A Fish Named Wallyum
09-10-2006, 07:50 PM
Got there late, but still managed 7 flights. Strangely enough, four of the rockets that I rushed to finish didn't even fly. ) I forgot that "finished" means "with launch lugs". :o :rolleyes: I still made first flights with the Maxi-Wizard on an E9-6 and the ARG Black Brant IVB-30 (Hawaii) on an E9-8. The Maxi Wizard was a low and slow flight, but worth finishing. (It's still in primer.) The Black Brant was just the opposite. It ripped off the pad, recovered perfectly, but then drifted into the sun and I lost it. Luckily one of the guys I was flying with picked it up before it landed on the other side of the park. I drove after it to save my ankles the wear and tear. Other flights on the day were some refurbished birds, the first being a Thunder Roc on an E9-6. (No delay problems this time.) It broke a fin on landing when the chute failed to inflate until it was 30' over the soccer field. Next was the Moldin' Oldies Taurus on a C11-5. Perfect flight, and next time I'll try it with a D12-5 since it no longer has a motor hook to rip out. The final refurbished rocket was the SLS Vector V on an E9-6. Great flight and recovery, and not a terrible walk. My last two flights of the day were the Tau Zero on a B6-4 and an Estes Sentinel clone on a D12-7. The Tau Zero flight was perfect, but no streamer deployed on recovery. It didn't need one. It floated sideways and recovered in the weeds with no damage, but I doubt that it would have been damaged if it had landed on the soccer field. It was a very gentle landing. The Sentinel wasn't so lucky as the Kevlar caught a fin as it deployed and ripped under the fillet. A little CA will fix it without a problem and maybe I can get the decals printed before the next launch.