A nice day for a launch
 

I went out and flew some rockets for the first time since last July this past Saturday. We had some great weather for a change.

I saw Phred post on OldRockets about him flying original OOP kits. I always do the same. Here's a list of what I flew:

Big Bertha (late 60's vintage with balsa cone)
Citation Patriot
Manta Bomber
Astron Space Man
Greyhawk
Der Red Max
Der V3
Fat Boy (ok, not OOP but modified to fly on composite 18mm with G10 fins)
Maniac

Here's a couple pictures of some of the rockets. I drag raced my Manta Bomber with another members Photon Disruptor as well. I tossed in some pics of Kurt Schachner's Farside as well. Flew nice on a B14-0 to A8-0 to I think a 1/2A6-4. The launch pic of the Farside is with a shutter speed of 1/640th of a second. You can tell it is really cranking on that B14 since it is still blurred at that fast of a shutter. ;)

Lastly, a pic of another members (Walt Evans) scratchbuilt rocket. It was flying on a cluster of 3 E9's, but only two lit. No, there's no need to adjust the orientation of that photo. That is how it flew. Cool, hey? :cool:

Pics of Challenger 498 Club Launch/4/17/05
 

Hi Scott:

As you probably seen on the OldRockets yahoo server, I posted a brief report of my flights
from the Challenger club launch yesterday at Rushing Park, Katy, TX. Greg Deeter, one of
our club members, has posted his pics on the Challenger album. At last count, there's 138
pics. I've just included some comments to those that pertain to my rockets flown...you'll
know when you see the red askerisk near the photo (well, on most of them). There's some
neat pics of my Centuri Saturn 1-B, Apollo Little Joe - II (1/45 scaled), and my own designed
and built Saturn - IV/Astrocam launch vehicle (clustered & staged, and built 28 years ago).

Go to:

http://www.challenger498.org/gallery/album04

and enjoy! I will be posting a few of my own pics sometimes within a few days...

Nice looking original Patriot, Scott. Hope my clone [ex-Screaming Mimi] turns out as good...

I'm sure it flies just as good!


Craig...

How bad did the 2/3 cluster get dinged upon landing?

Incredibly, no damage at all other than his funky homemade nose cone has to be rebuilt. It literally went into the ground on its side and shot around a bit that way before ejecting. ;)

I'm trying to remember the name of the firework I used to buy as a kid. It was basically like a large bottle rocket without a stick that you'd lay on the ground. It would shoot all over the place before blowing up. That's what it reminded me of. hehe

Scott,

Would those happen to have been "Black Cats"? :cool:

I seem to remember something along those lines back during the... well, the period of my youth when I was also a bit pyro... :D


Craig...

The name we used for them in my youth is not politically correct. Something along the lines of "African-American Chaser". :o

Black Cat is a Brand Name, not a type of firework, although we used to refer to all firecrackers as "Black Cats".

Randal

Yea, that's probably true down here as well. It's also one of those 30-year-old memories that isn't quite what it used to be... :o

I used to take the long sticks from "normal" fireworks and turn them into "motors" for paper and metal-tape airplanes [always punched out the reports at the top first]. Had a cluster of four that was in a sorta Bell X-1-ish design, and it "almost" worked. Moved about 8" up a guide ramp and then all four motors detonated. The wreckage looked way cool, though. The metal tape gave the plane that very realistic look of a real crash-n-burn... :eek:


Craig...

Heh, no, the name I'm thinking of was the actual name of the firework itself. It's at the tip of my tongue.

Yes, Black Cat is a manufacturer of firecrackers and bottle rockets. They may make other things now as well.