#1
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Saturday launch report
I would have done this yesterday, but we were on a schedule that left me with only a small window of flying possible. I felt fortunate to get anything flying, let alone ten.
I led things off with my Alien Invader clone on a C6-5, one of two nearly identical flights it would make on the day. The first was straight up and down with only a slight windcock due to a momentary break in the wind. The second was a bit more exciting with major windcocking and a sideways "Super Kit" style recovery due to the shock cord tangling on the rear dowel. It landed in the midst of a couple of our R/C neighbors, but managed not to hit anything despite the R/C planes that buzzed it as it passed through their airspace. No damage and it will definitely fly again. Next up was the U.S.S. Atlantis upscale with the FlisKits canted mount. Even without paint this was awesome, with the dual smoke trail clearly visible as it powered off the rod. I also flew it twice on the day, both times on dueling C6-5s, and though it had a close call with the park road, it survived without damage. This one is going to get a ton of air time in the future. I also got a movie of the second flight, but due to my habit of turning my camera sideways to give myself the maximum room for a launch pic, the whole movie is shot sideways. Anyone know how to re-orient a filmstrip? It's a great flight, but a little tough on the neck. I also got another flight in on the hard luck Centuri Taurus upscale. Guess what? It landed on the park road. (You already knew that, didn't you?) Tore one fin off and gouged parts of a pod and the main body tube. Fixable, but I'm wondering what's next. Keeping with the cluster theme, the modified Firehawk was the next to fly. By this time the winds were really kicking up and the height that the 3xC6-5 cluster attained really worked against me. Knocked it out of the park. I've walked out that way before, so I saddled up the van and drove after it. First I looked around the edge of the neighborhood where I thought it had landed, but saw nothing so I climbed back into the park and walked the line I'd sited it from. Nothing. I reluctantly gave up and went back to the van, but decided to make another pass around the neighborhood before I gave up for good. Still nothing. By now I had written it off, but as I turned to leave, a realtor who was conducting an open house came out and asked if I was looking for the rocket. It was twenty feet from where I was standing, but buried deep enough in the tall grass that it could only be seen from above. How lucky was that? Recovered without damage, but I did manage to miss the PRANG of the day back at the pads. No doubt the strangest flights of the day belonged to my Condor clone. I decided to do a straight clone of the Condor to see how it flew on todays A10-3T. Flight one was the victim of a CATO. (An A10-3 CATO?) Everything burned away but the end cap, but the rocket wasn't damaged. I immediately reloaded it with another A10 and this time it pranged, with the nose cone ejecting just before it hit the ground. No damage to the body tube, but the glider and its mount were broken off. This one will get one more try, then become a desk queen. After this I also managed to fly my new Big Dawg and my old Star Snoop. Both flights weathercocked badly, but survived. The Star Snoop is looking pretty ragged these days, and I think the time to rebuild it with a D mount is near. The days last flight was a Squirrel Works X-RV glider on a B6-2. Great flight, but the ejection charge blew the nose cone off. It still glided and was recovered without further damage, but by then the winds were picking up and the rain blowing in, so I called it a day. |
#2
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I'm glad someone got to fly on Saturday. Nice pictures. The Atlantis shot was great. That rocket is going to be awsome when it's fully painted and decaled.
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