...I flew FIFTEEN rockets today. Then I ate barbecue and wished I'd taken sunscreen.

This was my breakdown:
Empire Bomarc on a B6-4. No fire this time, but not much of a flight either. Less than 100 feet high and marginally stable.
The 2001 Andromeda on a C6-5. Awesome. Perfectly stable flight, but chute tangled in sail and rear fins on recovery. Landed horizontally in the weeds with no damage.
Semroc Aerobee Hi on an A8-3. Respectable altitude, but very wiggly.
Shrox Icarus on a C6-5. Great flight, but shock cord tangled in the rear fins. Landed without damage.
Estes Sentinel on a D12-5. RIPPED off the pad. Very cool flight. Can't wait to get this one decaled.
Estes Voyager II on a C6-5. This was my recent Ebay rescue. Not much to look at, but flies very nice.
Centuri Orion clone on a C11-5. Kids on the field were quite taken by this one, so I flew it by request. Pretty much the standard flight and recovery. Much better on a D12.
Q-Modeling Rogue on an E9-8. Oh, baby. Now I have to start saving for the Q-Modeling Satellite Interceptor. This was BEAUTIFUL! Missed landing in THE TREE by about five feet. I'd have been heading home for a chain saw. Awesome flight. I'm now a huge fan.
Empire Bomarc on a C6-5. Exactly the same as the last C6-5 flight, except this time the fire department didn't have to come. This one gets retired to the desktop after paint and decals. Lousy performance on a B, questionable stability on a C. I don't need the drama.
Estes Yankee Clipper on a B6-4. I'd rather not talk about this one.
After these, I flew the Andromeda, Icarus, Voyager, and Rogue again, as well as my Deuce-mounted USS Atlantis. All in all, a great day, and worth giving up my Saturday for.
Forgot to mention the R2D2 birds. Some sections of the field were patrolled by birds who communicate in beeps and whistles that sound strangely like droid-speak. And I'm not even a Star Wars geek! Mark says they're Magpies.

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__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

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

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion 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, Groonie Der V 1/2

That's one way to justify barbeque -- one rib for each rocket...

Washing it down with sunscreen, though...

Beer would have been better...



You've had nothing but grief with that model. Construction-wise, how does it compare with the original Estes version(s)? Sounds like Empire didn't do much pre-sales flight testing to make sure it would actually fly...



Hmmnnn...

Winds?

Overall, sounds like you had a reasonably good session. I'm still looking for a clear-weather weekend to fly some. We're into our "Great weather from Mon through Fri, but showers for the weekend" cycle now. And hurricane season is less than 30 days away. We still have tarps on roofs down here in Mobile, some left over from Ivan...

__________________
Craig McGraw

BARCLONE Rocketry -- http://barclone.rocketshoppe.com
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BARs helping BARs

SAM 0044
AMA 352635

I went with brisket and pulled pork. The brisket was awesome, but I've done pulled pork as well at home with my $40 smoker.
Yes, this Bomarc, and Empire themselves, have been quite the stick in my craw for a while now. I never flew the Estes version, but if it was anything like this to trim, I understand why it's OOP. The construction seemed pretty logical once you made sense of the instructions. It's just a bear to trim.
I'm not sure why the Aerobee flew like it did. Winds were light and the A8-3 should have been plenty powerful for a rocket of that size. I thought it tossed a lug, but both were accounted for. Maybe my strakes are less than straight.
Couldn't have asked for a better day. This was our first completely dry weekend in 8 weeks. Now that I'm pumped up to fly we have a three week break before the next flight weekend. Mother's Day is next week and the following week there's a wine and cheese festival at the park. I wonder if they need volunteers to cut the cheese.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

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

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion 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, Groonie Der V 1/2

If the birds included various clicks and creaky sounding noises in their repertoire, they might have been boat-tailed grackles (which we have a TON of down in Houston).

__________________
John Thro, NAR #84553 SR
I was too old when I started! Now I'll *never* become a BAR!

Nope, I'm wrong. Boat-tailed grackles only live along the Atlantic and gulf coasts, from about Maryland to Texas, and seldom live more than about 20 miles from the coast, from what I just googled.

__________________
John Thro, NAR #84553 SR
I was too old when I started! Now I'll *never* become a BAR!

Does the boat-tail gain them an advantage when it comes to altitude?

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

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

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion 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, Groonie Der V 1/2

Or they go faster with less effort, yes.

The females don't have the boat tail, btw.

__________________
John Thro, NAR #84553 SR
I was too old when I started! Now I'll *never* become a BAR!

My .02 worth: Being from Memphis, the Capitol of barbeque, no self respecting man would eat pulled pork, chopped is the only way to go.

I'm definately not a rocket surgeon, but maybe some of your recovery problems are due to your shock cord being too long. Is there a rule of thumb on long a shock cord should be? I have no idea.

__________________
Dave
Fire is the leading cause of fire.
Was once SAM#0132

Well, I guess you've got some change coming.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

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

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion 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, Groonie Der V 1/2

How about YANKED pork ?

__________________
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, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !