, and (2) like three feet from the grass, in the mud, which took me a long time to clean off before I could pack the rocket back up.
Oh well. That meant I missed Dennis's Formula 200 on an N motor, seen here riding out with Brandon in the back of the Gross truck:
Yesterday I spent hiding at home working on a new avboard for Little Dragon and a few other things. I headed out to the field at about 2:30, but by then everybody had taken off, so I chatted briefly with Tom McFee at his house and then headed back home. Curtis said I didn't miss much; it was overcast at 1000' and windy, so all that flew was a few small things.
But last night, lo and behold, things started to improve!
and on arrival this morning, the skies were blue, the winds were calm, and the temperature was rising. Finally, we can fly rockets!
After grabbing a coffee to keep my hands warm, I headed to the site, parked on the road, and looked out my driver's side window to see Justin Farrand! He's usually too cool for us, so it was a nice surprise
He had his camera too, hopefully we'll see some of his choice shots.The Gross family was on the pad when I got there and pounded Jenny's Warrior into the sky on a J520SK. Holy cow did that thing move. Unlike Jenny, who was apparently totally incapacitated from last night's revelries
Unfortunately, (a) I didn't get a photo and (b) the thing separated at apogee. Hopefully someone trips over it at Thunderstruck!Claude (who was Justin's ride to the launch) got to the pads early with his Yellow Jacket with a CTI M2150RL.
This is the same motor, I think, that he flew in Peak Oil a few years back, and once again it did not disappoint!
The fins stayed on and the rocket flew dead nuts straight, with both events clearly visible in the blue sky. Dual deploy dropped it over in Jim Fields's back yard (or so it looked) and now I was seriously jonesing to fly.
Richard was on a mission to fly the alphabet. Though he got struck by an E9 cato (that totally, utterly destroyed his Big Daddy; I've never seen a BP motor cato so amazingly destructive), I think he successfully made it to at least H. Here he is loading up his D-powered Eliminator -- or at least until he realized he was missing the igniter
I finally headed out to the pads with my first flight of the new year-- my shiny new(ish) Gizmo dual deploy. For a shakedown flight, I had her loaded with a 4 grain K400 motor. Tom McFee couldn't read my handwriting (they were cold!) but despite that, liftoff was timely and graceful:
Solid dual deploy (though I wish I could fit more shock cord in the booster, I'm planning to rectify that design flaw soon) and it landed a short walk away after a 3500' flight. It did pop off the aft rail button, but no big deal.
And then there was Gus. Oh, Gus! He came loaded for bear. The first one off the pad was his 5.5" Constipated Duck. He got some help loading the pad from Jacob, whose car chose that exact moment to die while parked next to the pad. So, that's the car you're going to see in these photos.
Anyway, Constipated Duck. CTI 98 6GXL N4100RL. On-board video. Dual deploy. The whole package. Last month, blue was the fashion... this month, RED!
(anyone who doesn't think rail whip is a problem, look at that 1515 flop around...)
It landed a short distance away, again in Jim Fields's backyard.
After Gus's flight, I headed back to the rangehead and chatted with Randy from rail-buttons.com for a bit -- good to have you back! I also bugged Claude to fly his Competitor 3 on the K1440, I was so stoked to see this happen.
MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH! But those of you who have photographed White Thunder will understand. And a 6G 54 White Thunder in a 3" rocket... I mean, really, come on, cut me some slack, I miss 'em every now and then
Brent Justice was going for his Level 1. This one ended badly, ballistic into the field.
He went and got a shovel. More to come.
Since I had talked Claude into flying his 3" rocket on a wicked fast motor, I decided I should fly my 3" rocket on a wicked fast motor too. This was a 5G 1750 loaded with Turbo White, which is my attempt to clone White Thunder.
Holy cow. It was like a K1500. GONE to 8900 and change, and the Beeline led me right to it. Of course it decided to land (a) directly across the fence from where I was walking, so I had to walk down and back again to get it, and (2) like three feet from the grass, in the mud, which took me a long time to clean off before I could pack the rocket back up.
Oh well. That meant I missed Dennis's Formula 200 on an N motor, seen here riding out with Brandon in the back of the Gross truck:
:wave:
