Launch Report 9/5/05

I just got back from a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean. It was a great trip and lots of fun but I'm home now and I am ready to launch some rockets. It is Labor Day and catching up on work seemed sacrilegious or something so I went out and launched some rockets.

To test the wind I started off with 012 Lucky Seven. The rocket is small and uses a Estes Micro Motor, perfect gauging the wind. The small airframe soared into the air quite nicely and the ejection charge popped the nose off easily. It was a perfect flight! The second flight of the day for this model was also flawless.

After the small rocket it was time to move up. I next launched 008 Shuttle Express. This rocket has two small shuttles on the sides that deploy at apogee. The rocket took off perfectly and at apogee the shuttles deployed, and shot straight down to the ground. The rocket returned gently back to earth. I am not sure why the shuttles did this but I will try to work out the kinks before the next flight.

The final launch of the day was 010 Mongoose. This is my first two stage rocket. The flight path was way off and I lost sight of the rocket immediately. I had to drive to around to look for it and finally found it near the fire station. The airframe landed on the sidewalk and was bent and I lost the booster section. The rocket is effectively destroyed.