Quote:
Originally Posted by UPscaler
When i fly the little buggers, i put as much pink chalk powder in before the motor as i could, it was tight and released the powder as it was falling, i usually didn't lose them until i didn't put enough powder in and it all came out at ejection. Where did you get the mosquitos at?
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Ah, the old chalk trick. Actually, we were loading the Swift with talcum powder and i don't think we so loaded the Mosquitos. That could be a significant difference.
I'll tell you one difference a load of powder makes--the rocket doesn't go as high, thus making it easier to track and find. :-)
Having the nose loaded with talc also made the Swift lawn dart. This is good and bad. The good: the impact tends to jolt a puff of powder up into the air. If you're looking in the right general area, you'll see the rocket hit. The bad; it didn't land gently in a featherweight fall. I would not want to be under a powder loaded Swift when it comes down.
Hmmm. Third possible effect: A power loaded bird will not shoot off as far sideways at ejection, because the higher mass means that the momentum transfer (MV) is weighted more toward the M and less to the V.
I bought some red line marking powder at Home Depot (~$2 for a largish bottle; well compared to a Mosquito it's large), but haven't flown since I bought it so have not had a chance to test it out yet.
I got some Mosquitos in a lot on Ebay. If for some reason Barone wasn't able to set you up, PM me and we'll work something out.