A blustery club launch

Looking down the flight line (Click to enlarge).

HARA held its monthly launch this past Saturday. The day started off well, sunny and reasonably warm for mid-February, but the wind picked up dramatically in the afternoon. By the time of range closure at 3 PM, it averaged 14 miles per hour, with gusts up 18 - so severe that we had to take down the RSO/LCO canopy to prevent it from being damaged. Despite the wind, 46 flights were made, some of which were pretty spectacular. John Kraieski's upscale Mars Lander returned, wowing everyone with a dazzling performance on a L motor. Chuck flew a couple of his Dynasoar rocket gliders - the U.S.S. Orion and a delta-shaped "Man in High Castle" bird. There were also the usual certification attempts, and Brian brought out his tower and gear for a few NRC flights.

Brian's scratch NRC egglofter
(Click to enlarge).

Vince's reassembled Outlander heads
skyward on a Q-jet (Click to enlarge).

I packed 4 rockets - 3 of which were virgins, ready for their maiden voyages. Turns out only those 3 would fly, but more on that later. Let's start with my first flight of the day, that of the Estes Olympus.

Estes Olympus
(Click to enlarge).

My Olympus lifts off on a D12-5 (Click to enlarge).

The Olympus is one of those "Hobby Lobby exclusive" kits Estes produced a while back - I picked mine up with a 40% coupon, finding its Greek mythology decor very much to my liking. Powered by 24 mm motors, it is about 1.8" in diameter and features a large payload section, big enough to easily handle an egg or a PocketLab sensor. I built mine many months ago, and it has patiently sat on a shelf, its bronze and white paint scheme trying to grab enough attention to be chosen for flight. Saturday was the day, and an Estes D12 motor kicked it off the pad into the blue sky above. The Jolly Logic Altimeter 3 riding in the payload section reported a peak altitude of 635 feet, followed by gentle landing in the field 40 seconds later. I was a bit surprised at the altitude - it's kinda heavy, and so I expected something around 400 feet or so.

Altimeter 3 altitude profile for the Olympus (Click to enlarge).

Next up was the Mini-X, a two stage rocket built according to Estes Industries Rocket Plan #20. Dating from 1964, the Mini-X uses the old school method of staging, in which the booster and sustainer motors are held together by a wrap of scotch tape. While not as elegant as Passport or "Plug N' Play" staging, the tape joint will hold long enough for hot particles from the booster motor to ignite the upper stage - I have found this technique to be quite reliable over the years. I prepped the Mini-X with an A8-0/A8-5 motor combination, figuring a) the booster stage would fall close to the pad making it easy to find/recover, b) it would not fly high enough to drift very far and c) it would grab enough altitude to provide decent data to the FlightSketch Mini altimeter riding in the payload section.

Mini-X on the pad (Click to enlarge).

The Mini-X clears the rod (Click to enlarge).

I was right on 2 out of 3 - The booster did indeed fall close to the pad and the sustainer of the Mini-X soared to 470 feet, making for a good data take. However, the wind had begun to pick up and the rocket drifted downwind... drifted some more... and more... until finally landing near the eastern edge of the field. Duane generously recovered it for me, but it was quite a walk. Part of the problem was that the red mylar parachute was a bit too large, bringing the rocket down at a very slow 7 feet per second. It should have descended at twice that speed. I made a note to use a smaller parachute next time. The distance the Mini-X drifted caused me to can the flight of my 2-stage Estes Savage, which was set to go on a D12-0/C6-5 combo. Given the wind, that thing would have ended up crossing the Atlantic!

Yeah, I know - I'm a wimp. At least I still have the rocket. It'll fly on a calmer day.

My last flight was that of the ASP Rocketry Eggstravaganza 18. Loaded with an egg, a FlightSketch Comp altimeter and a Quest Q-jet B6-4W, it was my first official NRC flight. Even though the Eggstravaganza was a competition kit, I had committed a major faux pas in its construction - I painted the fins and lower body yellow. Paint is a no-no in competition - it adds lots of weight and yields very little benefit (other than increased visibility). Because of this - and my checkered past in competition egg lofting - I was hoping not to embarrass myself and to turn in a qualified flight.  I felt more than the usual amount of pressure because Doug was also making his first NRC launch, using the same kit and motor.

Brian helps load my rocket on the piston
(Click to enlarge).

The Eggstravaganza leaves the piston
(Click to enlarge).

Brian helped me load the model atop the piston attached to his spiffy tower. We stepped back, and after a quick 5 count, Brian launched the model. The piston kicked it up into the air nicely, but I was disappointed to see the model arc into the wind - a loss in altitude. Ejection seemed to occur a little late and the parachute only partially deployed. Brian ruled it a safe landing, but I was sweating as I opened the egg capsule - scrambled eggs are quite common when I egg loft; I should probably bring a camp stove and skillet. Fortunately the egg was undamaged and I had my first qualified NRC flight, a B Eggloft to 263 feet (not corrected for temperature). I am waiting for it to appear on the National Scoreboard - I wonder if I will rank with the kiddos (A division). We shall see. But I can tell you this much - Doug beat my altitude by 16 feet. Pretty good for his first contest flight ever!

And so Saturday's HARA launch saw my return to NAR competition. A unremarkable return, but a return nonetheless. It felt kinda good.