No 70+ degree temps this time, but a sunny Sunday with temps above 50 and little wind was close enough to perfect for a trip to B6-4 Field with a box of rockets. Interesting day in that it started off with a trip to Lowe's for new batteries because the launch controller had punked out on me after only six flights. Today the Energizer bunny and I would find out what the limit was for a new pack of AAs.
First off the pad was supposed to be the Semroc Point. I'd taken Lee Reep's advice and bought a pack of extension clamps cheap online. These were just a foot long length of wire with clamps at each end. Theoretically all that needed to be done was to cut the wire in the middle, strip off a half inch of the plastic, and attach the clips to the igniters deep within the Point. Before today I was 0-2. Now I'm 0-3. Hmmmm, this requires some thought. Let me know when you're done thinking about it.
That said, my first flight would be a Semroc Nomad on an A8-3. I'd brought the Nomad along for my all Semroc launches earlier in the fall, but found a missing launch lug. This time all was well and it was ready to go. What breeze there was was toward the northwest, so I was set up in foul territory on the left field line. The rod was angled very slightly toward centerfield.
The combination of the new batteries and the tarted up igniters were obviously the ticket and the Nomad ignited as soon as the button was pushed. No lag whatsoever.
The Nomad arced gently out toward center, windcocking slightly to the left to about 250'. It never occurred to me that I was making it my wind test bird, but it did the job nicely.
Ejection occurred at apogee and the freshly powdered Semroc chute brought it down for a perfect touchdown in centerfield. Based on the wind test it was going to be a pretty good day.
Second flight of the day would be a rocket that's been on the sanding block since the summer, the Estes Airborne Surveillance Missile.
Loaded with a 1/2A3-4T and still sporting a lot of Fill & Finish, I was expecting to be impressed with this flight. It definitely made an impression. Like the Nomad, it lit quickly and surged upwards. And kept surging. The pics tell the story so much better than I can.
It caught when I loaded it onto the rod. Fill & Finish in the lug, I thunk, so I ran it up and down the rod until it moved freely. Define freely, you say? Err, if I turned the pad upside down it would have fallen off? Well, might have taken a shake or two. To my credit, I didn't pack up and go home.
Flight #3 would be another of my Fill & Finish Brigade, the Custom TriStar. The Tristar was one of my very first birds back in 2001, and actually flew itself to death on this very field. I'd never managed to get the decal on, so I still have the original. A rarity. A Custom waterslide.
The original perished at the opposite end of the field where the softball complex now resides. The chute didn't deploy and the TriStar began backsliding toward the trees. Toward the end of the glide the chute deployed enough to get hung up in the treetops. Nineteen years later, this was a redemption flight.
No backsliding on this flight. The A8-3 was plenty of motor for this bird on this field. Always was. The flight topped out around the 300' mark and was returned on the same chute as the Nomad. (And in the Airborne Surveillance Missile, for what it's worth.)
Recovery was on the infield between second and short. Two days earlier it had been a quagmire. Now a good drag was all that was needed to get it into game shape. Love me some November.
Unlike the other rockets on the day, the Pitsco Synergy had flown fairly recently, in 2019. That flight was in unpainted form. (Possibly even unprimed.) The Synergy was about as basic a bird as you can find, a 3fnc with thin fibre fins. I wasn't terribly impressed and tossed it up on a C6-5 to see if it would earn its paint. To my surprise, it did.
This was the resultant paint scheme, and I even sprung for a decal.
The flight was almost like I'd planned it, low level and slightly to the right. Ejection occurred as it tipped over and the unpowdered Pitsco parachute parawadded it to the grass at shortstop. My bad. I should know to pull the chute at this point, especially when it's been wadded up in the rocket as long as this one had been.
Last week I went on something of a build binge, working on a Semroc Excalibur, TLP Tan Sam downscale, Semroc Hydra One, Estes Indicator and Ricochet at one point or another. The Excalibur was along for the ride at this launch, but I hadn't reached the point of the launch lug attachment yet. The Tan Sam was built with an eye toward bigger fields than B6-4, and the Hydra One and Indicator weren't quite finished. I started the Ricochet after the Hydra, and finished it while watching a rom-com with my wife the previous night.
Yeah, paint wasn't part of the deal yet, but some rockets just look good in bare balsa and cardboard. (I have an Estes Long Tom downstairs that I just can't bring myself to paint. It just looks so 70's the way it is right now.) The Ricochet really appeals to me. I think I picked this up during one of the Estes clearance sales and only realized that I had it recently. I had no idea that I was going to like it as much as I do when I opened it Wednesday. Some rocket just look right.
Sixth on the pad was The Flash, my first of four Quest kits on the day. The Flash is a very basic rocket, but it does the 3fnc thing about as well as it can be done. Minimum diameter, so it's going to make an A8-3 look like a C6-5 here at B6-4 Field. (That sentence is almost algebra.)
Flight was on an A8-3. Majestic. Looked great going up and the flight topped out around the 250-300' mark Chute popped as it tipped over, then brought it swinging gently down to the landing in the grass at shortstop. The kind of flight you dream about.
Quest kits disappeared from the local shelves around the time I got back into the hobby in 2001. Hobby Lobby did away with the line and I picked up a few kits on closeout. Nothing fancy, but they were great small field birds, and I bought a couple online, one of them being The Flash. Both kits were so tightly packaged in the plastic that the ends of the body tube weren't just oval shaped, but nearly flat. It didn't appear to be anything related to the seller, so I sent the Quest folks an email. I was surprised to get a quick reply and was asked to send the kits so they could see the damage for themselves. In the end I got back a couple of kits and some other stuff for my troubles. Again, The Flash was one of the kits. (Along with the Sprint, which will be up later.)
As expected, The Flash got everything out of the A8-3, a high, straight flight that appeared to flirt with the 400' mark.
Ejection occurred just as it tipped over and the Semroc chute brought it down in much the same fashion as the Ricochet had come in. Landing was on the infield, right at short. No damage, just a little dirt where the fin dug in to the infield.
Another Quest bird followed in the seven spot, the newly acquired Quest Commander. This was one of the kits that earned Quest the nickname Questes, as it was a pretty obvious copy of the Estes Star Blazer. The only place I ever saw one was in a catalog, never on the shelf, and because of this I never had one in my fleet. A couple of weeks ago I thought about it and went looking on eBay. Found one, but I thought $23 was a bit steep. I still wanted one, so I checked the Google shopping link and lucked out. It was still $23, but I got three kits.
Yeah, flying in its underwear, but as long as I'm not, all is good. I did manage to finish most, if not all, of the sanding, but being Thanksgiving week I was challenged for painting time. Like most of the others on the day, this would be an A8-3 flight.
Just to be different, the Commander left the pad with a slight leftward lean and a more pronounced lean away from the pad. Altitude was around 300' and it was pointing down at ejection. It was well toward the back of the field and for a moment I thought I'd be needing one of the other two that I'd picked up. Instead it missed the trees by a comfortable margin and came to rest in the weeds on the hill.
Since I was in the neighborhood I scanned the trees for evidence of past glories. This is what was left of one of my Patriot M104 flights. Good times.
Eighth off the pad would be the Estes Comet, a tweener here at B6-4 Field, capable of an A8-3 or B6-4 flight. For this day I decided to go with the A8-3, then wished I'd gone with the B6-4.
This Comet had been part of an indifferently built eBay lot. It was missing one fin and two others were cracked off, but included. I cut a new fin and left it as is. It kind of has that "Camaro on blocks in front of the trailer" look.
The Comet streaked off the pad. (I had to say that, but it did leave quickly, especially considering the A motor.) It also went quite a bit higher than I expected, topping out around 250'. Pretty impressive flight considering that this was one step from the garbage can when I got it. The chute was the one that was originally in the rocket when I got it. Apparently it was used in a party game called Blindfold Parachute Construction. One of the worst cut out jobs I've ever seen, but the shroud lines were still attached and appeared to be in no danger of letting go. It was also inside out, but I decided to let it ride. Despite the shortcomings, the OEM parachute performed flawlessly.
The halfway point rocket would be an oldie, the Estes Cosmic Cobra. It was last flown in 2005, and back then it was a crowd favorite, especially with kids.
Fifteen years ago I had great luck with this bird. After some experimenting, I found that the best way to pack the chute in it was to wrap it normally, then put it into the middle of the blades and fold them around it. This allowed the blades to slip into the body tube and slide over the tri-fold shock cord mount, In the old days this worked nicely, and I had a lot of success with the flights. Now, things felt.....creaky.
B6-4 flight because this is a fairly bulky rocket. Altitude was around 300', pretty much as expected. It was sideways when it ejected and it was obvious that things weren't quite the same. The helicopter blades only partially deployed. The parachute, well, I realized as I watched the body tumble to the hole between short and third that it had been folded inside the body tube for fifteen years, and I hadn't unfurled it. Both sections came in fast and hit hard. This one was on me. Hopefully it won't be another fifteen years between flights.
Next flight would be the second of my Questes birds, the Intruder, the Quest version of the Interceptor. I had one of these back in 2001 and lost it on a C6-5 flight when the nose cone and body tube had a mid-flight separation. The body flew backwards to the east into the center of Silver Grove. The nose cone caught a thermal and very possibly could have made it to the Ohio River. I picked another one up on the cheap, but it took me nineteen years to fly it.
Having learned the C6-5 lesson, this flight would be on an A8-3. The flight took it straight off the pad toward the hill to about 250'. Ejection came just after it tipped and sounded like a grenade.
On the video you can here the charge fire, and I say "POW!" I knew that wasn't a normal charge and the body of the Intruder immediately began a flat fall to center field. The nose cone, parachute and shock cord were blasted well into left field.
Post-mortem revealed that the weak point was a spot on the elastic about three inches from the Kevlar. The Semroc parachute was still wrapped. (Quest parachutes make good streamers.) It never got a chance to unfurl.
Flight #11 would be another Quest bird, the Sprint. This was another of the 3fnc birds from Quest that are right at home a B6-4 Field, a great performer on an A8-3, and cheap enough not to worry if it gets treed.
Like I said, this would be an A8-3 flight. It's a fairly light rocket, so I just went with nose blow recovery.
Flight was as expected, fairly high and with a slight arc out toward the hill. All of this off of a rod that was set as straight into the sky as humanly possible.
The whole shootin' match wound up in dead center field. Couldn't have planned it better.
Flight #12 would be another old warrior with a bunch of years since the last flight. Back in 2013 I was suffering from a raging case of Goony Fever and one of the results was the ReneGoon.
Joke though it was, I was pretty happy with the way it turned out, especially the professional looking decal I made in mere seconds. Once I finished it, I made a trip here to B6-4 Field for a lone gunman launch, but along the way I attracted the attention of William, a neighbor at the top of the hill. William was 9, a budding rocketeer all his own, and heard one of my rockets going off. He came down with his mom, and served as my button presser for several flights. The ReneGoon was among the rockets I brought to the field that day, and I had the box set in front of the pad. William launched one rocket, then in his excitement, ran forward to recover it. Right over the box. Parts and pieces went everywhere. William turned around and looked at me with horror in his eyes, fully expecting me to kill him. I was laughing so hard that I could have been killed with a drinking straw. The ReneGoon was one that was damaged, with one fin shattered into several pieces. I took it home, glued it back together as best I could, then let it sit for seven years before finally dusting it off (literally) for this launch.
B6-4 flight, because I'd learned from past experience that the A8-3 hasn't got the needed umph to lift BT-60 based birds higher than I can throw them. The B6-4 was good for about 300', another flight that went back toward the hill, but nowhere close to the trees.
Drift brought it back my way for a landing in straightaway left field. Recovered with no damage, which likely wouldn't have been the case had it landed on the infield.
Next flight, lucky #13, would be the Semroc Baby Orion. This had been an emergency Christmas gift from my family years earlier when they found my pile lacking only days before Christmas. It came along with the Hawk and Hydra 1, (neither of which have yet flown, but both are ready.) A little cartoonish for my tastes, (ironic considering my fondness for Goonys and fart jokes,) the B.O. is still a great flyer at B6-4 Field on 1/2A3-4T motors. High enough to get itself out of trouble, low enough not to overfly the field.
The flight was as expected, not terribly high, around 200', but perfect for conditions. It arced out slightly over center field, and had actually begun tipping over before the tracking smoke started.
As you can see, I have an occasional tendency to drift with the camera slightly when I'm trying to also press the launcher button.
Ejection occurred over the outfield and the S.B.O swung into the hold behind shortstop. All in all, a perfect flight and recovery.
Flight #14 would be another old timer, a clone of the Estes Battlestar Galactica Laser Torpedo. It was a quick build back in 2007, but I was never wild about the way the decals turned out. As a result, I recently peeled them off and thought about starting over.
Essentially a minimum diameter rocket with extra draggy fins and nose cone, I figured it would be perfect with an A8-3 motor on my small field.
I was right on the A8-3. The flight was the straightest of the day, topping out around 313' and ejecting as it was still moving forward. Recovery was equally as straight and it landed just behind shortstop where the S.B.O. landed. Perfect for the field and conditions.
The Estes Generic E2X was next to the pad. Seriously? That's the best Estes could come up with for a name. I'm amazed that they didn't just cannibalize another kit name. Hornet had only been used three times by then.
I'd initially bought this to compare with a couple of other beginners kits for a build & fly that never happened. As it was, I was fairly impressed with the build and the finished product, essentially just a Challenger with no actual paint and decal scheme. Estes had done this hundreds of time over the years, so it's no surprise they got it right.
A8-3 flight. Every bit as straight as the BGLT before it. Flight was to 271' 5", give or take 30'. Still moving forward at ejection, but the parachute was up to the task and it recovered within five feet of the BGLT and SBO.
I didn't realize it at the time, but my flight day was coming to a close. Flight #16 would be another long built, never flow rocket, the Estes Quark. I'd had a mixed amount of success with fire and forget rockets over the years. I'd flown a Mosquito and recovered it, but the 220 Swift and Semroc Lil Hercules had bedeviled me from the start.
The flight would be on a 1/2A3-4T, if for no other reason than that I was out of 1/4As and didn't want to chance an A10. I was more than a little surprised that I caught a launch pic, but that wouldn't be the last shocker of this flight.
Got the launch shots, and I was able to pick up the flight fairly quickly. I saw the tracking smoke, then heard the ejection charge, but nothing after that. I quickly began scanning the horizon, hoping to see a flash of white as it came down. Just as I was about to give up and admit to myself that the Quark was just a better looking 220 Swift, I saw a flash of white out near the softball field. I walked down and searched the area where I thought I saw the rocket land. I walked over the area for ten minutes, and just as I was about to give up I saw this odd looking flower back up toward the ballfield. Turns out I'd seen it land, but not as far down toward the softball field as I thought.
Flight #17 would be the Semroc Moon-Glo, which may have been a gimme from Carl. I'd flown it once here at B6-4 Field in 2013, a flight that ended across the street with the streamer not deployed and the top of the body tube slightly crushed.
This would be an A8-3 flight, although judging from the last flight, that could be a mistake. (Not to worry. I have an unbuilt one downstairs.) Streamer recovery, but with the cooler temps, that doesn't always mean much.
No clawing for altitude for this flight. Quite surprised to get three clear launch shots for this flight. I was expecting a blur. The flight followed the same path across the field toward the trees that most of my flights followed on the day, but this was likely the highest. Flight computer said 389', 11.5". Ejection just before apogee, and it was immediately evident that the streamer was not planning to stream.
The wadded up streamer is evident here. No damage, but came perilously close to the puddle in deep right. Actual landing was in right-center, but I overshot the site while looking at first.
The Estes Echo turned out to be the last flight on the day, not because I had run out of rockets, but because I killed the batteries. Now we know that Energizers are good for 18 flights fresh out of the package.
The Echo was among several rockets I cloned some years back after buying an eBay lot of decals, which I believe makes it 1/23 genuine. Whatever the case, the Echo made it to the pad after a second failed attempt to get the Semroc Point to fly. Even with a new tarted up igniter nothing happened with The Point, so I took the first box up to the car and grabbed the second box that I'd flown out of on a previous launch day. In this box were the Eclipse, which I first chose before finding a cracked fillet, and several other A8-3 loaded rockets. I had enough for another half hour of flying. The Echo would
lead off Round Two.
The Echo flight was like nothing else I'd seen on the day. It not only didn't fly out toward the open outfield in front of me, it flew behind me over US 27. It was touch to keep a camera on it without falling over.
At one point it was falling directly at me and had the trees not been cut down two years ago, it definitely would have been an early Christmas ornament.
In the end it landed right next to me. The video catches the bounce, but the stills turned out blurry because of the twists and turns I was trying to make to keep it in frame. After this flight, I brought the Estes Rogue Voyager out, (a rocket with TWO stolen names,) and couldn't get it to launch. The Estes Courier was next, and it was then that I realized there would be no more flights. After 18 flights, the bunny had had enough.
