Well, considering that it's been since November since I launched, I guess you could say I'm pumped. Barring any surprises from Ma Nature, we're scheduled to become one with the corn tomorrow. I'm planning to get in a lot of first flights, a mix of the low power and mid power stuff I've spent the last few months building. The Estes Ventris has a recovery system and launch lugs, plus I've been stocking up on F & G motors for it, so it should get at least a couple of flights in, weather permitting on the F & G. In addition to that, I've got motors for the Mega Goony Vector G, an FSI Dart clone, the original FSI Dart that belonged to the school teacher, and an FSI Echo clone. I plan to fly the previously flown FSI Maverick, mostly to get pics for review now that it's painted and decaled. I've got an Estes Sprint upscale that I threw together out of shop scraps just to have something to fly an E9-6 on, and I'm hoping for several flights with the Aggressor Aerospace DF-15B, both with the fin unit and without. Could be interesting. I'll also take along the Custom Matra and the Estes Sandhawk that I got from an Ebay auction, so I'll be a busy boy.
I hope.

__________________
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 Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Well, I made it. Circumstances conspired to make my arrival at the field later than the 9:30am time advertised, but I still did okay despite a mishap or two. Several of my hoped for launches never happened, the Estes Sandhawk Ebay bird because a fin fell off, and the Estes Ventris because I couldn't find a snap-swivel big enough to attach the shock cord to the nose cone. But I did manage a few cool flights; six to be exact.

First up was the Mega Goon Vector G on an E9-4. Quite a bit of nose weight in this one to conteract the stubby fins, but it may need a touch more. Kinda wiggly on the way up, but it got there, and didn't look too bad doing it.







Once again, my choice in materials wasn't the greatest, and this is a ten footer for sure, but it's good enough for a prototype. Now for more nose weight.

__________________
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 Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Second up was a cheap and dirty upscale of the Estes Astron Sprint. This was thrown together with spare parts so I could have something that could legitimately use up the E9-6 motors I've accumulated. Flies okay, but it's a bit fragile for a streamer.





I missed the liftoff shot when my camera battery died. Luckily I had backups in the car.


Next up was my FSI Maverick clone with new paint and decal. (You old guys will recognize the decal script.)







It survived with only a slight scrape when Carter's Tonka rocket failed to leave the pad and thrashed around a bit.

__________________
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 Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

My one disappointment on the day was my fault. I've been chomping at the bit to launch the Aggressor Aerospace DF-15B since before Christmas. It came with a very cool add-on fin unit that I had hoped to fly with today, but I added some noseweight to see if I could get it to fly as a stand-alone bird. The bad news - it couldn't with the amount of noseweight that I added. The good news - the nose cone broke apart on impact, so I'll be able to drill up through the bottom to add more nose weight.







OOF!

It started out fine, but arced rather severely on the C6-5, then began a skywriting exhibition. I think it said "B6-4, moron!" The hard hit left some scars, but a little F & F will cover that.

Oh, yeah. I left the fin unit at home. I'd wanted to fly it with the fins on the first flight.

__________________
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 Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Next was the Custom Matra, with six fins instead of seven. I read some reviews that said that the wiggly flights with this bird might have been from the four up, three down fin setup, so I went with a three up, three down set.



Made no difference. I think the fins are too far forward not to be squirrely. Decent altitude, but with a corkscrew flightpath. Still, not bad.

Last up was an old favorite, last years FSI Sprint upscale. Best flight of the day and the longest recovery walk.

__________________
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 Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Nice looking build! Sorry the flight wasn't what you'd hoped for!

It broke at the seam, so the fix should be fairly easy. I'm sure the flight would have been fine with the auxillary fins. (Which I'm looking at as I type this. Maybe I should have done some typing before I left yesterday. )

__________________
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 Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Yes, I think so too. I conducted flight tests without the detachable fin unit, but found it VERY hard to get sufficient nose weight into the cone. The longer frustum section is narrow at the top, and not easy to drill. So I ultimately went with the detachable fins to help pull the CP aft. An injection-molded version of the cone would be awesome -- easier to build, easy to add weight. But that's way beyond my means!

Geez, for a minute there I forgot who I was talking to. Good news. The rocket generated a lot of positive comments at the field. As you can see from the before pics, it turned out pretty nicely, even with my half-assed craftsmanship. I've got a couple of days vacation after Easter, and that is usually when the local schools are out for spring break. Last year I was able to spend a long afternoon at B6-4 Field launching rockets with no interruption from the after school program or baseball/soccer practices, so I'm hoping for that kind of weather this year. Now that I have some "flight" pics, I'll finish the build thread, too.

__________________
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 Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Nice report and pics