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I should have specified I was referring to angling your onboard cameras out a bit.
Ah, the 808 cams do that naturally. Honestly, I'm tired of looking at Waipahu and like to see each rocket in the frame. I want to go back to the other side of the island for a different view but it's an hour drive through Honolulu and the beach tourists don't appreciate rockets landing on them. Go figure...

I'm curious about the new Estes cam holder and if it points out more. Seems overpriced for $50.

https://estesrockets.com/product/002208-universal-astrocam-hd-rocket-camera-and-holder/
 
Of course this thing includes another camera — still, that does seem a bit high.

It's pretty clear it doesn't point out further. If anything, it's a bit worse, since the camera is 90 degrees to the orientation on the Astrocam. Look at the in-flight capture (or is it a CGI rendering — not sure) on the back of the box, where close to half the frame is filled with the side of the Green Eggs it's attached to.
 
@kuririn, is this the controller you bought?

Robot or human?
That's the power source. I'm using it with an Aerotech controller now.
I was using a Die Hard jump starter for power and a Quest controller or a vintage Estes/NCR Command Controller but they are heavy and clunky to transport. Taking advantage of modern technology and making it easier on myself.
 
While going through my videos, I realized I captured a snippet of the HPD officer walking up to us. He didn't want to be filmed and almost launched a rocket before being called away.

1636360809634.png
 
Veterans Day celebrations launching rockets with the crew and two flight videos

Happy Veterans Day to all service members. Go Army! Roger ordered the Armstrong costume in September and was shipped back and forth from China several times. He got a refund then received the costume a week after Halloween, so he put it to good use. We're having a week of low winds. It seems like all of the holidays have been excellent flying events. Hopefully this will continue through Thanksgiving (and no hurricanes).

I deducted a point from the Astrocam because the streamer didn't fully deploy. This created quite the tumultuous flight video. I reduced the sound to 10% but is still rather noisy. I was sad to see the Orbital Transport land on the gym (and just barely). Everytime I ask for the park manager, they tell me he's on vacation (for the past year). I disparaged the rocket gods for the loss of the OT. They obviously accepted the sacrifice and brought Ron L's Mustang back to us. His scratch 2-stage however may have ended up in Pearl Harbor. I avoided using the Flightsketch altimeter because I'm down to two and hasn't been any in stock for a couple months.

Had the best flight on the Big Daddy. I have no comment on the Nike Smoke. The Diamondback also performed well on the composite despite the altimeter. What I think happened is that the boost caused the plastic holder to break. We looked all over for it until I found it while packing up. It would have been more amazing if it had actually landed in my cart.

Gary's Twinsee decided to go in different directions in a straight line. One headed toward Farrington highway and the other landed in a tree. While looking for the altimeter, we found three old baseballs (which is strange because the park lawnmower usually turns them into pulp). Gary tried to knock the glider out of the tree with a baseball but was unsuccessful. I woulda helped but had a doctor's appointment. Maybe some kid will find it and be inspired...

0:00 Intro
0:18 Astrocam 4pts
1:12 Flight video
1:59 Orbital Transport 4pts
2:54 Big Daddy 602ft 6pts
4:26 Nike Smoke boosted 0pts
4:45 Diamondback 684ft 6pts
6:22 Expedition 5pts
7:28 Flight video
8:38 Mike's DRM
9:14 Gary's MX Eclipse
9:38 Mike's Patriot Missile
10:16 Gary's Twinsee
10:58 Ron's Omega
12:04 Mike's Minion
12:28 Gary's Flicks Shuttle
12:57 Gary's Hyperion
13:35 Ron's Goddard B6-4
13:53 Gary's MX Flex Wing
14:25 Ron's Goddard C6-7
14:52 Ron's Mustang
15:30 Gary trying to deploy the Flex Wing
15:47 Gary's MX Superoc
16:09 Ron's Scratch 2-stage
16:33 Gary's MX 2X4
16:47 Total 25pts + 10pts = 35pts

 
Veterans Day celebrations launching rockets with the crew and two flight videos

Happy Veterans Day to all service members. Go Army! Roger ordered the Armstrong costume in September and was shipped back and forth from China several times. He got a refund then received the costume a week after Halloween, so he put it to good use. We're having a week of low winds. It seems like all of the holidays have been excellent flying events. Hopefully this will continue through Thanksgiving (and no hurricanes).

I deducted a point from the Astrocam because the streamer didn't fully deploy. This created quite the tumultuous flight video. I reduced the sound to 10% but is still rather noisy. I was sad to see the Orbital Transport land on the gym (and just barely). Everytime I ask for the park manager, they tell me he's on vacation (for the past year). I disparaged the rocket gods for the loss of the OT. They obviously accepted the sacrifice and brought Ron L's Mustang back to us. His scratch 2-stage however may have ended up in Pearl Harbor. I avoided using the Flightsketch altimeter because I'm down to two and hasn't been any in stock for a couple months.

Had the best flight on the Big Daddy. I have no comment on the Nike Smoke. The Diamondback also performed well on the composite despite the altimeter. What I think happened is that the boost caused the plastic holder to break. We looked all over for it until I found it while packing up. It would have been more amazing if it had actually landed in my cart.

Gary's Twinsee decided to go in different directions in a straight line. One headed toward Farrington highway and the other landed in a tree. While looking for the altimeter, we found three old baseballs (which is strange because the park lawnmower usually turns them into pulp). Gary tried to knock the glider out of the tree with a baseball but was unsuccessful. I woulda helped but had a doctor's appointment. Maybe some kid will find it and be inspired...

0:00 Intro
0:18 Astrocam 4pts
1:12 Flight video
1:59 Orbital Transport 4pts
2:54 Big Daddy 602ft 6pts
4:26 Nike Smoke boosted 0pts
4:45 Diamondback 684ft 6pts
6:22 Expedition 5pts
7:28 Flight video
8:38 Mike's DRM
9:14 Gary's MX Eclipse
9:38 Mike's Patriot Missile
10:16 Gary's Twinsee
10:58 Ron's Omega
12:04 Mike's Minion
12:28 Gary's Flicks Shuttle
12:57 Gary's Hyperion
13:35 Ron's Goddard B6-4
13:53 Gary's MX Flex Wing
14:25 Ron's Goddard C6-7
14:52 Ron's Mustang
15:30 Gary trying to deploy the Flex Wing
15:47 Gary's MX Superoc
16:09 Ron's Scratch 2-stage
16:33 Gary's MX 2X4
16:47 Total 25pts + 10pts = 35pts


Have you been having a bunch of chuffing with the Q-Jets?
 
Veterans Day celebrations launching rockets with the crew and two flight videos

I was sad to see the Orbital Transport land on the gym (and just barely). Everytime I ask for the park manager, they tell me he's on vacation (for the past year). I disparaged the rocket gods for the loss of the OT.

1:59 Orbital Transport 4pts

Sorry about your loss. The Semroc Orbital Transport has D16-6 as a recommended engine. l think I'll give it a try next Saturday, if it isn't too windy.
 
Veterans Day celebrations launching rockets with the crew and two flight videos

Happy Veterans Day to all service members. Go Army! Roger ordered the Armstrong costume in September and was shipped back and forth from China several times. He got a refund then received the costume a week after Halloween, so he put it to good use. We're having a week of low winds. It seems like all of the holidays have been excellent flying events. Hopefully this will continue through Thanksgiving (and no hurricanes).

I deducted a point from the Astrocam because the streamer didn't fully deploy. This created quite the tumultuous flight video. I reduced the sound to 10% but is still rather noisy. I was sad to see the Orbital Transport land on the gym (and just barely). Everytime I ask for the park manager, they tell me he's on vacation (for the past year). I disparaged the rocket gods for the loss of the OT. They obviously accepted the sacrifice and brought Ron L's Mustang back to us. His scratch 2-stage however may have ended up in Pearl Harbor. I avoided using the Flightsketch altimeter because I'm down to two and hasn't been any in stock for a couple months.

Had the best flight on the Big Daddy. I have no comment on the Nike Smoke. The Diamondback also performed well on the composite despite the altimeter. What I think happened is that the boost caused the plastic holder to break. We looked all over for it until I found it while packing up. It would have been more amazing if it had actually landed in my cart.

Gary's Twinsee decided to go in different directions in a straight line. One headed toward Farrington highway and the other landed in a tree. While looking for the altimeter, we found three old baseballs (which is strange because the park lawnmower usually turns them into pulp). Gary tried to knock the glider out of the tree with a baseball but was unsuccessful. I woulda helped but had a doctor's appointment. Maybe some kid will find it and be inspired...

0:00 Intro
0:18 Astrocam 4pts
1:12 Flight video
1:59 Orbital Transport 4pts
2:54 Big Daddy 602ft 6pts
4:26 Nike Smoke boosted 0pts
4:45 Diamondback 684ft 6pts
6:22 Expedition 5pts
7:28 Flight video
8:38 Mike's DRM
9:14 Gary's MX Eclipse
9:38 Mike's Patriot Missile
10:16 Gary's Twinsee
10:58 Ron's Omega
12:04 Mike's Minion
12:28 Gary's Flicks Shuttle
12:57 Gary's Hyperion
13:35 Ron's Goddard B6-4
13:53 Gary's MX Flex Wing
14:25 Ron's Goddard C6-7
14:52 Ron's Mustang
15:30 Gary trying to deploy the Flex Wing
15:47 Gary's MX Superoc
16:09 Ron's Scratch 2-stage
16:33 Gary's MX 2X4
16:47 Total 25pts + 10pts = 35pts


Overall a good day.

my apologies to Gary @kuririn for recommending the B motor. His gliders fly better than mine. Sorry dude, seemed like a good idea at the time.
 
Have you been having a bunch of chuffing with the Q-Jets?

Yeah, a fair bit. Probably from the humidity.

Sorry about your loss. The Semroc Orbital Transport has D16-6 as a recommended engine. l think I'll give it a try next Saturday, if it isn't too windy.

I tried it with a C18 and the glider didn’t detach. I suspect the initial thrust was too much for the connector. Let us know how it goes.

Overall a good day.

my apologies to Gary @kuririn for recommending the B motor. His gliders fly better than mine. Sorry dude, seemed like a good idea at the time.

Gliders got to be free!
 
New rockets. Both were launched last week at the WCC campus posted below. The Quest Harpoon is decked out with LED lights ready for our night launch this Saturday. I built the right rocket from the Quest fin can I bought. The NC is from the sci-fi pack I bought last year. I'm not sure what to call it yet.

The Dave Thomas controller is ready. I bought a car battery charger from Costco on sale for $50.

C5E746D3-C4FB-4D1F-8E0C-1DB74482BC4C.jpeg

 
For sale at Costco. I’m not sure if I could trust leaving it in one spot or if it needs constant checking. I’d hate to look up and find it missing.
Was this an FPV drone? I'd figure somebody was constantly EYES on flying the drone, don't think I could do both launch the rocket and fly the drone by myself.
 
More night launches on a moderate windy evening

Night launches with Gary and Christopher. The forecast said under 3mph winds but were gusting to 10mph. I had plans to launch larger rockets and try composites in the dark. I scrubbed launching the V2 and 29mm Tubular rockets. It turned out the composites are not as exciting in the dark as the black powder. We still got some fantastic photos.

The Fletch Cargo was the best launch of the evening. We used my new David Thomas controller. I wanted to try it with the 12v battery charger from Costco, but I left the clamps attached which drained the charger. Fortunately, Gary brought his and worked great until it didn't, and we switched to the DIY controller.

Gary launched his Firebolt beginner rocket with payload. He brought several motors for it. I suggested switching to streamer so it doesn't end up in the tree which it may have. However, the streamer wasn't enough and popped off two of the plastic fins so no more launches with the rocket for the rest of the evening.

Based on last week's experience, I shoulda known better than to use the B6-4 in the Harpoon with the lights attached. The ground impact exasperated the tube damage that was in the package. A little thin CA and electrical tape, and it's goodish as new. I figure the LED lights couldn't mess up the Shuttle rocket any further and worked as predicted despite adding nose cone weight for stability. I doubt I'll fly this rocket again.

0:00 Puma 3pts
1:08 Gary's Firebolt
1:57 Air Walker 4pts
3:02 Quinstar 3pts
4:44 Harpoon 3pts
7:26 Fletch Cargo 4pts
8:54 Shuttle 4pts
10:34 Total 21pts + 10 bonus = 31pts

 
Post Thanksgiving small kine launches with moderate winds and mist

The forecast was supposed to be 2 to 5 mph winds but ended up gusting to 10mph with cells of misting clouds passing through. This time, I forgot my 12v recharger and Gary's wasn't working, so we used the backup and the backup to the backup.

I was nervous with launching the Mega Tubular I made. This was my first 29mm rocket and went about 600 to 700ft. I didn't angle any of my rockets for fear of landing on the pickleball tournament. The JLCR worked flawlessly. I tried to use it again in the Harpoon but wouldn't turn on. It did sit in the rocket for several minutes. I don't remember seeing low battery on the unit. At home, it recharged fine and working properly so I guess it just got tired.

Part of the problem with the Gryphon is that it stuck on the rod so didn't have enough thrust off the rod. I purposely avoided painting the area between the rocket and the glider but will sand it more for the next attempt. The SMS suffered minor damage to the body opening. It looked like it smacked into the NC fin causing two dents. Perhaps the D12-5 is better.

Gary's Mix n Match launched fine then turned into the wind about half way up. We theorize it coulda hit a gust of wind and weathercocked. By the time I picked up my son from work in a couple hours, the parachute was off the roof so easy to retrieve.

I've been processing the video on my Ryzen laptop which has more memory than the Surface. The problem is that it renders the video at twice the bitrate causing the file to be twice as large. When I lower the video bitrate, it also lowers the audio bitrate. Please let me know if anyone understands why this is happening.

0:00 Intro
0:14 Mega Tubular 5pts
1:34 Gryphon 3pts
2:25 Super Mars Snooper 420ft 5pts
4:15 Turbo Quest 4pts
5:21 Gary's Mini Square
5:39 Gary's Dare 2B Square
6:03 Gary's Mix n Match 55
6:43 Total 17 + 5 bonus = 22pts

 
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Launching with DARS in Arlington, TX

We were visiting my father in law in Dallas. Out of curiosity, I googled local rocketry clubs and found DARS.org who scheduled a LPR launch on Sunday. I then visited Hobby Lobby and bought the ESAM-58 for $12 plus a pack of B4-4 motors for $5 since I knew there would be winds on Sunday. I met several great people who helped me launch the rocket including John and David plus several others. Update: I got the rocket home in mostly in one piece, just a little fin crack. The flight home was tumultuous. We made it to Oahu but there was a massive rain storm that diverted everyone to Maui where we fueled up and hopped over to Honolulu. We arrived home two hours later.

 
... I then visited Hobby Lobby and bought the ESAM-58 for $12 plus a pack of B4-4 motors for $5 ...

nothing wrong with an unpainted rocket for a maiden. One thing I have thought would be interesting, is a technique sometimes used in wind tunnel testing for flow surface visualization with a type of oil. Apply a series of paint dots around the rocket in various places, in alternating colors if you want, then launch it. The surface friction will spread the paint dots. Would probably work better for a longer duration boost, or maybe a few dots over several launches to kind of make your own Jackson Pollock version of a paint scheme.

probably more interesting results on a canted fin rocket, you know like those spin-art things you could do at the fair when you were a kid?
 
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Launching with DARS in Arlington, TX

We were visiting my father in law in Dallas. Out of curiosity, I googled local rocketry clubs and found DARS.org who scheduled a LPR launch on Sunday. I then visited Hobby Lobby and bought the ESAM-58 for $12 plus a pack of B4-4 motors for $5 since I knew there would be winds on Sunday. I met several great people who helped me launch the rocket including John and David plus several others. Update: I got the rocket home in mostly in one piece, just a little fin crack. The flight home was tumultuous. We made it to Oahu but there was a massive rain storm that diverted everyone to Maui where we fueled up and hopped over to Honolulu. We arrived home two hours later.



That looked like a lot of fun! My brothers live in Dallas, I've got to get down there for a launch sometime!
 
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