| During our last
rocketry outing, winds out of the west were putting our rockets in
the trees. Don lost one, and we paid heck getting one of mine
down.
A key goal that day had been to fly Haley's
rocket with its new decal, but with the winds, we decided it best
to
not fly it. Haley was very good about it, but I felt bad.
Yesterday, March 5, I noticed the flags were draped on
their poles,
and there was almost no wind at all, a rare event in the windy
Metroplex.
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L-R: Elena, Haley, Katy
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| Not wanting to miss the chance, I grabbed a
couple rockets
and headed to the park. Elena was playing in a volleyball
tournament,
and as soon as the last game ended, Paige rounded up the girls and
headed
to meet me, bringing Elena, Haley and their friend, Katy.
Haley's two favorite things in the world are dolphins
and hot air balloons.
The excitement on her face when she gets to see either is always worth
the price of admission. She will talk about it for days
after.
When I pulled into the park yesterday, I knew it was going to be extra
special because right there on the rocket range were four hot air
balloons
being inflated.
I set about to complete prepping the rockets and waited
for Paige.
When they arrived, I shot the pic above.
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 |
In just a few minutes time, the balloons
had finished inflating
and had lifted off with their ground crews chasing after in their
trucks
so the field was clear and ready for rockets.
First up was Haley's Comet on a C11-3. I figured
the ring tail
would be draggy, but the 3 sec delay was a little short. Need to
try a C11-5 next time.
Left: Here's Haley with her rocket and a goofy smile.
Katy had to be somewhere, so Paige headed out with her
and Haley leaving
Elena and me to keep flying.
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| Here's Elena with my Betty-Sprint.
I think her life's goal is to be a prize model on a TV game show.
The Betty-Sprint flew on a C11-5. Perfect
flight. Lanie
caught it coming down under chute. That was a kewl feat that made
Dad proud.
Wanting to fly a bit more, we put another C11-5 in the
Betty-Sprint
and flew it once more with Lanie catching it again making Dad even
prouder.
It was getting late, but still light out, so after we
put our gear
away, we went in the woods to look for Don's rocket. Seeing it
still
up in a tree, there was nothing we could do so we headed for home,
happy that we got to fly, but still wanting
more rocket action.
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 |
 |
On Sunday, the winds were back to normal
for the Metroplex,
but still calm enough for a little flying.
Getting together with some DARS
members,
we got in a few flights, mostly good.
I managed to get a couple MicroMaxx motors to light
propelling my blue
Tiny Midget and my converted
rocket.aero glider to some surprisingly good flights. The
Tiny
Midget really got up, and after adding a little clay to the nose, the
glider
got some great hang time.
Left: Here's yours truly, still looking a bit
pudgy even after
losing 30 pounds, but nonetheless looking much better than this!
The purple and black Midget is an upscale made with Quest T35
tubing.
This was its maiden flight.
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The Midget T35 was loaded with a C11-0 booster staging
to a C11-7 sustainer. It had been prepped for another launch but
never flew that day, so it was ready to go. I know for sure I was
careful to scrape the sustainer motor nozzle to ensure upper stage
ignition,
but it wasn't to be.
After a great boost, the rocket separated, but all the
sustainer did
was quietly coast upward. No woosh. @#$%! It headed
for
the church, but fortunately missed the roof and the parking lot,
instead
finding some moist soil. It will need some repair, but it could
have
been much worse. In fact, after cleaning it a bit, I put the
sustainer
back on the pad and flew it on the unlit motor. It had a nice
flight,
then came in without the parachute opening. Thank goodness the
ground
was wet. I'll get it repaired and back in action soon. Buzz
gave me a coupler that will help reinforce the wrinkled section.
Some sanding and filler, and it'll be ready for paint.
Even with the disappointment of wrecking my brand new
rocket, I still
had fun. Like golfers, rocketeers feel a bad day flying is still
better than a good day at work :)
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Mar-6-2005
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