I got out to my first HPR launch in two years this weekend, with the small and friendly Gorge Rocket Club in Goldendale, WA. Four flights:
First attempt with a booster motor in Stage-o-Saurus, all good except that the Eggtimer disqualified lighting the sustainer. Need to look more closely at the data on that one.
Dimetrodon on a K650 Pink. That's a fun motor. The main got stuck in the body tube, but the rocket landed in a wheat field and there wasn't any damage. I need to repeat ground testing on that.
Madcow Arcas on an I345 (also fun!). Chute tangled up on recovery so it didn't really inflate well. It also landed in the wheat field, so no damage. It took a little while to find though. I am grateful to my beloved wife for tracking it down in the knee-high wheat. That's Mt. Adams in the background.
Drag Queen on an alphabet of Q-Jets: 1x D16, 2xC12, 2xB4, 2xA3. All but one of the B4s lit, and the flight was reasonably straight even with a little off-center thrust. Unfortunately, she took enough damage on recovery that her dancing days are over. I'll probably rebuild the same basic design a little sturdier since she's such a crowd-pleaser.
In summary, no flights went as planned. I got a sunburn. It was hot. And I loved it. It helped that you could see four major mountains from the field: Adams (12,280 ft), Hood (11,250 ft), Rainier (14,411 ft), and St. Helens (8,366 ft since 1980). And there's a Greek Orthodox monastery just up the road with a bakery that sells to the public. Mmmmm, spanakopita.