I'd like to launch somoe of my smaller rockets and rockets with multiple stages but how do you find them if they go so high you can't see them as they come down?

I have a Centuri Stilleto clone that's two stages and a Black Widow that I'm afraid I'll lose the first stage?

Do I have to launch on an absolute no wind day? Will it come straight back down?

Is there anyway to add some sort of tracking as it comes back down?

(I wasn't sure where to post this but this looked like as good a place as any.)

Smaller engines!

First stage A8-0

Second Stage A8-5

Or with adapters mini engines,

First stage A10-0T

Second stage 1/2A3-4T

They'll still go pretty high but you should get them back...should.

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I think I put a B series in the Twister. It's only about 5 inches tall and went WAY out of sight! I think I should stick with the smaller engines!

Aww, C'mon now.
Put a C6-7 in that Twister !

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It may help to have a couple of extra sets of "eyes" if that's possible. You can have someone watch the booster and another watch the sustainer. It may also help to have someone away from the pads, seems the different view of the launch helps with tracking.

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I think I'll start small with the staged rockets.

I think I'll clone the Twister and see how high it will go without losing it. I don't want to lose the original. We had a bunch of people watching it and it's only luck that we found it.

It really helps to have another person observe the launch with the key being a good distance from the pad. If you are within 15 feet of the launch you are looking up the motor duing coast (absent a pretty good wind) and will find it hard to track against the sky. If there is an observer standing a good 75 to 100 yards from the pad then they will have a much better chance of pbserving the total flight. Has to do with reference size and tracking reflex in the human brain. Or, you see more further away.

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That's a real good idea. I'll have to give that a try.

Attach bright colored streamer- in addation to-parachute. Make it as long as it will fit, w/o stopping up the body tube. You'll not only see it in the air, but on ground. Red or orange are best. Hope this helps. Also-with small engines- you can count on booster landing close to launcher, so concentrate on UPPER stage! (dont take yer eyes off it-rather lose booster than rocket, given a choice!). dannymrmissile

Your post is a bit confusing... are you talking about recovery of the first stage, the upper stage, or both??

First stages typically don't go VERY far from the pad... they follow a ballistic trajectory but the thrust of the upper stage igniting and separating the booster stage really slows the lower stage down-- so it usually continues on up about 10-20 feet behind the upper stage and then falls back, usually within about 30 feet of the pad or so (or closer if using smaller motors). The upper stage can get quite a bit of altitude since it's essentially "taking off" a "moving launch pad" which is itself ascending at a considerable clip. The best bet to get it back is to use a streamer-- chutes tend to drift a long way. You generally want a faster rate of descent than you would have with a parachute so it doesn't drift as far.

Staged rockets tend to be more susceptible to wind due to the added fin area on lower stages, and heavier liftoff weights which tend to make the rocket a bit slower when it leaves the rod. Also, the greater altitude means greater drift during the recovery phase. So while you can fly multistagers in wind, the less wind the better!

Good luck! OL JR

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