Saturday, March 28, 2015

Saturday's other flights

In the previous post, I mentioned that there were a total of 59 flights Saturday. Of these, 24 were TARC related; the others were miscellaneous rockets launched by the kids and adults present. Here is a listing of some of these flights, accompanied by a few pics. I don't have notes for all, as I occasionally had to watch a TARC flight, which took my attention away from the LPR pad.

The Satellite Interceptor just before malfunction
(Click to enlarge).
Nate snaps a pic of his Nike Smoke lifting off
(Click to enlarge).
Estes Satellite Interceptor (C6-5) - I swear this rocket of Nate's is jinxed. Once again, the motor CATO'd soon after leaving the pad. Fortunately, the damage was minor - the lower fin broke cleanly from the body. Very repairable.

Estes Hi Jinks (C6-5) - This RTF (Ready To Fly) rocket suffered a broken shock cord, but both pieces were recovered.

Quest Nike Smoke (C6-5) - This rocket made two flights, the first without mishap. On the second flight, the nose cone split in half on ground impact. Also repairable.

My Mark II clone starts its journey (Click to enlarge).A Liberty team member launches the Shuttle Express
(Click to enlarge).
Estes Mark II clone (A3-4T) - Even on a mini-motor, this rocket grabbed some altitude! I was impressed.

Estes Shuttle Express (B6-4) - This rocket also flew twice with no issues. However, the gliders were in sore need of trimming, as they nosed straight into the ground.

Estes RTF Patriot (C6-5) - No problem flight, with a landing close to the pad.

My Loadlifter 1-A on an A8-3 (Click to enlarge).Nate's towerless Mercury Redstone (Click to enlarge).
Loadlifter 1-A (A8-3) - Built from Estes Rocket Plan #19 and sporting a NASA logo, this rocket turned in a nice flight on the A motor. However, one of the fins was gashed upon landing, so some repair required.

EAC Viper (A3-4T) - Another of the "old reliables" of my fleet. Straight up, with a soft recovery on the grass.

Estes Mercury Redstone (C6-5) - This rocket belonging to Nate really did need its missing escape tower, as the 5 second delay of the C motor brought it perilously close to the ground before the chute deployed. Landing was a little hard, but no damage. I think he'll use a C6-3 next time :)

Vince's Hexagon lifts off on an E12 motor (Click to enlarge).The E12 erupts into fireballs (Click to enlarge).

Rocketarium Hexagon (E12-0) - Our NAR advisor, Vince, jumped into the action with a flight of his Hexagon on a Estes E12. For once, Nate was not the "CATO master of the day"; that honor went to Vince when the E12 spectacularly CATO'd just as the rocket let the rod. Surprisingly, there was no damage to the rocket.

Vince's Spider does its thing on a C6-0 (Click to enlarge).Nate's Snitch produces a little smoke (Click to enlarge).
Spider (C6-0) - A George Gassaway design, this rocket is built from a plastic Halloween candy bowl. It flies surprisingly well.

Estes Snitch (B6-0) - Not to be left out of the saucer action, Nate flew his Snitch on a B motor. Very short walk for its recovery :)

My Centuri Quasar clone makes another voyage on a
C6-5 (Click to enlarge).
A very nice scratch build rides a pillar of fire into the sky
(Click to enlarge).
Centuri Quasar clone (C6-5) - A mainstay of my fleet, this classic design rocket looked and performed well.

Estes Phoenix semi-scale (D12-3) - Big rocket, low and slow flight.

Scratch build (E18) - Launched by a newcomer to our club, this nice orange and black rocket roared into the sky on an Aerotech E18.

NCR Eliminator  (F15) - Vince brought out this old North Coast Rocketry bird (late 1980's), and launched it on an Estes F15. No CATO, and a pretty decent flight. I caught a quick video with my phone:


Estes Starchaser Thunderstar (2xB6-4) - One of my old X Prize kits, only one of the B motors lit when the launch button was pressed. Fortunately, the B had enough power to get the rocket high enough to safely deploy the parachute. One should really be careful when inserting ignitors in clusters...

Centuri Taurus clone (C6-5) - Another classic from my fleet; it turned in a nice straight flight on the C motor, and had a nice soft landing.

My Starchaser Thunderstar begins arcing to the right under
the thrust of only one motor (Click to enlarge).
My Taurus clone lifts off on a C6-5 (Click to enlarge)
Estes L.G.M. RTF with BT-55 booster (C11-0/B6-4) - This was my last flight of the day, in which I would once again try to capture video from the camera taped to the side. The rocket gods did smile on this flight, as I was able to catch several good frames when the rocket staged.

L.G.M. staging as captured by the onboard camera (Click to enlarge).
Here is the complete flight video:


This was the last modroc flight of the day; only TARC flights followed.

And now I am finally caught up with launch reports :)

2 comments:

  1. Love the LGM staging pics. That was awesome. Keychain camera? I really need to dig mine out this week. Next week is spring break and I have a vacation day to play with. Hoping for a lunchtime launch at B6-4 Field without a kid in sight.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, keychain camera - you should give it a try.

    Kids are useful for recovery :)

    ReplyDelete