#1
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Turn It Up To 11 !
This past Saturday, the wind finally stopped blowing in Castle Rock, CO, so I finally got out to indulge in a rocket flying ‘fix’.
One of the models I pulled off the shelf to fly was the Mosquito. I had intended to launch it only once, but I ended up blowing through a whole 4-pack of 1/4A motors. Yep, four returned flights in the space of a half hour! This brought the total number of flights on this bird to 11. The amazing thing is that on three of the four flights, I actually saw the bird descending after ejection, and landing! Until now, I didn’t think this was possible. I can definitely confirm that Mosquitos recover in a completely stable ballistic trajectory. Saw it with my own eyes….three times….. On a 1/4A engine, the model is on the ground within 5 seconds of ejection. I also witnessed the two different scenarios that happen on impact with the ground. If the bird is able to penetrate the turf, it will be in nose-down ‘lawn dart’ position. It is, however, too light to penetrate the soil. If it happens to land on a harder clump of grass, the bird will bounce a couple feet into the air and fall back to the turf to land sideways. It was really cool to actually see a Mosquito land and walk right up to it for recovery. I will have a full launch report posted on my blog in the next couple of days. Does anyone know of any record for the most returned flights on a Mosquito? I desire to make it a goal to break that record with this bird.
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Just remember...G. Harry Stine's first ever model rocket was an RTF ! Check out my wonderful model rocketry blog here: https://castlerocketeer.blogspot.com/ |
#2
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I'm pretty sure you HAVE already broken the record with 11 flights on ONE Mosquito.
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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!! Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't ! Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY. ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC ! |
#3
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You must have some pretty good eyes. I always lose sight of my small tumble recovery rockets at ejection, when it flies off on a different trajectory. Two flights, two lost Mosquitos. Been thinking about adding a small streamer that kicks out at motor ejection to help tracking.
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#4
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Quote:
Oh man! It's gotta be less than ten! |
#5
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It's close.
When I first became a BAR about 7 years ago, one of my first purchases was a Mosquito. I don't know why. Finished it in the yellow / black livery. LCO / RC Sandy loved it, so I guess I'll always have to have at least one. That first BAR mosquito should have been lost on the first flight, having found the only patch of relatively tall grass at the NTMLF. I did know the general direction, so off I went, and somehow saw the tips of the fins sticking up. Flew that one 19 more times before losing it on the 20th. Had another one in the bag so built it, yellow and black. Lost that one on the 9th flight. Bought a couple more. The third survived eleven flights before successfully escaping my ownership. Which leads me to the fourth. I still have it and it is setting comfortably after 3 launches. I have two others: one from the 80s I found while cleaning out my Mother's house, and one unfinished in an ebay range box purchase. The ebay one had one fin attached. I finished the build and painted it like the 80s one, orange and black. I don't know how many times I flew the one back in the 80s, but it had been flown. It's been launched and recovered four times since I found it. The ebay one once. From left to right: 80s, #4 and ebay. Note the vintage wooden nose cones on 80s and ebay.
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Just completed: Estes Cherokee-E, Estes Multi-Roc. Current project: Painting the roll pattern on my new Ventris build, gifted me by the estimable Dr. Houchin. |
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