B6-4 Field launch, Saturday, April 11, 2020
 

Last week I had vacation the latter three days of the week, but it wasn't until Saturday that the weather cooperated with my planned launch. Cloudy and cool when I got to the field, with flags hanging slack on the poles. I had a monster box of birds, most of which hadn't flown or hadn't flown for a long time. Most were mini motors and A8-3 small field birds, but even flying the little stuff beats a seat on the couch.
I think I actually had 24 in my travelling boxes, but several were previously prepped for cornfield work which I didn't discover until I pulled them out and checked the motors. (C6-5 in a Scamp at rapidly shrinking B6-4 Field? Nah, I'm not that young anymore.)
First flight was the newest bird in the brood, a mere one day old. This was a Thursday-Friday project, the only goony I'd never built as a 1:1. I started sifting through tubes on Thursday and found a 5" BT-60 and an almost perfect piece of BT-55. Everything fell together from that point and I had the thing mostly done in a couple of hours. Hardest part was finding a nose cone, but my stash never lets me down. Anyway, flight one was a Missile Toe on a 1/2A3-2T. WAY too conservative. Almost landed by the time the chute filled. I think these will be A3-4T birds up here in the future.

The Semroc Squire was next, also a first flight bird. I went with the simple 3fnc design on this one because the thought of all the sanding made me a tad gassy. It's been ready to go since before the virus, but never seemed to make the cornfield cut. Different story here on an A8-3. Nicely straight flight with recovery 30 feet from the pad.

Flight #3 was one of my home-brew, "let's see what we can make with what's on the floor" birds, the FRW Eris. Still needs some paint touch up and a decal or two, but it's long been ready to fly. 1/2A3-4T flight, and the only rocket on the day to flirt with the trees in the background, but in the end it wasn't really close. This was from my "orange/black/silver" phase. I've now moved on to "orange/black/red". Pay attention. There will be a quiz. :rolleyes:

Batting clean up on a B6-4 was my first flight Estes Centuri. Sharp looking bird, but the decals were amazingly thin, even with multiple coats of decal bonder. You knew I'd have to fly a B6-4 here. Tradition demands it, and this is the perfect size rocket to do it. One of a couple on the day that boosted my power curve. :D The Centuri flew nice and straight off the pad, then caught a light breeze and recovered on the infield, and looked good doing it. :cool:

Will it be an open book test? Just trying to decide how much studying will be required.

Bill-

Hey, you are getting a lot of good liftoff shots with these! I gotta ask though, is that the Jed Clampett estate on the hill in the background of the liftoff photos? Big lookin’ place, if it is indeed a ‘house’.

Earl

Fifth in the order was the Estes Plasma Probe. This one spent a long time as a "body in white" because it contracted a case of rocket herpes and I couldn't bring myself to put in the necessary re-sanding. This winter I did a quick sanding to get it presentable and finished the job. The decals really make this bird, and from ten feet mine is a beauty queen. A8-3 for this flight, but it would be fairly comfy on a B6-4. Flight path was almost identical to the Centuri before it and it landed on the infield. (Just now noticed that I didn't bother to attach the dowels to the fin tips.)

Brand new, built on the old tennis courts of the country club we live near. It was built by the cousin of our friends and is apparently pretty impressive inside. I think they divided the land into three parcels and this house bought two. The one next to it is very modern and looks kind of like a storage unit. Strange house considering the neighborhood.

Flight #6 would be the first flight of the Centuri Zebra II Payloader. I had this plan for years before I finally decided to build it. To be honest, it turned out a lot better than I could have hoped. It's a nice, compact payloader from the waning days of Centuri when the new kits shared a lot of parts with Estes. I think I've built almost all of them except the Bulldog, and that one is downstairs waiting for me to revive it. The ZIIP flew on an A8-3, plenty of engine for the field conditions. Fairly light, so it was a noticeably high, straight flight that recovered on the infield between short and third.

Oh, and I'm cheating on the liftoff shots. I've been having camera issues at the cornfield, so I've taken to using my cellphone at my home field. I get an on pad glamour shot of the rocket before flight, then use the movie function on the phone and download each flight to the computer after I'm home. My computer lets me take stills from the movie. All I have to do is move the cursor and click save. Three months into the year and I already have a new "skill". :chuckle: