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rklapp said:
Gorgeous flights with the crew on a Hawaiian autumn morning

I have a Patreon account now. I appreciate any help with creating the launch videos. https://www.patreon.com/ronzrocketz

I had a heck of a time rendering this video. I spent half of Saturday putting the video together and most of Sunday trying to figure out why it kept crashing the program. An error occurred the first time and corrupted the file. I suspect it was a problem with the video text. I finally was able to render portions of the video then put it together.

Launching with Gary, Roger, and Christopher. Gary launched 9 rockets, I launched 8, and Roger launched 2. At the park, we were greeted with a delicious smell of BBQ pork or something like it. This was an unexpected relief from the often sewage smell that permeates through the park. The winds were between 2 and 7mph with several breaks. Most of the rockets descended slowly and all stayed within the park. I’ve decided to give a point if the device went on the flight but didn’t work such as an altimeter or cam because I’m still risking the device if the rocket is lost.

Finished the decal and paint job on the Cosmic Interceptor. I was nervous about using the E30 because it seems overpowered and didn’t want it to cruise missile with an E12. It’s not like I can accurately sim the complicated rocket. Turns out the E30 was perfect going about 500ft. It’s difficult to judge the altitude when the rocket goes straight up. We successfully retrieved the Viking from its 8th flight. I regret losing the Qjet motor because it’s plastic. I found an old A8 motor that had been in the grass for a while. I recognized the tape I put on the casing.

In the DARC-1, I thought I had the C5-3 but had a B6-2 instead because I was going to launch it last week in the wind. It wasn’t as dramatic as the previous C5-3 with the shotgun report. The Space Crater worked much better now that I’ve read the instructions properly. After the tube crinkled, I cut off the damaged tube and reglued to the fin can. With the Shuttle, the rocket flew exactly like last time except without the JLCR. I got great video of the glider so time for it to retire.

Both of Roger’s mini V2 and 3D printed Gridly worked great. He was worried that the Gridly was unstable, so he shortened the tube and added more NC weight. Hard to say what effect it had because it’s difficult to sim a grill fin. Gary’s MAV worked great despite the long delay. He’s working his way through his supply of Quest black powder motors. The pink Mix n Match 60 was weird because the Quest motor had a studder after leaving the rod but is difficult to see on the video. It kinda sounded like it was a boosted rocket.

The Double Ringer was another of the Estes Labor Day sale rockets and didn’t disappoint. Someday when I’m tired of the rocket, it will fit the Booster-55 so wondering how far it will go on a C6-0/C6-7. Would the gliders stay on? With the SWAT, I can only speculate that I failed to properly arm the altimeter because it showed my previous results when I performed a suction test on the altimeter. The Red Nova was spectacular with the Flightsketch altimeter and JLCR. It was Gary’s idea to try the 18mm composite rather than the D12.

00:00 Intro
00:09 Cosmic Interceptor 4pts
01:41 Gary’s Star Hopper
02:09 Viking 3pts
03:30 Delicious food smells in the park
04:05 DARC-1 4pts
06:20 Gary’s Mini Bomarc
06:43 Space Crater 5pts
08:59 Gary’s Mini DRM
09:39 Shuttle 3pts
10:28 Gary’s Lunar Scout
11:22 Roger’s Mini V2
12:15 Gary’s Tooboh
12:42 Roger’s Gridly
13:22 Gary’s MAV
14:10 Double Ringer 6pts
14:48 Gary’s DC-Y Space Clipper
15:44 Gary’s Mix n Match 60 (black)
16:20 SWAT 6pts
17:09 Gary’s Mix n Match 60 (pink)
18:01 Red Nova 534ft 6pts
19:06 Total = 37pts + 10 bonus = 47pts

Click to expand...

Eggshellant Recovery on the Space Crater. If I ever do competition egg loft, I want to get my eggs where you get yours, did not expect it to survive your first toss!

Please pass on my appreciation to your son, he adds nice "color" to the videos with his banter.

Regarding Egg lofting, I was wondering for those who have done it whether having a long shock cord, with a short length from the egg carrying nose cone to the chute, and a much much longer cord to the body of the rocket. Theory is (assuming you don't get tangled, which is possible) that the rocket lands first, at which point the gravitational pull on the chute is only the egg and the capsule (assume mass of chute and shrouds and shock cord neglible.) IF there is enough length of shock cord between rocket and egg capsule, the chute might slow down the capsule a bit more. Has to overcome the kinetic energy of the falling capsule.

Amazed that you can get a rainbow in a nearly cloudless sky. Is it just that humid?

As usual, thanks for posting these.
 
BABAR said:
Eggshellant Recovery on the Space Crater. If I ever do competition egg loft, I want to get my eggs where you get yours, did not expect it to survive your first toss!

Please pass on my appreciation to your son, he adds nice "color" to the videos with his banter.

Regarding Egg lofting, I was wondering for those who have done it whether having a long shock cord, with a short length from the egg carrying nose cone to the chute, and a much much longer cord to the body of the rocket. Theory is (assuming you don't get tangled, which is possible) that the rocket lands first, at which point the gravitational pull on the chute is only the egg and the capsule (assume mass of chute and shrouds and shock cord neglible.) IF there is enough length of shock cord between rocket and egg capsule, the chute might slow down the capsule a bit more. Has to overcome the kinetic energy of the falling capsule.

Amazed that you can get a rainbow in a nearly cloudless sky. Is it just that humid?

As usual, thanks for posting these.
Click to expand...
The Space Crater is stock with the supplied rubber cord. Don’t think I’ll add any modifications (other than removing the previous crinkled tubing). The next attempt will be with a composite but which one? Maybe a D20-4…

My shirt was dry so not that humid. It was a rare rainbow indeed. The forecast said the winds would pick up at 9am and sure enough did at 8:50 when we left. Never did figure out where the BBQ pork was…

I’m looking forward to Gary’s new card stock rocket. Sunday’s looking promising.
 
BABAR said:
Regarding Egg lofting, I was wondering for those who have done it whether having a long shock cord, with a short length from the egg carrying nose cone to the chute, and a much much longer cord to the body of the rocket. Theory is (assuming you don't get tangled, which is possible) that the rocket lands first, at which point the gravitational pull on the chute is only the egg and the capsule (assume mass of chute and shrouds and shock cord neglible.) IF there is enough length of shock cord between rocket and egg capsule, the chute might slow down the capsule a bit more. Has to overcome the kinetic energy of the falling capsule.
Click to expand...
In my admittedly very limited experience, nose cones tend to hang down under chute - especially with payload - whereas body tubes - generally being as light as possible - tend to fly about. A short cord from chute to nosecone seems to me to increase the risk of the body flying in under the chite and striking the cone. I've yet to fly eggs, but I tend to favor either a longer cord from the chute to the nose than to the body or else attaching the nose to the body but not to the chute. Either way the cone hangs down and will typically touch the ground first, but it might have a gentler trip down that way.

Or my conceptions could simply be a mirage caused by my relatively small sample size of flights vs. most of you. I am constantly reminding myself of how little I really know.
 
bad_idea said:
In my admittedly very limited experience, nose cones tend to hang down under chute - especially with payload - whereas body tubes - generally being as light as possible - tend to fly about. A short cord from chute to nosecone seems to me to increase the risk of the body flying in under the chite and striking the cone. I've yet to fly eggs, but I tend to favor either a longer cord from the chute to the nose than to the body or else attaching the nose to the body but not to the chute. Either way the cone hangs down and will typically touch the ground first, but it might have a gentler trip down that way.

Or my conceptions could simply be a mirage caused by my relatively small sample size of flights vs. most of you. I am constantly reminding myself of how little I really know.
Click to expand...
@bad_idea time to experiment. Eggs are pretty cheap. ;)
 
Diehard rocketeers on a misty Hawaiian morning

Gary, Christopher, and I ventured out to the park before my son went to work. I was hoping the rain wouldn't start until 9am but alas, not to be. Very dramatic rainbow action. It wasn't raining enough to get us soaked, just enough to keep the tropical heat away. I need to remember to use the iPhone because the Handycam has serious difficulties focusing in the grey clouds and rain.

Gary and I lost two $5 rockets and crashed two rockets. I think my problem was that I forgot to bring the DIY controller then forgot to secure the cable to the tripod causing the rockets to veer toward the basketball courts. Fortunately, the rains cleared out most of the players. I don't think they were expecting the early rain either. Unfortunately, the Venture decided to go on its own venture. We lost track of it after apogee. It doesn't look like the DARC-1 got hung up on the cable so not sure why it veered away unlike when I first flew it on a C5-3. The fins are easy to fix. Gary's SLS will need more repairs. We tried but weren't able to easily rescue Gary's Mix N Match 55 from the tree.

Several of Gary's rockets had amazing flights. The Blue Jay hovered in the air for 25 seconds before heading down. The Space Raider and Twinsee were also awesome flights. My Xarconian Cruiser suffered lite damage from the chute failing to eject. I need to attach the chutes closer to the NC, so it can pull the chute out of the tube. This is the second time this has happened in the past month. The chute on the Antar deployed but then collapsed. Fortunately, the chute deployed enough to keep the rocket off the roof and land on the grass so no damage. Everything's fine so not sure why that happened.

00:00 Intro
00:05 Gary's Luna Bug
00:23 Misty rain
00:43 Gary's Space Raider
01:01 Venture 2pts
01:37 Deep Space Transport 4pts
02:19 Gary's Blue Jay
03:33 Double rainbow
03:55 Xarconian Cruiser 202ft 5pts
05:47 Gary's Twinsee
06:23 Bull Pup XL 622ft 6pts
07:45 Gary's Mix N Match 55
08:45 Antar 6pts
09:29 Flight video
10:17 Gary's Bumper Wac V2 MX
10:56 DARC-1 3pts
11:36 Gary's Hurricane MX
11:54 Total 26pts + 5 bonus = 31pts

 
rklapp said:
Diehard rocketeers on a misty Hawaiian morning

Gary, Christopher, and I ventured out to the park before my son went to work. I was hoping the rain wouldn't start until 9am but alas, not to be. Very dramatic rainbow action. It wasn't raining enough to get us soaked, just enough to keep the tropical heat away. I need to remember to use the iPhone because the Handycam has serious difficulties focusing in the grey clouds and rain.

Gary and I lost two $5 rockets and crashed two rockets. I think my problem was that I forgot to bring the DIY controller then forgot to secure the cable to the tripod causing the rockets to veer toward the basketball courts. Fortunately, the rains cleared out most of the players. I don't think they were expecting the early rain either. Unfortunately, the Venture decided to go on its own venture. We lost track of it after apogee. It doesn't look like the DARC-1 got hung up on the cable so not sure why it veered away unlike when I first flew it on a C5-3. The fins are easy to fix. Gary's SLS will need more repairs. We tried but weren't able to easily rescue Gary's Mix N Match 55 from the tree.

Several of Gary's rockets had amazing flights. The Blue Jay hovered in the air for 25 seconds before heading down. The Space Raider and Twinsee were also awesome flights. My Xarconian Cruiser suffered lite damage from the chute failing to eject. I need to attach the chutes closer to the NC, so it can pull the chute out of the tube. This is the second time this has happened in the past month. The chute on the Antar deployed but then collapsed. Fortunately, the chute deployed enough to keep the rocket off the roof and land on the grass so no damage. Everything's fine so not sure why that happened.

00:00 Intro
00:05 Gary's Luna Bug
00:23 Misty rain
00:43 Gary's Space Raider
01:01 Venture 2pts
01:37 Deep Space Transport 4pts
02:19 Gary's Blue Jay
03:33 Double rainbow
03:55 Xarconian Cruiser 202ft 5pts
05:47 Gary's Twinsee
06:23 Bull Pup XL 622ft 6pts
07:45 Gary's Mix N Match 55
08:45 Antar 6pts
09:29 Flight video
10:17 Gary's Bumper Wac V2 MX
10:56 DARC-1 3pts
11:36 Gary's Hurricane MX
11:54 Total 26pts + 5 bonus = 31pts

Click to expand...

thought your ANTAR was going to take the controller up with it! Flying launch wires!
I usually don’t pay as much attention to the motor choices, then saw Gary’s Twinsee flight—— BACK UP, WHAT THE HECK DID HE FLY THAT ON! then I saw it was an A8-3. I had to laugh, I still have my original Edmond Twinsee, that’s a lot of lumbar to hoist on an A motor, even on a small field. Should do great on a B.
looks like Gary is on an Edmonds streak, I think the Blue Jay is basically a Deltie, always a nice flight.
Sorry about the DARC-1.
the Xarc in gold was nice!
 
kuririn said:
I wonder why the Antar took the ignition wires up with it?
Igniter and leads should have been spit out when the motor lit.
Weird.
Click to expand...

I use masking tape on the initiators instead of the rubber tubes. Probably didn't burn enough of the tape away. I didn't notice the cable going with the rocket until I watched the video because the D20 was so fast. I need to remember to secure the cable like you do to the rod.

kuririn said:
Yeah, I thought the A motor would be weak but.....
it's what the instructions recommended for a first flight.
Go figure.
Click to expand...

Technically, it was a great first flight. Maybe a B4-2 or B6-2. Would it work on a B6-0? I have some of those I haven't used for a bit.

On a side note, did Estes remove the C5-3 from their website?
 
Last edited:
rklapp said:
Technically, it was a great first flight. Maybe a B4-2 or B6-2. Would it work on a B6-0? I have some of those I haven't used for a bit.

On a side note, did Estes remove the C5-3 from their website?
Click to expand...
Definitely a no on the B6-0. It'll deploy just above the rod, and under full velocity each will do a sharp loop the MAY intersect the ground. Twinsee turned Onesee or Nonesee.

I think (it's been a while) it did pretty well on the B6-4. Mine were unpainted. Gary, yours look very good, how did you color them and any idea how much weight that added? In a way, since these aren't competition birds, if you trim them the weight may not be such a bad thing, as a fast glide (as long as it is a balanced glide) makes for an exciting flight (of course, there is the OTHER sort of exciting flight, a bit like the Blue Jay, "Is it gonna land in the park or thermal into the canal?!" kind of excitement that you generally don't want) and an easy recovery in a short field. A challenge to fly on a C if you have no assistance, as the gliders often tend to go in opposite directions and can be hard to keep track of both.
 
BABAR said:
how did you color them and any idea how much weight that added?
Click to expand...
I colored them several years ago with fluo marking paint. This was its' maiden.
Color hasn't deteriorated sitting on the shelf, it's supposedly degradable in the elements.
No idea how much weight it added cuz I didn't weigh it before spraying.
Was expecting the tails to be scorched from the exhaust but only a couple of scorch marks on a wing and fuse near the motor.
Also brought the Gryphon along but didn't fly it. Had to add a lot of tail weight to balance to the point indicated in the instructions. Feels like a brick compared to the Blue Jay.
 
bad_idea said:
The Estes site fails to list many products that can be found with a search, e.g., A10-PT motors, NC-80K nose cone, etc. Wish they would spend some time organizing the site.
Click to expand...
I've been thinking that for a long time. It's as if they make you wade through as many of their of their products as possible while you're looking a specific item.
 
Lee said:
I've been thinking that for a long time. It's as if they make you wade through as many of their of their products as possible while you're looking a specific item.
Click to expand...
The availability of various Estes parts (centering rings, nose cones, etc.) only as part of bundles with parts I don't need or want gives BMS and Erockets a lot of extra business too. I understand Estes wanting to push bundles to increase sales, but I wonder how well that tactic works on the target audience.

Edit: Maybe the target audience are adults not very interested in rockets but buying parts for children who aren't particular. In that case, it may be a winning strategy. :)
 
Last edited:
Lee said:
I've been thinking that for a long time. It's as if they make you wade through as many of their of their products as possible while you're looking a specific item.
Click to expand...
I think it's as simple as this: Estes is a small company (large by rocketry standards, but very small by most others) with limited staff for the website.

I have emailed them regarding a few typos and bits of incorrect information and they have fixed them, but maintaining accurate metadata is a significant effort and it's quite possible they simply haven't been able to give it the manpower it needs.

For sure, a better search function would be very helpful.
 
Another wet and stormy day at the park, plus two altimeter flights

Autumn has definitely descended upon us but then again, that's what A motors and streamers are for. There were four or five rain clouds that passed through and lots of military aircraft. The Apache helicopters at the end traveled very slowly over the park, almost like a tour company. The wind fluctuated between zero and 24mph gusts. This is demonstrated in the two altimeter results. I had the data issue that someone else recently reported in the forum where the previous data didn't erase. I believe the 516ft apogee was accurate. It took a long time to download the data, I imagine because of the extraneous data that was included. The E12-6 motor was in the pack that had the Big Daddy Cato so tried it in the Mega Vortico that's practically Cato proof. I'm glad the mini motors didn't Cato. Overall, a surprisingly productive day in the park despite the weather and overhead attack helicopters.

00:00 Intro
00:46 Indicator 3pts
02:25 Airborne Surveillance Missile 3pts
03:25 Humdinger 3pts
04:14 Sundancer 516ft 5pts
06:28 Firestreak SST 3pts
07:01 Orbit 192ft 5pts
07:53 Micro Teal Machine 3pts
08:19 Mega Vortico 3pts
09:03 Total 28pts

 
Last edited:
I was thinking about joining you with some MicroMaxx rockets but I took a look out my window Sunday morning and saw the wind and the rain and thought.............
Nah!
You got some cojones, muchacho.
 
kuririn said:
I was thinking about joining you with some MicroMaxx rockets but I took a look out my window Sunday morning and saw the wind and the rain and thought.............
Nah!
You got some cojones, muchacho.
Click to expand...
It definitely looked rainier over Honolulu. I could barely see the buildings. We were launching between two weather systems. One minute it's gusting, then next no wind. I packed it up after the Mega Vortico because things were getting too wet.
 
Windward CC with NASA students and Cub Scouts. Several lost rockets on windy day.

It was a very busy time at the Community College with about a dozen NASA students and several Cub Scouts launching Generic E2X rockets. The winds fluctuated from none to 21mph gusts. Whether a rocket landed on a roof depends on when a gust blew threw. Hopefully, Jacob will be able to convince the maintenance crew to retrieve the rockets, especially the egg in the Space Crater rocket. I already have replacements for the AC Cam and FS altimeter if they don't survive. Gary also landed two rockets on the roof, except one landed on the solar panels covering the car port so not sure if they're able to walk there.

Several of the NASA students flew their 9 foot rocket with payloads successfully at Black Rock last month. The rocket flew to 3400' on a hybrid motor and should be returning to Hawaii on Monday by ship. The Cub Scouts were very enthusiastic. What was impressive is that they built the rockets at the field then sent them up with minimal drying time. Only one rocket separated, probably because the shock cord wasn't tied properly.

 

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