So I got word just a week or so ago that the Macomb NAR section, Forgottonia Rocketry Group, was having a launch on September 2nd. Naturally I attended. We had a part of Vince Grady Field at WIU; the launch officially started at 6:00pm and wrapped up by around 7:15pm. Wind speeds were around 5-10 MPH, and we had some issues with drifting; a few rockets were lost to the trees, but all of my flights were recovered successfully.


Mo' Skeeter Ready and Return

My first flight was the first of the night, my Mo' Skeeter on a B6-4. It flew as beautifully as ever, drifting almost to the far end of the field but recovering safely in the grass, with no visible damage.


Der Redship Max Ignition

Next I flew my Der Redship Max on a B6-2. This rocket should have flown at the June 3rd launch, but I had forgotten to install a launch lug; I painted one and attached it under the black wing with JB Weld epoxy. I did not know how high this one would fly, and I had already seen one rocket lost in the trees, so I chickened out and did not load a C6-3 as I had intended. The rocket had a low flight, but the recovery nose-down under parachute worked perfectly and the fins were undamaged. Unfortunately, the wadding did not clear from the tail cone and it was deformed by the retained heat. Not sure if it will fly again.


Goonybird Zero Ready and Go

I prepped my Goonybird Zero for its first flight on a B6-4, and it flew just as beautifully as the Mo' Skeeter had, with less drift due to reduced wind speed.


Goonybird Zero Safe Return

There was some minor damage at the trailing edge of one fin, and I'm not sure if I'm going to try to fix it or leave it alone; it's flyable as is.


Harpoon Ready and Go

Next up was my Quest Harpoon on a B6-4. The flight was lower than I intended, but went like clockwork with a good recovery not too far from the stand.

I was so happy with that flight that I immediately started prepping the same rocket for a flight on a C6-5. Just then, Greg Montalvo, club president, asked if we were done for the evening. I spoke up, and he allowed another rack of flights; a few others took advantage of this last opportunity, as the sun was getting low in the sky.


Harpoon Ready, Ignition, Launch

So I flew my Quest Harpoon again, this time on a C6-5 as noted. It was a good straight flight with an excellent recovery inside the field. I could not be happier with the results.


Harpoon Deploys


Harpoon Returning Safely

I want to thank Greg and the other FRG rocketeers for making me welcome in their midst once again. I'm hoping I can continue to join them, and looking forward to participating in one of their mid-power launches.

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NAR # 115523
Once upon a better day... SAM #0076
My site: http://rocketry.gonnerman.org

Great pics! Thanks for the report.

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Scott D. Hansen
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WOOSH NAR Section #558

The Harpoon ejected out the wrong end!

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I love sanding.

Nice report. For some reason I can't see the pics. I'll have to check in at home. Probably a firewall here at work.

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Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

I'm embarrassed to admit how long I looked at this before I figured it out.

Yeah, I build a lot of BT-60 core ejectors. No wadding, little chance of breaking off a fin (the Harpoon did have one of the tail fins break in this launch but I didn't discover it until I got it home), and generally a beautiful flight. Oh, and no nose cone dents, though I think the Goonybird Zero's fin damage was from the core snapping back; my other core ejectors don't have fins quite that shape, which stick out behind the BT at the root edge.

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NAR # 115523
Once upon a better day... SAM #0076
My site: http://rocketry.gonnerman.org

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I love sanding.

Is the Mo' Skeeter a clone kit or a "home brew" clone ?

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

It's not a kit. Mo' Skeeter was built in late 2008 from parts from a Baby Bertha kit, plus extra parts from Semroc and fins I cut myself from scaled up scans of the standard Mosquito fins.

There's a build page here, if you're interested: https://rocketry.gonnerman.org/moskeeter.html

I built an earlier rear ejector, my original Dawn Star, and lost it due to a deployment failure. The engine mount was a more or less standard unit and depended on the ballistics of ejection to pull out the chute; this failed on the second launch, and with no deployment it nose dived into a bean field and was lost forever. Launch report here: https://rocketry.gonnerman.org/laun...5.html#dawnstar

I was not happy about that; the original Dawn Star had the best paint job I'd done to date.

I thought about better ways to arrange rear deployment, and built the Mo' Skeeter as a test bed. It worked very well, leading to a second Dawn Star being built with an overengineered engine mount at the aft end of the core. I don't fly that one very often, but I've flown Mo' Skeeter fifteen times with no significant mishaps. She needs a new paint job, but I'll probably fly her a few more times before I get that done. Since then I've built a couple of other core ejectors, all BT-60, including the Goonybird Zero from this launch and my Das Gutentag from the last one. I also have an unfinished mid-length Bertha with a core eject design waiting for a final paint job.

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NAR # 115523
Once upon a better day... SAM #0076
My site: http://rocketry.gonnerman.org

Just realized, the Mega Mosquito is from 2011; my Mo' Skeeter is older than that.

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NAR # 115523
Once upon a better day... SAM #0076
My site: http://rocketry.gonnerman.org