Sunny and cold to start things out this morning, but the quickly rising temps meant for a muddy day as things thawed. Winds were fairly stiff all day, so the pad was set right next to the creek to allow for windcocking, which virtually every flight experienced. I managed five flights, all successful until the inevitable drama of #5.
Second flight was the Enerjet Athena clone that I finished last night. I thought it was a 29mm rocket, but in actuality it was a 24mm, although an E engine length.



The E9-4 liftoff was as slow as I'd hoped and the Athena windcocked over the creek as expected. I'd forgotten how long the E9s burned. Altitude was impressive despite a lot of the height being scrubbed off fighting the wind.





The wind took the Athena about 100 yards beyond the creek, and at ejection it began quickly heading back toward the flight line, which it quickly crossed, landing deeper in the corn.



I weighed 235 when I started walking out to retrieve the rocket. I weighed 250 by the time I got back. Someone in Cedarville, Ohio will likely be reporting Bigfoot tracks in a cornfield tonight.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

Oops. Got the order messed up. First flight was actually the Estes Mega Mosquito on an E9-4. It had been so long since I flew that I forgot the usual glamour shot.





The big fins of the Mega Mozzie caught the winds immediately and it windcocked over the creek. It still wound up fairly high, although it lost a lot to the winds. Ejection occurred just after it tipped over and it began racing back across the creek. It looked like a pig when I got it back. It had definitely rolled in the mud a lot.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

Flight #3 was the THOY Wren I cloned last year. I'm not 100% sure about the paint scheme. It's a bit too plain and got scratched just on the trip up to the field. I'll keep the black nose cone, but the body is getting a repaint.



The flightpath pretty closely followed the previous two flights. Across the creek immediately, ejection just as it tipped, followed by a muddy recovery deep in the corn.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

Flight #4 was the only previously flown rocket of the day for me. The Estes GeoSat LV was an Ebay buy. Not a great build, but the bones of the rocket were good and a rebuild would likely produce a better looking bird.



If there is a rebuild, I think I'd consider making it a 24mm powered bird. It flies on a C6-3, but barely. I think a C5-3 would give a much better flight, but they're a bit scarce. I expected it to windcock, but it only did enough to clear the creek. Winds were the same as they had been earlier, but the GS LV apparently didn't have the fin area to windcock much, and the lack of altitude likely had a hand in things too.







The flight topped out at 200' to 300', and fought the whole way. At ejection things got a bit dicey when the chute didn't completely fill. It was an old Estes Mylar one that came with the rocket, and I should have swapped it out. It slowed the rocket down enough to keep it from any damage other than mud.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

Last flight was the star of the show, the Mega Mini Max, an Estes Mini Max that had undergone a few minor modifications.



In addition to the backward fins it was also 24mm powered. I chose a C11-7 for the first flight, not knowing that it would also be the last. Things started out okay. It left the pad and was on an arrow straight flight path when the C11-7 detonated.







There were too many pieces to watch at this point. The nose cone, some confetti, and a fireball kept heading up. The body tube, engine casing and more confetti headed for the corn. Some sharp eyes on the flightline allowed me to walk almost right up to where the nose cone had buried itself two inches in the mud. The bulk of the body tube was slightly to the right. Mike Rohde found one piece of the pink confetti, but the engine casing was nowhere to be found.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

At least the Kevlar held.

__________________
Rich Holmes
Camillus, NY
Secretary / newsletter editor
Syracuse Rocket Club

http://richsrockets.wordpress.com

And no one got hit by the nose cone. It was about half full of BBs and epoxy.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

WOW I don't think that I have ever witnessed a Motor CATO that far into the flight.
do you think maybe the cold or the changing temp. had something to do with it ?
I haven't flown in the cold and snow for the past 30+ years so I don't remember myself
if we had any extra CATO's in the winter time.
I prefer to fly in Michigan and Ohio in the Summer time.

So just to give you hope that warm weather is on the way here are some pictures of the
last two launches from South Florida.

1st. pictures from the BARS launch 1/3//2015

2nd. My NIKE SMOKE from the FSA Launch 1/31/2015

Pictures of the NIKE SMOKE curtsy of David Taylor /FSA

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________
Neal Miller
Master Blaster NAR# 58296

Bill seems to have a lot of CATOs. I think it has a lot to do with payback from his formative years.

__________________
I love sanding.

This is the second one I've had that was that far off the rod when it went off. Two years ago I had a similar incident with my Estes Rascal upscale in Muncie. I was closer and was using a more appropriate camera with a telephoto lens, so all I caught was the liftoff. Two beats later when it was about 100' up, it erupted. That was an E9-4. This was a C11. Results were similar in that the destruction featured rocket confetti.







Some irony in the fact that I rebuilt the Rascal and was trying to get it flight ready for yesterday. Got the sanding done, but ran out of time to finish the paint, and I know from past experience that corn colored rockets and a cornfield don't mix.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark