Post by hans on Dec 20, 2015 10:58:21 GMT -6
Thanks to David, for typing up a launch report for us on our first real club launch. It was a bit ad-hoc, weather cleared for just long enough for us to gather up some rockets and meet at David's farm.
South Dakota Rocket Jockey’s Launch November 15, 2015
It was a rather breezy day at “Cape Graper” for a launch but the temperatures were near 55° and it was a beautiful sunny day, especially for mid-November. The three original members of the SD Rocket Jockeys, Hans Haase, Verne Jensen and Dave Graper each were prepared to launch several rockets, but a little apprehensive how many problems the wind would cause. Everyone hauled their rockets, motor and supplies over to the pad area, assisted by Jane Jensen, Mary Caspers-Graper and a friend Brett Owens.
The first actual rocket flight to leave the pad was the good old Estes Alpha 3 which Vern flew on a B6-4. It flew great but drifted past the hay field into the neighbor’s corn field. The second flight was the Estes Lynx that Hans successfully flew on the A3-4T. With its crossed wing-like fins it did wind-cock pretty quickly but it was a good flight.
Dave had quite a few odd-rock’s to fly. The first was his Terra-former that he flew on a D12-3. It was an exciting flight because the launch cable remained stuck to the rocket so it flew tethered back toward the audience but just landed on the ground. It added a bit of excitement to the afternoon. Verne got back to a more normal appearing rocket but an upscale of an old and commonly lost rocket the Estes Mosquito. Verne canned this one his Middi-Mosquito because it wasn’t quite as large as the Estes Mega-Mosquito. He flew it on a D12-3 with great success but it landed almost in the same place as the Estes Alpha 3, out in the neighbor’s corn field… a pretty good hike to retrieve. Dave then flew another of his odd-rock’s called Dare to Be Square on a C6-5. It flew surprisingly well considering it isn’t much more than a flat, square piece of birch plywood with a motor attached. It only drifted about 20 yards into the field.
Hans prepared his QCC Explorer for launch but concerned that it would drift too far in the wind, cut the center out of his parachute. He flew it on an F12 Smokey Sam. The flight looked great but the chute tore free of all but two shroud lines so it came down quite quickly and did not drift too far, but upper level winds pushed it to the west into the other neighbor’s corn field. Vern next few his Lance Beta on a D12-3 with great results, a beautiful flight. Dave launched his X-Fire on 2 C6-3 motors. This rapidly rotating rocket flew perhaps 60 feet up before landing in the field and rolling with the wind for several yards before coming to rest. Hans flew his Mega-mosquito on another F12 Smokey Sam, a great flight that ended up in the corn field.
Dave decided to finally launch is Cowabunga rocket, loaded with a G69 Blue Thunder motor. He installed the rocket on the rail and readied it for launch. Unfortunately, launch did NOT go as planned, the nose cone popped off almost immediately and fire blossomed out of the top of the rocket. Dave soon realized what the problem was when Hans asked him if he had put the CTI rocket motor into a casing, he had forgotten that crucial step. The result was that the upper part of the rocket body was scorched, nearly down to the fin canister, along with the parachute and chute protector being burned. Thankfully the Trackimo device was still safe inside its Nomex bag.
We finished the day with Vern once launching his Scratchbilt 2 rocket with 2 D12-3 motors for its maiden flight. The rocket flew true with an excellent flight that ended up well into the neighbor’s corn field on the other side of his driveway. But, Jane had planned in advance and had driven over to the neighbor’s driceway before the launch so it was a fairly short walk to recover the rocket. Dave launched the final rocket with his Turbo Delta Flying Saucer. This bright pink rocket flew quite high on its C6-3 motor landing about 50 yards out into the field.
It was a great day of rocket launches with 16 attempted flights plus a few more that had to be scrapped because of damage to rockets at the pad, mostly caused by the wind. We all have a few rockets to repair and plans to make for our upcoming off-season meetings and we hope that we will have many more successful launches to look forward in 2016.
South Dakota Rocket Jockey’s Launch November 15, 2015
It was a rather breezy day at “Cape Graper” for a launch but the temperatures were near 55° and it was a beautiful sunny day, especially for mid-November. The three original members of the SD Rocket Jockeys, Hans Haase, Verne Jensen and Dave Graper each were prepared to launch several rockets, but a little apprehensive how many problems the wind would cause. Everyone hauled their rockets, motor and supplies over to the pad area, assisted by Jane Jensen, Mary Caspers-Graper and a friend Brett Owens.
The first actual rocket flight to leave the pad was the good old Estes Alpha 3 which Vern flew on a B6-4. It flew great but drifted past the hay field into the neighbor’s corn field. The second flight was the Estes Lynx that Hans successfully flew on the A3-4T. With its crossed wing-like fins it did wind-cock pretty quickly but it was a good flight.
Dave had quite a few odd-rock’s to fly. The first was his Terra-former that he flew on a D12-3. It was an exciting flight because the launch cable remained stuck to the rocket so it flew tethered back toward the audience but just landed on the ground. It added a bit of excitement to the afternoon. Verne got back to a more normal appearing rocket but an upscale of an old and commonly lost rocket the Estes Mosquito. Verne canned this one his Middi-Mosquito because it wasn’t quite as large as the Estes Mega-Mosquito. He flew it on a D12-3 with great success but it landed almost in the same place as the Estes Alpha 3, out in the neighbor’s corn field… a pretty good hike to retrieve. Dave then flew another of his odd-rock’s called Dare to Be Square on a C6-5. It flew surprisingly well considering it isn’t much more than a flat, square piece of birch plywood with a motor attached. It only drifted about 20 yards into the field.
Hans prepared his QCC Explorer for launch but concerned that it would drift too far in the wind, cut the center out of his parachute. He flew it on an F12 Smokey Sam. The flight looked great but the chute tore free of all but two shroud lines so it came down quite quickly and did not drift too far, but upper level winds pushed it to the west into the other neighbor’s corn field. Vern next few his Lance Beta on a D12-3 with great results, a beautiful flight. Dave launched his X-Fire on 2 C6-3 motors. This rapidly rotating rocket flew perhaps 60 feet up before landing in the field and rolling with the wind for several yards before coming to rest. Hans flew his Mega-mosquito on another F12 Smokey Sam, a great flight that ended up in the corn field.
Dave decided to finally launch is Cowabunga rocket, loaded with a G69 Blue Thunder motor. He installed the rocket on the rail and readied it for launch. Unfortunately, launch did NOT go as planned, the nose cone popped off almost immediately and fire blossomed out of the top of the rocket. Dave soon realized what the problem was when Hans asked him if he had put the CTI rocket motor into a casing, he had forgotten that crucial step. The result was that the upper part of the rocket body was scorched, nearly down to the fin canister, along with the parachute and chute protector being burned. Thankfully the Trackimo device was still safe inside its Nomex bag.
We finished the day with Vern once launching his Scratchbilt 2 rocket with 2 D12-3 motors for its maiden flight. The rocket flew true with an excellent flight that ended up well into the neighbor’s corn field on the other side of his driveway. But, Jane had planned in advance and had driven over to the neighbor’s driceway before the launch so it was a fairly short walk to recover the rocket. Dave launched the final rocket with his Turbo Delta Flying Saucer. This bright pink rocket flew quite high on its C6-3 motor landing about 50 yards out into the field.
It was a great day of rocket launches with 16 attempted flights plus a few more that had to be scrapped because of damage to rockets at the pad, mostly caused by the wind. We all have a few rockets to repair and plans to make for our upcoming off-season meetings and we hope that we will have many more successful launches to look forward in 2016.
