March 11, 2007 Launch
Taylor (my daughter), Justin (the neighbor kid I've been teaching about rocketry) and I launched several times today. Yesterday was the first day that would have been fit for rocketry, but I had other commitments, so today was the day.
The air temperature was hovering above 60°F, with winds nominally 5-10 MPH (though I'm not convinced it wasn't a bit more from time to time, the winds being very changeable today). We had SEVERAL launches... we've been stocking up on engines, every time Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon (note that this link leads to the coupon page, and the coupon changes from week to week).
Here's a rundown of the flights:
My Lucky Seven (the plastic Estes rocket), on an A10-3T. I expected such a heavy bird to have a low flight, and as it was breezier than I prefer I thought it'd be a good test. It flew pretty well, arcing a bit more than I'd like to see... I wonder if the normal fall off in the thrust curve of the engine leaves it without enough power to continue ascending.
Justin's Quest Flash on an A8-3. Another perfect flight. Only in-air catch of the day, made by Taylor.
My daughter's 13mm Delta, on an A10-3T. Perfect flight. Yes, I know you are supposed to use an A10-PT, but I felt sure it would work fine on an A10-3T and it did.
My Edmond's Tinee, on an A3-4T. Came over a bit more than I'd like before popping the engine, and if it weren't for my wife's eagle eyes I would have lost it. I'm afraid to paint it for fear of making it too heavy, so I think I'm going to stain it... darkening it should help me track it in the air.
Justin's 13mm Six, on an A10-3T. Beautiful flight, but the nose cone didn't pop and it lawn-darted.
My Slidewhistle on an A3-4T. Spun like a top going up, and blew out the "nose cone" instead of ejecting the engine. Costs about $0.02 each, so no big loss. It DID fly well. I'm going to dribble glue into the nose of the next one I fly in hopes it will hold together. (The Slidewhistle plans are here.)
Taylor's 13mm Six on an A10-3T. Flew just like Justin's, including the lawn dart landing. I rigged them both with plastic streamers, and thus had to use wadding; I used a single sheet in both, and neither one ejected at all. I think, when I fly my own Six I'm going to remove the streamer and forget about wadding and see what happens. $0.04 investment in each, so no big loss.
Justin's Flash again, on a B6-4. Very pretty flight, perfect deployment.
My Stingray (one of those ready-to-fly rockets they sell at Wal-Mart) on an A3-4T. Beautiful flight, but instead of popping the nose cone, the engine retaining ring blew off. Never see THAT part again.
Justin's Flash again, on another B6-4, and another pretty flight. Everyone seems to like to watch it fly. He painted it hot pink so he wouldn't lose it.
Taylor's Shark Attack (another ready-to-fly rocket), flew just like my Stingray (as in, we'll never see that retaining ring again). I think I'm going to glue the nosecones in and let them intentionally lawn-dart after ejecting the engine casing.
Justin's Flash yet again, on an A8-3 (no B6-4s left) and my Quest Sprint on an A8-3, launched as close to simultaneous as possible. Perfect flights.
My 20+ year old Alpha, refurbished with an aluminized mylar parachute, on a C6-5. Very cool flight, good deployment, long drift... landed way outside the field, but Justin recovered it. Moral: Always launch with kids so you don't have to chase your rocket.
Justin's Flash again on a B6-4 (found another B6-4 after all). Another nice flight.
Justin's Flash one more time, on a C6-5. Flew like it was going to the moon, but we had carefully adjusted the angle of the launch stand, and it landed within the field and was recovered perfectly.
After all those flights, the Flash still looked good. Then Justin sat on it. Broke off two fins at the root. He has reglued them, and I expect more excellent flights out of it.
Pictures: click to enlarge.
Justin's Flash and my Sprint on the pads together. Do you think we are concerned about losing them?
Here I am preparing my Alpha to fly. It's probably about 25 years old. The parachute is made from aluminized mylar from a balloon... very good visibility in the air, though for some reason it tends to look black rather than shiny at a distance.