Sunday. Sunny. No winds. Whole bunch of birds ready to go that I've been working on all week. Wife is out of town with my Mom and sister. What to do?





Yeah, I'll have pictures later.

__________________
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

If I just had a little more sun, it would have been an awesome day. Seventeen flights. Temps in the sweatshirt range and almost no breeze at all. Started things off with a redemption flight. My Astron Drifter back from the near dead to make a symbolic flight giving the finger to the pole gods. It's far from pretty anymore, but you'd never know it by the flight.



No pics of the flight. I was using the Estes controller for the first time in forever. It's not as user friendly as the Quest controller, at least if you're trying to take pictures at the same time. Recovery was an adventure as the chute didn't unfurl, but not much can phase this bird at this point.

Second flight was a half baked mess from last night. I tried to make a corkscrew bird with a body tube and a ring fin. I called it the Screw Loose. Very fitting, actually.



The ring fin was from a roll or masking tape I finished. It delaminated when the rocket left the rod, and kind of dragged behind for a second before the whole mess became a mess.



I thought the masking tape tube would be tougher than that.



BTW, this is how this hot mess ended. Laid out in a straight line after landing flat and firing the ejection charge. I think I need to work on this one a little.

__________________
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

Sit around the house in your underwear, and watch football while drinking beer????

I finished a bunch of birds this weekend that were opened, but only partially started. One of those was the Estes Sky Writer, a rocket that I have multiples of, so I figured I'd actually build one. Nice, quick project, and not a bad looker on the pad.





It doesn't look like that anymore. Flight was a B6-4 and CATO'd just as it left the rod.



The motor fired out past the motor hook, bending the tab almost straight. The casing hit the blast deflector and broke the plastic standoff. The rest of the rocket fell in three pieces; body tube, fin can and nose cone.





The shock cord burned in half and the motor tube is completely crisped and bent out of shape. The body tube is blistered and burned. This one won't fly again.

__________________
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

Sorry to hear about the Skywriter. At least you can use the fin unit . What was the code on the B6-4?

Flying rockets would have been better than football today.

Chas
Not a Cowboys fan

__________________
Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"

I've got the review for the Centuri Python Fighter almost finished, but I needed a few flights to button things up. A8-3 flight, and all went as planned.





No complaints, but I missed the launch shot.

The Estes Photon Probe has been sitting 3/4 of the way finished forever, so I attached the finlets this weekend to take it to 7/8 of the way finished.



B6-4 flight, but apparently not one of the exploding ones. Flight was fairly high and straight, but the chute tangled on the new fins and only partially deployed.

__________________
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

The Semroc Penetrator had an incorrect coupler that I meant to take to NARAM to exchange and forgot. I just wrapped the coupler with masking tape and glued it together as best I could. It worked great. First flight was on an A8-3. Beautiful flight and recovery. One of the first end to end great flights on the day.







Still needs final sanding and paint, but I'll get there.

__________________
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

From the "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING" file, the Estes D.A.R.T. Vintage, yeah. Fugly, OH YEAH! But it's a great bird for a field like this. Great performance, but never out of sight and rarely in trouble in calm skies. Just what today needed.





Whacked the camera selector, so burst mode was shut off.

Next was my first ever staged flight at B6-4 Field, the Estes Astron Apogee-Whiz on an A8-0/A8-5 combo.





Boost was perfect. Staging went great. The whole shebang went a lot higher than I expected, and wound up out over US 27. I lost sight of it for a few seconds, and when I found it again, I could tell that something was missing.



I got the booster back and 2/3 of the sustainer. The artsy-farts balsa sculpture up top stripped the screw eye at ejection. I have a new payload section downstairs, but it just won't be the same.
That might not be a bad thing.

__________________
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

Nah, the Bungles sucked a big one in Miami on Thursday. I'm going out to play.

__________________
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

Which B6-4? I'm not finished yet. We have another CATO to go.

__________________
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