Not a lot was missed for those of you who were not able to attend our launch this last weekend. The wind was pretty bad.
Alex was able to launch his small Estes Flutter-By rocket on a B motor. This was our first launch, and we figured a good test of the winds since it was a flutter recovery. Even with no ‘chute or streamer, it was still almost a quarter mile walk to recover part of his rocket – even with appropriate weather-cocking.
I was able to launch my modified Renegade D on a D-12 motor twice. The first launch saw successful deployment, but a delay in the opening of the ‘chute. This actually worked in my favor as it allowed for a much closer landing. The second launch had the ‘chute opening correctly, which unfortunately for me, made for a longer walk. The walk turned into a frantic run as the wind picked up the chute and carried it along the ground a good 500 feet before being caught up in a bush.
Kevin was unfortunately not so lucky. In an attempt to complete his parachute duration challenge for his NAR Bronze achievement certificate, he launched an Estes Viking on a B motor with a nylon ‘chute. His rocket was in the air for just over 60 seconds, successfully passing the challenge. Unfortunately after almost two hours of searching, he was not able to successfully recover his rocket. Since he did not recover, and was not able to document the achievement with a photo, this launch will unfortunately not count towards his achievement.
After this loss, and with the wind picking up even more, it was decided to close down early. Kind of disappointing for me as I was not able to launch on any of my newly purchased H motors, but that just means there will be more to launch next month! Hope to see you all there!
