| Clear and sunny, wind 2-5 N, changing to 2-7 S after about 13:00. |
|---|
| Model | Flt
# |
Recovery Type | Motor | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bertha 24 | 2 | 12" plastic parasheet w/ spill hole & vents | Estes D12-7 | Another high, straight flight, with no noticeable roll -- I must have the fins on straight. I estimate this rocket flies to about 900 feet on the D12-7, but it seems like more at the field. Even with the rapid descent under this small parachute, this rocket is rugged enough to avoid damage. |
| Maniac | 4 | 18" nylon x-form | Aerotech RMS 24/40, E18-7W(8) | I was astounded at how high this rocket went on a full 40 Ns E motor -- the D12 flights hadn't prepared me for this. This was also my first E, and the first time I'd seen a Maniac flown on a motor with more thrust than a D12. I wasn't prepared, and with the wind having just shifted from North around to the South, the rocket drifted north across the road and hung about 50 feet up in a cottonwood, right in the heart of the swamp. Fortunately, it was later recovered, by dint of considerable effort; the only damage was a parted shock cord, easily corrected. |
| Bertha 24 | 3 | 12" plastic parasheet w/ spill hole & vents | Estes D12-7 | This flight I had aimed the pad somewhat upwind -- and I swear, the rocket curved upward into a true vertical as it streaked to about 1000 feet. Of course, that put it too far north at ejection, and it drifted into the branches of a tree, about 25 feet above the county road that marks the north edge of the field. It was recovered at the end of the flying day, none the worse for wear. |
| I had my Deltie Thunder completely prepped, ready to launch, and was in process of putting it on the pad when one of the new 1/4" launch lugs I installed (after the problems with the stock lugs that I had the day I built it) came loose from the body tube. I scrubbed, rather than attempt field repairs, and on my way back to the car I gave the glider a chuck to demonstrate to a skeptic that it did in fact glide; the combination of a bad throw, crosswind, and not enough altitude to recover caused the glider to hit the ground on a wingtip; the resulting cartwheel reduced it to a kit again, which I hope to have reassembled in time for next month. Sigh... |