Southern Thunder - the final day

A rocket leaves the pad under G motor power at Southern Thunder 2014.

Slowed down version of the above (Click to enlarge).

Southern Thunder is over, and I am back home - bruised, sun burned, and more than a little tired, but pleased. To say that ST2014 was a good launch would be an understatement - HARA had 300 flight cards at the beginning of the launch yesterday, and they were all used, forcing us to record flights on scraps of paper this morning. Many rockets once again took to the skies in the sweltering, storm free summer day provided by Mother Nature. I flew 6 rockets:

• Odd'l Rockets Birdie - very good altitude on an A10-3T. I love this flying badminton birdie - quick to prep (just insert motor) and it always lands close to the pad.
• My trusty Centuri RX-16 clone - Rockets had been landing in the Christmas trees to the south, so I opted to fly it on clustered B6-4's (2). It had a Perfectflite altimeter on board, which showed a peak altitude of 258 feet. I will download the flight profile for analysis later this week.
• Estes Constellation clone - Nice straight flight on a B6-4. I turned down several offers of tick passengers  for the clear plastic payload section from rocketeers infested with the vermin.
• Estes Alpha (1960's decor) - Decent flight on an A8-3. Trying to use these motors as much as possible, as I have about eleventy billion of them.
• Centuri Screaming Eagle clone - Beautiful flight on on a B6-4. Landed between the rows of Christmas trees.
• Estes Mean Machine clone - Fishtailed a bit on the E9-6 motor. Nice altitude, but it landed near the top of a big tree to the Southwest. Recovery not possible, so this one is a loss - Its first flight was its last flight. On the plus side, Nate's Mean Machine flew superbly, and he recovered it near the Christmas trees. Here's the video of the launch:

More later this week - have much to unpack before I get to sleep.