#1
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Let's see if I remember how to do this.......
As hoped, Saturday dawned cold and clear, leaving me no choice but to head north to fly with the TORC guys in their South Charleston, Ohio cornfield. Well worth the drive. They not only have a great field, but a friendly, well organized launch setup. My initial reaction to the rather raw winds was "HOLY SCHLITZ, IT'S COLD!", but other than forgetting gloves, (and dog barf,) I was well prepared for everything the day threw at me.
I had hoped I'd left home early enough to help with setup, but arrived just as everything was pretty much finished. (Me and the GPS had a "disagreement" about the route to the field. I was pi$$ed, but the trip home by the alternate route made me reconsider. That **** GPS was right again. I HATE when that happens. I took a bunch of first flight birds with me, three of my five FSI Vikings, the Sprint upscale, the Nova upscale, the Estes Vagabond and Stinger, as well as my repaired Alien Space Probe. The Viking 6 didn't fly because I'd forgotten the screw eye and didn't want to chance having it pull out at ejection. Winds were very consistently harsh the whole day, but the field seemed to be big enough to hold our rockets. First on the pad for me was the FSI Viking 2 upscale. It's a BT-60 build and flew on an E9-6. There was considerable windcocking back over the flightline, a perfect ejection, then a LONG drift on the 12" nylon chute. I watched it land, drew a bead on some landmarks, and trusted the orange paint and chute to make it visible on the ground. Never found it despite a half hour searching.
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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 |
#2
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(Heavy sigh)
I returned to my car, reeling from disbelief and thoroughly bummed about the loss of a first flight bird. I was sure I'd covered every inch of the possible landing area. I chose the FSI Sprint upscale as my second flight. E9-4 powered but with an 18" chute that was more reef hole than anything, the Sprint followed a similar flightpath to the Viking 2. It windcocked back over the flightline, then started riding the breeze, though with far less authority than the Viking. I nailed down the location and walked right to it. A perfect flight. Now I was rolling.
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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 |
#3
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I think it was at this point that I discovered the missing screw eye in the Viking 6, so I loaded the Viking 5 with an E9-4 to see if it could erase the ugly stain of the NARAM CATO. It did so with a perfect flight, and recovered close enough to allow me to make up some lost time.
FEAR THE BIRD!!!!! Old QUARK deity Jay Berry had an interesting Venus Probe flight around this time. Not sure of the motor choice, but I remember him advising someone to go with 24mm power if they built one. I think the pics say it all.
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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 |
#4
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Last flight of the day for me was the FSI Nova upscale on an E9-4. I learned an important lesson with this flight. NEVER fly an essentially cornhusk-colored rocket on a field of cornhusks. I filed this lesson right behind the one about flying white rockets on a snowy field.
I thought I did it all right with this one. Nailed the landing area. Picked out the landmarks. Kept checking my bearings as I walked. As I walked, I passed another TORCer who was carrying two rockets. One was the color of cornhusks, which would have saved me a lot of aggro if it had registered with me at the time. As I was heading out to the spot, I happened upon an old friend. Then I spent the next 45 minutes stomping the spot searching for the Nova. I couldn't believe my stupidity, and spent the bulk of the time raging at the rocket gawdz. I finally gave up. On the way back I noticed a flash and found a streamer bird that one of the kids had lost earlier in the morning. That made me less bummed and I walked in hoping that my good karma would transfer back to me and that someone else would find the Nova. As I approached the LCO table, there it sat, right where the guy who'd been waving at me earlier had left it. In the end, it turned out for the best. Had I not gone looking for the already found rocket, there's a good chance that both my Viking 2 and the streamer bird would never have been found. As it is, all live to fly another day. By the time I got back, I had about 45 minutes left in my flying day, so I decided to put the Vagabond up on an E9-6. We tried three times to launch this one before I finally got the message and quit for the day. All in all, a short day with more walking than I'd hoped to do, but everything performed better than well. Next time I'll have a full day to fly and do some range duty, but I'll take a day like this one any time.
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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 |
#5
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I really like the lines on that FSI Sprint upscale. Nice shiny nose cone too.
What flavor orange did you use on the Sprint and Viking II? BTW, you look really skinny in the reflection off the Sprint's nose cone. .
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I love sanding. |
#6
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Nice looking FSI clones - the orange really makes the 2's tube fins pop. What's with the bird?
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Paul If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane - Jimmy Buffett NAR #87246 www.wooshrocketry.org |
#7
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Quote:
http://www.highlands-bluebirds.com/ My alma mater. They occasionally have a good football team.
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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 |
#8
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Quote:
Rustoleum Specialty Flourescent. It's REALLY old. Notice how the main body tube doesn't reflect? It's still primer.
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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 |
#9
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Quote:
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Paul If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane - Jimmy Buffett NAR #87246 www.wooshrocketry.org |
#10
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Quote:
Doug .
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YORF member #11 |
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