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  #1  
Old 09-28-2019, 06:29 PM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Default WSR Launch, 9-14-19

Plans were to do this as a blog entry, but due to camera problems, (some beach ball forgot to charge his batteries the night before,) I wound up very short of photos. So, old school I go. Great day for flying. Hot, but not stifling. I'd spent the bulk of the week prepping the rockets I wanted to fly so that when I got to the field, all I had to do was stick an igniter and plug in and it was off to the pad. I wound up with 24 rockets prepped and ready, mostly never before flown and not flown in ten years or more birds.
I'd hoped to be at eRockets in time to help load up, but I spent Friday night hauling bags of rocks down to the pool instead of loading the Toaster. That allowed me to spend Saturday morning running around trying to get everything together. As it turned out, I arrived at the field to find the WSR guys parked by the unopened gate, unable to access the field. I offered to blaze the trail via the other gate, which was open for the soccer d-bags, but it was decided that I didn't have the temperament for the task, which involves not pissing people off so that we lose our field. Our field owner arrived and found the gate combination had been changed, so he told us to just use the other gate.
I chose the Mach 10+, a BT-80 upscale of the Mach 10, for my first flight. Whereas the previous version of this rocket had been quite easy to balance, this one hasn't been quite as cooperative. The previous version was the one seen strafing the apartment building across from B6-4 Field several years ago, but some careless flying on a C11 resulted in it spending the winter in one of the trees at the field. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG6iVy071Gw
Today the D12 flight didn't quite have the power to get the necessary altitude for a successful flight. The loop was there as expected, but tighter. It was still under power when it impacted the ground behind the pads. Several seconds later the marker cone ejected. Conditions were dry, and I was initially afraid that the ejection charge might set the field on fire, but nothing developed. The elevator snapped off on impact. The nose cone on the belly pod was pushed back into the tube. Fixable, but I'm not sure when I might feel the urge to fly it again.
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Bill Eichelberger
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http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper
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  #2  
Old 09-28-2019, 06:48 PM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Flight #2 was a complete resurrection. I first designed, built and flew the FRW Warlord for an EMRR challenge back in 2005. The last flight late that year was a photo op that ended badly when the elastic broke on ejection. The body did a free fall to the rock hard turf of B6-4 Field and shattered on impact. The parts sat around in the box I used to collect them after the crash until this summer when I was within inches of throwing them out. Instead, I glued the pieces back together, scrounged another nose cone, and blew off 14 years of dust. Glad I did. Very impressive flight on a C6-5, high and straight with recovery deep in the adjacent soccer fields.
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Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper
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  #3  
Old 09-28-2019, 07:59 PM
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ghrocketman ghrocketman is offline
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Ah, yessss.
The dreaded Powr-Prangg of the upscaled Mach-10.
Bummer.
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  #4  
Old 09-29-2019, 09:03 AM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
Ah, yessss.
The dreaded Powr-Prangg of the upscaled Mach-10.
Bummer.

But entertaining!
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Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper
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  #5  
Old 09-29-2019, 09:14 AM
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ghrocketman ghrocketman is offline
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Talking

I would agree that the flight must have been entertaining.
__________________
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, and HAVOC !
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  #6  
Old 09-29-2019, 09:18 AM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Flight #3 was another one that had experienced a long layoff, the Estes Sky Raider that I'd cloned in 2003 and last flew in 2006 when the eyelet on the nose cone broke. I fixed it with a screw eye and epoxy, but for some reason every time I thought about flying it, I'd think it still needed repair. (My review for EMRR had a picture of my daughter holding the rocket when she was 9. Now she's 25 and the queen of all media.) In the old days the Sky Raider was always a great performer, boosting dead straight with great altitude on the mighty D12-5. This flight was no exception. Dead straight boost to 1200' or so, then a long recovery drift that wound up with it just missing the Port-A-Potty. (Or Porta-Kleen, in this case.)
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__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper
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  #7  
Old 09-29-2019, 09:38 AM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Back when Estes Mean Machines were available on the cheap, I bought several as parts kits for other projects. At least twice they became Centuri Thunder Rocs. The first one was a D-powered Roc, the second one E-powered. Both eventually were damaged in flight bad enough that I felt the need to retire them, but after looking them over recently, I realized that they could be fixed fairly easily. The D-powered Roc was the easiest of the two, with just a new fin needed and a body tube kink to be firmed up, so I made the repairs, then waited the rest of the summer for an opportunity to fly it. This was that day, so it became flight #4 on the day. Mike Rohde had flown his at a previous launch this year, and it suffered a broken fin on landing, something that he called the price of flight. For the first flight in 16 years, the Thunder Roc turned in a perfect flight to 500' or so. Recovery via a 15' nylon chute looked perfect, and it landed softly just out from the pads. Not quite softly enough, as a fin could be seen flipping through the air on impact. Price of flight, indeed.
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__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper
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  #8  
Old 09-29-2019, 09:59 AM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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I'd brought a bunch of never-flown birds to the field on this day, so it was time to give the old-timers a rest and get one of the kids into the books. Flight #5 would be my FRW Quasar XL, in reality an Estes Metalizer with a new body tube and some chrome tape. Still, I was hoping it would suggest the classic BT-50 Quasar. I never could get it done to my satisfaction, but the suggestion is there. Being an almost RTF kit at heart, I was stuck using 18mm power, so a C6-5 would power the first flight. Or so I thought. I'd forgotten that I'd taken it to B6-4 Field a few weeks before and had it packed with a B6-4. That launch ended when I treed the very first flight, an Estes Patriot M104 that I have no luck at all with in my home park. The B6-4 would be the first flight engine, unbeknownst to all. It became obvious at liftoff when it left the pad with some lethargy. The flight went back over the flightline, then drifted back to the pad and draped itself over the buckets that we can never seem to convince people to put their trash in. Closest to the pad - WINNER!!!
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__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper
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  #9  
Old 09-29-2019, 10:23 AM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Back in 2001, one of my duties at work at night was running a large printer. It was pretty fast, but had an unfortunate tendency toward page breaks and jams, so I needed to be back in the room with it for several hours a night. I had my radio to listen to Loveline, and would bring in my building supplies and cut out fins. This was the start of my Estes Astron Orbital Transport. I used basswood for the whole thing, (not the glider,) and even bought a set of OT decals from the legendary JimZ. I worked on it over the years, but finally finished the project this spring. I'd been concerned about how it would fly with all the added weight from the basswood that was gathered at the butt end of the rocket. Because of this I kind of lost interest in getting it flying before now. It would be flight #6 on the day for me, the second first flight kit in a row. C6-5 powered, the OT left the pad laboriously, and immediately started wiggling its butt as it struggled skyward. The flight path was on an arc to the right of the pad, and it never came close to maxing out the potential of the C6-5, but at ejection, everything came apart as it was supposed to, the body coming down via chute and the glider fluttering to earth. Yeah, needs some work.
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__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper
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  #10  
Old 09-29-2019, 10:44 AM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Lucky #7 would not be a first flight, but a first in full livery. I bought the Custom Dynamic Carrier off of Chan Stevens back in 2007, having fallen in love with the early Custom kits. Construction foul-ups and general malaise contributed to it not being finished for ten years, but the DC finally got airborne in 2017. In that time I had managed to misplace half of the decals, but they turned up several weeks ago, tucked into the folded up instructions for the Estes Bail Out. The C6-5 flight was fairly wiggly, something that most attributed to the forward fin design, but I thought might be due to the less than straight alignment. This bird definitely has third grade construction values. Still a fairly high flight with recovery deep in the soccer fields via what may be the last of the 18" checkerboard chutes that I got in a bulk buy on Ebay years ago. Best buy ever.
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__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper
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