It's Saturday, it's beautiful out for January, (upper 50's & partly sunny,) and we have a launch scheduled. I have a meeting at work that should only last about an hour, and then it's off to the pads. Hopefully I'll have a REAL launch report tomorrow.

__________________
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

Not this time, Mother Nature! Made it to the field before noon and managed 12 flights in four hours. It was windy, but not terribly so. We've flown in worse. Witch Hazel's Zoom Broom was up first on an A8-3. Slightly wobbly and no chute on recovery, but none was needed. It's very light.
Flight #2 was my Orion clone on a C11-5. Heavy windcocking on this one, but that worked to my advantage as the recovery walk was shorter. The Orion bounced about three feet in the air on impact, and I was worried that it might have lost a fin, but it was fine. If you'd have seen the impact, you'd be as surprised as I was. I flew it again on a D12-5. MUCH better engine choice. Much cooler flight all around.
The Semroc Mark II made three flights on the day; A8-3, B6-4, C6-5 so that I could submit the EMRR review. All three went higher than I expected, with the C6-5 flight REALLY cranking things up. This is a nice, stable bird just made for a field like VOA. No chute or streamer on the last flight, and it recovered without a hitch.
The all-Semroc parts SLS Vector V also made three flights for review, but on a C11-5, D12-5, E9-6 combination. Not surprisingly, the D flight offered the best altitude/short recovery walk combination. The E9-6 was impressive, but I'll reserve that for REALLY calm days from now on. I found it on the north side of the park in a prairie. Somehow it managed to find the only puddle, 8" x 3', for HUNDREDS of yards in either direction. The engine casing had swelled like a busted lip, but I managed to bite it out before it became permanent. (YUK!) One fin was broken at the bottom, possibly from nose cone rebound. Easily repairable, and it will fly again, but it'll never look as good as it did on Friday night.
Other flights on the day were two by the Star Snoop on an A8-3 and B6-4. This was WAY better than the Zoom Broom. The big fins probably help a lot. I also flew my recently repaired and decaled Satellite Interceptor 1.36X upscale on an E9-6. Awesome! Great altitude and arrow straight. Landed a long way off. One of two flights on the day that I drove after rather than chase on foot.
Bonus pics are of Steve "Patriot Pilot" Carr's Deuce upscale as both engines fire; the classic Deuce shot, and another Quarker's G-Force as it comes to power and leaves the rod, seconds before core sampling. HARD! I didn't have the heart to take a shot of the aftermath.

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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 Semroc Cyber III

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

The first rocket in the pictures. The one that is red and white. What is the name of that rocket? Looks pretty cool. Looked like overall it was a good day for you.

JET

That's an Estes Zoom Broom clone, one of the Goonybirds from the 70's. It looked better than it flew, but its Star Snoop brother kicked butt.
As far as the day, it was a good one despite having to cut it short due to dinner plans. I'm looking forward to the next launch in two weeks.

__________________
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

Try about 0.25 oz of nose weight in both models. I RS'd the Star Snoop and found that amount worked well through the C6-5. I'd guess the Zoom Broom will need at least that much (haven't sim'd that one yet) based on your real-world data...



The dinner probably tasted a lot better after having that good flight session, though! I'm still waiting for some good weather, and/or a weekend where I'm not under it...

__________________
Craig McGraw

BARCLONE Rocketry -- http://barclone.rocketshoppe.com
BARCLONE Blogsite -- http://barclone.wordpress.com
BARCLONE Forum -- BARCLONE Forum

BARs helping BARs

SAM 0044
AMA 352635

I'll try the nose weight in the Zoom Broom, but I'll leave the Star Snoop as is. It flew great. My Goony fleet should be at four by the next launch because I have the Missile Toe and Cloudhopper ready for assembly. I think I might also cheat up a Galaxy Guppy by enlarging the fins on the catalog pics accordingly. It looks pretty simple in profile. The Sky Shriek is another story. I'll wait until the actual scans pop up for that one.
Dinner was actually pretty lousy. One of my friends just recently got home from Iraq, so we took him and his wife out for dinner. The company was great, but the restaurant left a lot to be desired. They had a roving band. That should tell you all you need to know.
I also forgot to add that I flew the new Estes X-15 on Saturday. I used a C6-3, which made for a decent, if slightly wiggly, flight. I also had planned to fly the Shrox Icarus, but the glue on the shock cord mount hadn't dried overnight. Too cool and damp in my basement room. I left it on the dashboard in the sun all day, but it was still tacky when I left at 3:00. That will lead off my next launch, hopefully in two weeks.

__________________
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