I've been trying to make it up to B6-4 Field for some flight time a lot lately, but for a couple of months I was having zero luck. Rain was a big issue. Baseball and softball were the other culprits. Today there was a softball regional scheduled for 2pm, which meant that I could sneak in a look at the Indy 500 and the Reds game before I had to check for field availability. Worked like a charm. I took the field at 5:00 and got in almost an hour and a half of flying time, twelve mostly excellent flights, and I still had time to shower and take my wife out for dinner.
First on the pad was the FRW Harpoon AGM-84A that I downscaled from the face card of the TLP kit. I actually built this whole rocket except for the engine mount at work on Friday. (I was banished to a satellite office that is a three hour job that pays for eight hours. Sounds great until you realize how tough it is to waste five hours.)
The A8-3 flight was perfect, straight up to 150', stable the whole way. (This hasn't always been the case with my TLP downscales.) Ejection occurred almost directly overhead, just as the rocket began to tip over. It began a lazy flat drift down before the chute gently filled and the rocket recovered just behind the flightline. I tell you this because something happened to the video of the flight, (ID10T error,) and my memory is all that survives of the flight. DOH!
For flight two I decided that the calm conditions were not to be wasted. Conditions were perfect for the Quest Big Betty on a B6-4. Betty dates back to the days when Quest products shared the pegs with Estes and Fun Rockets cheesy foam at Hobby Lobby. This would be the first of three Quest flights made on the day.
The flight was as expected, fairly straight and completely stable, with a gentle arc out toward center field. It ejected as it was sideways and did a short freefall before the parachute filled, then drifted to a gentle touchdown behind third base.
The recently completed Estes Indicator would be flight three. After all these years, one would think that I'd have spray paint all figured out, but the Indicator drove me up the wall. It went under the sprayer three times to correct paint issues and it still could use some touching up. I was done, so here it stands on the pad, warts and all.
When I arrived at the field, the Indicator had a Dayton load, a big field A10-3T. I briefly considered flying it that way, but backed it off to a 1/2A3-4T. That proved to be plenty of motor for B6-4 Field. The Indicator left the pad following what was now the flight path of the day, mostly straight up with a slight arc to center field. It topped out around 250' and began a quick stream back to within 20 feet of the pad. It hit at a bad angle and suffered a B6-4 Field dent at the top of the body tube, but considering the rest of the cosmetic issues, I'm sure it will go unnoticed.
Flight #4 was the CDC Augmented Pluto Probe, a back of the newsletter plan from the Centuri Design Contest. I've been trying to come up with a paint and decal scheme and went with the old reliable white/black/orange that most of my undefined birds wear. I added an old Centuri decal, but I would eventually like to add a roll pattern. Printer issues have foiled me thus far.
For the first time on the day, the rocket didn't follow the traditional path. Well, sort of. It left the pad with a lean toward right center and topped out around 250'. Ejection came as it tipped over, and the probe did a freefall for a second before the chute popped and brought it all down safely in short center.
Fifth on the pad was the Estes Firehawk, a throwaway almost-RTF that I wound up with after one of the Ohio NARAMs. It got built out of boredom and had only previously flown once before losing its launch guide. Plastic parts, stickers, badly designed engine lock, this is kind of the low point of rocketry, a step above the all plastic Space Bus, etc. It had been in the box since I replaced the launch guide with an actual lug. Based on that, it got a chance to fly. I shouldn't rag on this rocket. It's a decent kids rocket, which is what it was bought for, but the kid didn't want it. We can only try.
For this launch I had two false starts, the second of which burnt the "starter". I replaced it and the third time was the charm. The flight was on a 1/2A3-4T and topped out at around 300'. No recovery equipment, and after heading out over deep center, it started coming quickly back toward left. Recovery occurred in deepest left field on the foul line. (Which was home plate when I played baseball here.) Recovered without damage, but now I can't get the motor out. Feh.
I have a complicated history with flight #6. Back in 2001, I was desperate to clone the Estes Satellite Interceptor, one of the rockets from my 1977 fleet that I never got the chance to fly. I figured out that the most recent Estes offering to use the nose and tail cone from the SI was the Wildfire, so I set out to find myself one. No one locally had one, even the Greenhills Johnny's, which was my go-to for OOP kits. I religiously checked eBay, and after several weeks I got a notification about this rocket. It was marketed as a built Estes Wildfire and the pictures were not great, but I decided to take a chance on it. I was the only bidder. When it arrived a few days later I realized that it was the wrong size, a BT-55 versus the BT-50 I'd been expecting. I realized that I had a spare PNC-55BB and decided to builf an upscaled Satellite Interceptor, then bought more cones and built an upscale WAC Corporal and a Cherokee D. (Don't ask.) After a few weeks I grudgingly gave the fake Wildfire a chance to fly and called it the Flying Turd. The Turd flew like a champ in 2001. 22 years later it was back for another chance.
As is the norm, this would be a B6-4 flight, and as usual, it didn't disappoint. It actually has a C6-5 flight here, something I tended to try in my young and dumb phase. (Not to be confused with my old and dumb phase.) The flight was straight out from the pad toward the hill in center field. Ejection happened as it tipped over, and it began heading back toward the pad and the street fairly quickly. It eventually landed on the hill heading up to the parking lot. It was honestly one of the most impressive flights of the day. Darn it.
The LOC/Precision Hi-Tech Mini would be flight #7. I got this by mistake after ordering another one of the LOC Mini kits. I ordered the mini version of the LOC Lil Nuke, but they were out, so they substituted this one. I wanted to send it back, but they told me to keep it and refunded my purchase price. I have no idea what happened to the sticker decals. I'm not even sure how long ago I built this, but it was ready to fly.
These birds were something of a puzzle, well constructed with quality parts, but lousy sticker decals and unimaginative graphics. I picked up several on the cheap, but I've yet to completely finish one. The Hi-Tech was an impressive flyer, the A8-3 taking it to around 300', almost straight up. Ejection occurred just as forward movement stopped and it recovered just in front of the pad. I really need to finish one of these as intended.
A second Quest bird would be the eighth bird off the pad on the day, the Quest Intruder. My original Intruder was last seen back in 2001 riding a thermal across the old Silver Grove CSX yard toward the Ohio. It never got to wear the decals, but this one got a set. They're a homemade set because the originals had no tack, but a set nonetheless.
The A8-3 flight was excellent, an arc out toward center field to about the 300' mark. Issues happened at ejection when the shock cord snapped and the body fell in a heap in short center with the nose cone and parachute close by. Nothing was damaged. It just looked like the shock cord just gave up after two flights.
The Astron Constellation is a veteran of B6-4 Field and has the scars to prove it. It has twice broken fins while landing on the infield, and flight #9 on the day would be the first since the third new fin was attached.
This flight would be on an A8-3 and was another oddity in that it boosted off the right toward left field instead of center like most flights on the day. It topped out around 250', ejected as it tipped over, and began drifting back toward the pad. It made it as close as 20' and was recovered without damage. That's something new.
The tenth flight of the day took me by surprise. I didn't realize that I'd hit double figures until after it flew and was lined up with all the other victims on the day. It was a Quest Brighthawk in the package, but it selflessly donated a chunk of body tube for the Quest X-15 that I built several years ago. I built the remains of the rocket and called it the Half-Brighthawk.
As you might expect, the Half-Brighthawk flies perfectly fine in this form. This would be an A8-3 flight, but I wouldn't hesitate to try it on a B6-4. Maybe even a C6-5 if I was angry. This flight was back to the norm on the day, arcing gently out toward center field, ejecting at apogee, and landing nicely in short center field. I should have gone with a B6-4.
My 11th flight on the day was one I'd built out of literal shop scraps and a nose cone. I was trying for something on the lines of the Estes Mosquito, but I called the resulting bird the Spirochete. Seemed fitting.
Not much to say about the flight, mostly because I didn't see much of it. I did get a liftoff shot for the 1/2A3-4T flight, but by the time I was pointing the phone at the flight path, I heard the ejection charge and caught a flash of orange heading toward the family that had joined me on the field. Painting the fins orange was a good idea. It's the only way I was able to figure out where it landed. The next time it flies I hope to have the paint scheme figured out. Don't expect much.
I'd go back to B6-4 power for the remaining two flights, #12 being the Estes Centuri. It had previously flown in the cornfield on a C6-5, but was kind of underwhelming with all that space, however it's a perfect sized bird for a B motor on this field.
By this point in the late afternoon/early evening it was almost completely still, which meant that the flight was almost straight up. Very good altitude to around 300' and it was sideways when the ejection charge fired. After ejection it fell sideways for a bit before the parachute decided to fill. It recovered just off to my left, winding up within fifteen feet of the pad.
I actually thought the Vector Force was flight #12 on the afternoon, but in reality it was lucky #13. This was one of those kits that I ordered as soon as I saw the picture. Something about it speaks to me. Loudly. Despite that it rarely sees the sky, this being the first flight since 2014 and only the third overall.
The Vector Force followed an almost identical path as the Centuri. The flight topped out around 300' and ejected as it tipped over. Unlike the Centuri, the VF chute filled almost immediately, and recovery happened on the infield near third base.
I still had several birds in the box, but I felt like my day was done. It was as I was packing up to head for home that I realized that my lineup of flown rockets would make for a pretty cool pic in itself, especially since I didn't have to worry about William stampeding them. Kinda artsy, eh?
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